Cocoa beans crushed and shelled

Baked cocoa beans, the next step is to use the cocoa bean sheller to help them shell. The cacao bean shelling is basically the same as the rice shelling. First, crush the shell, then blow off the light shell with the wind, and the rest is what we want!

Cocoa bean peeling machine
Cocoa Bean Peeling Machine

Why do cocoa beans need to be shelled? The outer shell is soiled when it is dried in the sun, and the process of transporting it has always been to isolate the cocoa beans from the external bacterial dust. If you add it to the outer shell, it will not make the chocolate taste richer, and the high fiber content will make the shell very hard, which will cause damage to the grinder. Therefore, the reason for making chocolate after removing the outer shell is justified! Usually chocolate manufacturers control the shell content to 0.05%-1% in chocolate making, while the FDA stipulates that the legal cocoa shell content is less than 1.75% of the total weight of cocoa nibs. Because the shell is very light, this 1.75 % is actually the weight that a lot of shells will reach.