The Secrets of Chocolate making
And Why Is It Essential in Chocolate Making? The winnower, also known as a cocoa breaker or tarare, is a crucial machine in the world of artisan chocolate.
Its role? To separate the cocoa nibs, the noble heart of the bean, from the outer shell, right after roasting.
Why Break the Bean?
After roasting, cocoa beans must be cracked open. We only want the inner part, the nibs, which are rich in cocoa butter and flavor.
The shell, on the other hand, is bitter, indigestible, and not used in chocolate making.
But both parts are light and fragile, which is why the machine must crack them delicately, without damaging the nibs, and then sort them with precision.
How Does a Winnower Work?
The machine performs two key actions:
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Cracking: It breaks the beans into small fragments
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Airflow separation: A suction or blowing system then separates the parts by weight
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The lighter shells are blown to one side
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The heavier nibs fall to the other
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This simple principle has been used for centuries in other domains, like grain sorting. That’s why the machine is traditionally called a tarare, a name borrowed from agricultural use.
Orfève’s Approach
At Orfève, we use a winnower tailored to our artisan-scale production, designed to protect the integrity of the nibs and ensure a clean, accurate separation.
Even if it’s a discreet part of the process, it’s absolutely essential, it’s what gives us pure nibs, free of bitterness, ready to express the full aromatic depth of the cacao.