Chocolate conching

A conched chocolate produced by a process including a conching operation, the process comprising the steps of:

• passing ingredients for making chocolate, including chocolate refinings, into a conching apparatus having agitators and a motor controlled by a variable speed drive;
• moving the conching agitators into and through the ingredients, said moving step including moving the conching agitators at a conching agitator speed;
• conching said ingredients by continuing said moving step for a length of time until the ingredients produce a chocolate product;
• monitoring resistance to conching by the ingredients generally throughout the moving step in order to generally continuously detect resistance of the ingredients to conching;
• modulating said conching agitator speed to provide a variable conching agitator speed which substantially maintains a predetermined power input to the ingredients substantially throughout said conching step, said modulating step being substantially ongoing, the conching agitator speed being a function of the ingredients resistance monitored during said monitoring step such that the conching agitator speed increases as said ingredients resistance decreases and such that said conching agitator speed decreases as said ingredients resistance increases, whereby said predetermined power input is maintained substantially constant substantially throughout the conching step;
• controlling the passing step in response to the monitoring step whereby a finished chocolate product is provided having a fat percentage within a preselected range, said controlling of the passing step varying the fat content of the ingredients;
• and
• removing the finished chocolate product from the conching apparatus.

A conched chocolate produced by a process including a conching operation, the process comprising the steps of:

• passing ingredients for making chocolate into a conching apparatus having agitators which move in a manner to engage the ingredients, the ingredients making a refined chocolate intermediate including chocolate liquor, a sweetening agent and cocoa butter;
• moving the conching agitators to engage the ingredients with each other and with the conching agitators, said moving step including moving the conching agitators at a conching agitator speed;
• conching said ingredients by continuing said moving step whereby the refined chocolate intermediate is transformed into a flowable chocolate;
• monitoring resistance to conching by the ingredients generally throughout the conching step in order to substantially continuously detect resistance of the ingredients to conching;
• modulating said conching agitator speed to provide a variable conching agitator speed which substantially maintains a predetermined power input to the ingredients substantially throughout said conching step, said modulating step being substantially ongoing, the conching agitator speed being a function of the ingredients resistance monitored during said monitoring step such that the conching agitator speed increases as said ingredients resistance decreases and such that said conching agitator speed decreases as said ingredients resistance increases;
• controlling the passing step, the conching step or both in response to the monitoring step, said controlling of the passing step includes incorporating cocoa butter in an amount which varies as a function of said monitoring step, said amount being adequate, but not substantially in excess of that needed, to impart a fat percentage within a preselected range to the flowable chocolate product, and said controlling of the conching step reduces the conching time by ceasing the conching step as soon as a preselected maximum viscosity characteristic is achieved;
• and
• removing the flowable chocolate product from the conching apparatus.

A conched chocolate produced by a process including a conching operation, the process comprising the steps of:

• passing ingredients for making chocolate, including chocolate refinings, into a conching apparatus having agitators and a motor controlled by a variable speed drive;
• moving the conching agitators into and through the ingredients, said moving step including moving the conching agitators at a conching agitator speed;
• conching said ingredients by continuing said moving step for a length of time until the ingredients produce a flowable chocolate product;
• monitoring resistance imparted to conching by the ingredients generally throughout the moving step in order to generally continuously detect resistance of the ingredients to conching;
• modulating said conching agitator speed to provide a variable conching agitator speed which substantially maintains a predetermined power input to the ingredients substantially throughout said conching step, said modulating step being substantially ongoing, the conching agitator speed being a function of the ingredients resistance monitored during said monitoring step such that the conching agitator speed increases as said ingredients resistance decreases and such that said conching agitator speed decreases as said ingredients resistance increases, whereby said predetermined power input is maintained substantially constant substantially throughout the conching step and the total time of the conching step is decreased;
• and
• removing the flowable chocolate product from the conching apparatus.