Pumps for the chocolate industry
The history of chocolate is just as exciting as its production process and what must be considered when choosing a pump.
Die Chocolate industry is an important industrial sector of food industry in Germany. It includes the production, processing and distribution of chocolate. The German confectionery industry is a world leader in the innovation and production of high-quality chocolates.
How long has chocolate been around?
Die History of chocolate It dates back a good 4000 years. The first cocoa plant was discovered back then in ancient Central America (today Mexico). The Olmecs, Latin America's oldest civilizations, were the first to enjoy the taste of chocolate. They made drinking chocolate and used it as medicine or consumed them in rituals. It wasn't until a few centuries later that the Maya arrived at cocoa beans and named the drinking chocolate as the drink of the gods. To make the potion from the Mayan gods, they needed roasted and ground cocoa beans. To do this, they mixed chilies, water and cornmeal. During preparation, they always poured the mixture from one pot to the other to achieve a thick, foamy result.
Cocoa beans were used by the Aztecs in the 15th century as currency used. For them, cocoa beans were a gift from the god Quetzalcoat. They also drank the cocoa beans in liquid form for refreshment or as an aphrodisiac. In some cases, drinking chocolate also helped to prepare for war.
It took a very long time before chocolate conquered Europe. She came to Spain first. However, the Spaniards kept the chocolate to themselves for a very long time. For a long time, drinking chocolate was the sole responsibility of haves and the upper class. However, there were also Catholic monks who consumed drinking chocolate for religious purposes.
As a result of changes during the industrial revolution, chocolate gradually became available to every social class.
About our pumps for the chocolate industry
What is the chocolate we know today made of?
The main ingredients of chocolate are derived from the cocoa bean cocoa mass and cocoa butter. Depending on whether dark, white or milk chocolate is desired, something else is added to it or the relationship changes. Components that are added may include sugar, milk powder and lecithin.
This requires attention to some special Quality certificates be held. Therefore, only chocolate with 43% total cocoa dry matter and of which at least 26% cocoa butter may be described as dark chocolate. In the production of milk chocolate means at least 30% total cocoa dry matter and at least 18% dry milk matter (at least 4,5% milk fat). If a chocolate wants to describe itself as fine chocolate, at least 40% of the Cocoa content be made of fine cocoa. This cocoa can only come from internationally defined countries for producing fine cocoa. Countries producing fine cocoa include Guatemala, Bolivia, Venezuela and a few others. In addition, there is also so-called origin chocolate, which only uses cocoa from one country of origin.
Commercial practice and consumer expectations also regulate a number of compositions. Accordingly, dark chocolate consists of at least 50% total cocoa dry matter and precious/extra dark chocolate consists of at least 60% total cocoa dry matter.
In general, it can be said that the higher the cocoa content, the higher the quality of the chocolate. In addition, the percentage of cocoa mass determines the intensity of the chocolate flavor.
What is the function of pumps in the chocolate industry?
Producing high-quality chocolate is very demanding. Chocolate must go through a variety of production steps. At the beginning, they will cocoa beans processed into cocoa mass. For this purpose, the fermented cocoa beans, which at best come dried, roughly broken and pre-cleaned from their country of origin, are roasted. This mass is then mixed with sugar, cocoa butter and, if appropriate, dairy products.
By squeezing out the filtered or centrifuged fat from the cocoa kernels, cocoa butter is produced. The resulting mass is finely ground using rolling mills. To make the chocolate melt in the mouth, the sugar must be reduced to a size of 10-20 microns. The ground mass is then heated and grated, known as conching. If this involves the viscosity must be influenced helps soy lecithin in an amount of up to 0.2%.
This is followed by the so-called tempering of the chocolate. Tempering involves the thermal and mechanical treatment of melted chocolate. Without this process, the chocolate has a brittle consistency, is matte and is susceptible to becoming fat ripe.
The chocolate is then placed. Vibration removes air bubbles.
One of the biggest hurdles in chocolate production is the different temperatures. pumps, such as the wobble ring pump, which easily conveys chocolate during production, can withstand large temperature fluctuations. But not only that, they also ensure that there is little wear on the pump. In addition, it is very important that the pump is able to maintain temperatures and that there are no fluctuations. If the chocolate gets too hot, it can caramelize. If it gets too cold, solidification or crystallization occurs. These two factors not only lead to a poor result, but also to a reduced flow rate.
Chocolate pumps must also be able to process chocolate (beans into bulk) and produce sweets (bulk to bar).
The use of pumps in the chocolate industry starts with loading and unloading from tank trucks. Going further, this must pumping medium are transported from one production step to another.
Which types of pumps are suitable for pumping chocolate?
The quality of chocolate depends on the demanding task of promoting chocolate. Chocolate is abrasive, caramelized and sensitive to shear. As a result, the range of applications of pumps for chocolate is more limited speed range settled. The lip seals or mechanical seals keep the medium away from external influences.
When pumping cocoa butter in particular, heated stainless steel gear pumps have proven effective in many ways. Die pumping capacity increases with higher viscosity.
All types of positive displacement pumps are different from centrifugal pumps rather proven for conveying media of high viscosities.
Rotary positive displacement pumps, such as the eccentric screw pump, are particularly suitable due to their gentle and low pulsation conveying capacity, to promote chocolate.
Above all, the oscillating ring pump from pumpsystems offers a good way to gently transport chocolate from one place to another. They can be optionally tempered or cooled and are particularly gentle on the medium.
Another particularly practical thing about our wobble ring pump is that it can be individually adapted to your wishes and requirements. Contact Feel free to contact us and then receive the ideal model of our wobbling ring pump tailored to your product.
If you are also interested in pumps in the dairy industry, feel free to browse through our next article. There you can find out more about the requirements and regulations that manufacturers place on their pumps.
