I was mostly referring to the presses that separate the cocoa butter from the rest. It's not an easy process (example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzcN3cbikzA ). Though as I pointed out, it's probably 19th/20th century technology.
I was mostly referring to the presses that separate the cocoa butter from the rest. It's not an easy process (example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzcN3cbikzA ). Though as I pointed out, it's probably 19th/20th century technology.
Most small batch chocolate makers don't bother with pressing their own cocoa butter because of the scale required to make it worth it. There's only so much cocoa butter you can press from beans, and then you need to figure out what to do with the remaining cocoa solids. (As an exception, Goodnow Farms is one that did invest in one for, I think, $50000; they sell the cocoa solids to restaurant chefs.) As a result, most of this is still in the industrial realm, even if the tech itself isn't particularly new (it hasn't changed much beyond what's in the linked video).