grinding cacao nibs to powder?

[klomasius]

Hello everyone,

I regularly use raw cacao nibs in recipes and was wondering if anyone has figured out a way to grind the nibs into a really fine powder.

Grinding in the blender gets them fine, but they are still larger granules rather than a powder. And I'm looking for some peice of equipment that gets the nibs ground finer than even coffee grounds.

Is it unrealisitic to expect a fine, non gritty powder from raw whole cacao nibs? I haven't bought or tried the raw cacao powder, I'd prefer to grind the nibs myself. Does anyone know if the powder is still gritty?

Really looking forward to a nice non gritty chocolate sauce!

Cheers!

[juliebove]

I used the Magic Bullet on cocoa beans. I got them beyond nibs to a coarse powder. I then made this into mint patties and they were not gritty at all.

[Raw Magwene]

Good questions!

One thing I think affects the texture of raw cacao immensely is the fact that the fat (cocoa butter) has not been separated out of it. The raw cacao powder I own is fairly fine-ground but still does not dissolve in liquids, floats to the top of smoothies, etc. (I think it's because of the fat--it prevents the moisture from reaching the cacao solids). It is finer ground than what I achieved in my coffee grinder.

Maybe heating the raw cacao in the dehydrator/sun?

I've often wondered whether putting raw cacao and cocoa butter through the homogenizing plate on a Champion juicer would do the trick, but I don't own a Champion.

I usually opt for carob, since I sort of prefer the flavor of that. When I really feel the need for something smooth with chocolate in it, I just use organic cocoa powder (the regular cooked kind) maybe in 50/50 blend with raw carob.

[Raw Magwene]

julie, did you dehydrate your patties? What else went into them? That sounds delicious!

[juliebove]

julie, did you dehydrate your patties? What else went into them? That sounds delicious!

Yes, I dehydrated them. I got the recipe here. I can't remember exactly everything that went into them but I think it was dates, coconut, cocoa and mint.

[klomasius]

Thanks to the both of you!

Raw Mag,

I have often thought about that too, conventional cocoa powder is defatted (the cocoa butter is removed and made into chooclate etc.). The conventional cocoa powder is just cocoa mass.

Perhaps it's not just a case of getting the granules finer, but also somehow making the powder more soluble.

I do think that if I can at least get the nibs to powder form, I can make chocolate sauces with an oil base that the powder can dissolve/blend into.

Even when I grind the nibs as fine as I can and use them to blend ito coconut oil with some dates, they are still grainy though, and don't quite seem to give as even a colour and taste as normal choc powder.

I might try raw carob powder as you've suggested, I've not seen it anywhere here in aust, I have the conventional carob powder and like the taste of that. Perhaps Carob has less fat in it?

Juliebove, did you leave the patties to sit for any particular time? Maybe the granules softened up?

[klomasius]

oops, must have posted just as you did Julie.

I see you dehydrated them, maybe heating the ground nibs helps soften them.

[Bethanie]

:) they were pretty expensive to me $39.00 but the bag was nice size.
With all the fat they contain will they cause a weight gain if you use them on more than a couple of times a week in recipes?
I'v never used them before.
Thanks
Bethanie

[Bethanie]

I meant to type in that i saw a bag of these nibs at my local health food store.
I had better wake up fully before i type anything next time :) .
Bethanie

[being]

Hello everyone,

I regularly use raw cacao nibs in recipes and was wondering if anyone has figured out a way to grind the nibs into a really fine powder.

Grinding in the blender gets them fine, but they are still larger granules rather than a powder. And I'm looking for some peice of equipment that gets the nibs ground finer than even coffee grounds.

Is it unrealisitic to expect a fine, non gritty powder from raw whole cacao nibs? I haven't bought or tried the raw cacao powder, I'd prefer to grind the nibs myself. Does anyone know if the powder is still gritty?

Really looking forward to a nice non gritty chocolate sauce!

Cheers!


In my experience, grinding them in a coffee grinder, those little $15 ones, does the trick nicely. I went all the way and sifted the powder through a fine mesh sieve from my baking days, and THAT was a supersmooth powder. :D

[klomasius]

Bethanie,

I don't think that the cacao nibs will make you put on any weight, it doesn't take much in recipes to give a nice rich flavour, so the bag will probably last you for quite some time.

Plus the cacao butter in them is quite good for you (it's fantastic for smoothing out stretch marks as well).

Being,

yep, I do that too, sift it through a sieve after blending. I was wondering if there were any less labour intensive way, takes so long. But I might try a finer sieve to get that powdery fineness I want, thanks.

[exurb]

In my experience, grinding them in a coffee grinder,

I concur that that's the way to do it. Because they still have the fat, they are likely to cake up a little into a paste, but if you grind it properly in the right coffee grinder, they should be usable without being gritty.

[mbf]

You can buy Raw smooth and amazing cacao nib powder at David Wolfes site www.naturesfirstlaw.com I buy it in hugs bags, we it often! I highly recommend the book the Naked Chocolate to go with it, the recipes are amazing!

Mara :D

[Missrawdiva]

I do not think they will cause you to gain weight. I grind them in my coffee grinder and every evening I eat raw chocolate and coconut ice cream. I am a raw chocolate junkie. I eat RP's brownies EVERY day, in addition to my raw ice cream at night.. and I have been doing nothing but LOOSING weight! It is soo good to be able to eat raw deserts w/out the weight gain or guilt!

[klomasius]

Mbf,

does the podwer act like conventional defatted cocoa powder, ie, does it 'dissolve' into milks and desserts?

I've been meaning to get the powder, but it's just so expensive. But it might be a good option for stuff that needs finer powder, like chocolate sauces.