Roasting Cocoa Beans
December 2, 2010
Here is a dose of chocolate science. You know you need it from time to time!
Roasting cocoa beans serve two purposes. First, it dries the beans, and second, it develops flavor.
Driving off as much moisture in the bean is important from a food safety perspective. The lower the water content, the more difficult it is for bacteria to grow and pose a health threat.
Cocoa beans are typically roasted from 250 to 325 F for approximately 35 minutes.
Perhaps the most significant impact roasting has on cacao is unlocking the bean’s flavor potential.
Freshly harvested cocoa beans do not taste like chocolate. The bulk of chocolate flavor development happens during roasting, when a chemical reaction known as the Maillard reaction takes place. The Maillard (mä-yärd) reaction is a non-enzymatic reaction between sugars and proteins that occurs upon heating.
The reaction is named after the chemist Louis-Camille Maillard who investigated it in the 1910s.
The Maillard reaction is an important “browning” process. You will see this happen when you toast bread or fry meat or bake biscuits. The Maillard reaction is responsible for the flavor and color changes of many foods we eat. Proteins (amino acids) and sugars (reducing sugars) will brown while cooking. (The Maillard reaction is sometimes confused with caramelization but they are not the same thing.)
In addition to the browning activity, roasting also drives off many of the volatile or unpleasant aromas while at the same time enhancing the pleasant ones.
The chemical reactions during roasting are complex, but the Maillard reaction is key to bringing about the flavor we recognize as chocolate.
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