Cocoa Powder

Cocoa powder is the fine ground brown powder obtained from the partially or completely defatted portion of cocoa liquor or mass of fermented cocoa beans. Commonly used in baking, cocoa powder adds chocolate flavor and a brownish to red color. Commercially, it’s available as regular, alkaline or dutch cocoa.
Based on content, cocoa powder can also be classified into:
• Regular medium fat cocoa (10-12% cocoa butter)
• Low fat cocoa (<10% cocoa butter)
• Fat free cocoa (0.5% cocoa butter)
• High fat cocoa (>22% of cocoa butter)
Function
Cocoa has several functions in baked goods
• Flavor: imparts a rich sweet chocolate flavor.
• Color: provides a brownish to reddish color.
• provides a higher water absorption than an equal weight of flour.
• Bulking agent: allows for the use of a reduced amount of flour.
• Pleasant mouthfeel: especially high fat cocoa powders.
• Nutrition: due to high levels of dietary fiber, proteins, vitamins, minerals and several polyphenolic compounds.
Commercial production
Cocoa powder is commercially produced through the following process:
• Cleaning: leaves, stalks and stones are removed from the cocoa beans using classic seed cleaners.
• Roasting: beans are roasted at 100 – 120 oC (212 – 248 oF) for 45 – 70 minutes. Temperature – time combination depends on the roaster and bean type used.
• Kibbling and winnowing: cocoa beans are broken up to separate the nib from the cocoa shells or husk, then they are passed through a series of vibrating sieves and the shell is removed by pneumatic suction.
• Grinding: nibs are milled using a series of roller mills to produce cocoa liquor or cocoa mass.
• Pressing: cocoa liquor is pressed with an extrusion press to produce cocoa cake by partially removing cocoa butter. For the manufacture of dutch or alkalized cocoa the cocoa cake is treated with an alkali like potassium carbonate.
• Milling: the cocoa cake is milled to the appropriate particle size.
• Sieving: cocoa is separated to provide a standard particle size powder.
• Packaging