What can you do with raw cocoa beans?

You can use raw cacao powder for desserts, smoothies, and other drinks. It’s useful whenever you need a consistency with less grittiness than you can get from grinding the nibs at home. The cacao butter can be melted down a bit in a dehydrator or in a warm oven with the door open (to keep it below 115 F).

How do you process raw cacao beans?

There are two major steps to this process: fermenting and roasting. The cacao beans have to ferment for four days at which point they’ll shed their pulp. Once that’s happened they dry under the hot sun four another four days if skies are clear, and five or six if it’s cloudy.

How do you process chocolate from cocoa beans?

Firstly, fermented and dried cocoa beans will be refined to a roasted nib by winnowing and roasting. Then, they will be heated and will melt into chocolate liquor. Lastly, manufacturers blend chocolate liquor with sugar and milk to add flavour.

Can you eat raw cacao beans?

Raw cacao is the purest form of chocolate one can consume. Whether consumed in powder form, as cacao nibs or cacao beans, it is far less processed than its heated and treated cocoa counterpart.

Are raw cocoa beans edible?

Is it safe to eat raw cacao beans?

“Raw cacao is high in flavanols – plant compounds associated with antioxidant activity. The flavanols in cacao are thought to help improve circulation to the heart, and may reduce risk of heart disease by helping to lower blood pressure, reduce inflammation, reduce blood stickiness and even improve cholesterol levels.

How do you make raw cacao powder?

First, you open all of the cacao pods and remove the cacao beans. Place in a bucket lined with banana leaves and cover. Leave for three days to ferment. Then, dry the fermented beans in the sun for a few days (are you following this timeline by the way?

Is raw cacao toxic?

Eating raw cacao in excess could be dangerous. For instance, theobromine poisoning has reportedly caused heart failure, seizures, kidney damage and dehydration. Eating 50 to 100 g of cacao daily is associated with sweating, trembling, and headaches.

Is raw cacao better?

Generally, raw cacao products — made from fermented, dried, unroasted cacao beans — are less processed and healthier. Still, standard dark chocolate with at least 70\% cocoa is a good source of beneficial antioxidants and minerals.