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Dutch-Process Cocoa: Nibs Treated with Potash, Ground and Pressed
Chianti (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 3.0
TheChef

Created by

TheChef

14. October 2026DK
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Dutch-Process Cocoa: Nibs Treated with Potash, Ground and Pressed

Van Houten's cocoa: around 1828 the Dutch pressed most of the fat out of cocoa, leaving a cake that grinds to powder, and treated the nibs with alkali, which makes the cocoa darker and less bitter. Soak shelled nibs in a potash solution, dry and roast them, grind them warm to a liquor and press out the cocoa butter; grind the cake to powder. The picture: a cocoa press cake.
Intermediate
Two days

Instructions

1

Shell

Crack the cacao beans lightly in the mortar and winnow away the shells, leaving the broken nibs. Weigh them.

Materials for this step:

Cacao BeansCacao Beans600 g

Tools needed:

Mortar and PestleMortar and Pestle
Winnowing TrayWinnowing Tray
Balance ScaleBalance Scale
2

Treat with potash

Dissolve potash in a little water (step 6), stir the nibs into it until they have taken it up, and warm them gently. Spread them on a tray to dry.

Materials for this step:

Potassium Carbonate (Potash)Potassium Carbonate (Potash)10 g

Tools needed:

WaterWater
Large Cooking PotLarge Cooking Pot
Flat Drying TrayFlat Drying Tray
Rubber GlovesRubber Gloves
3

Roast and grind

Roast the dry nibs in a pan over a gentle fire, stirring, then grind them warm in the mortar until they turn to a runny paste, the cocoa liquor.

Tools needed:

Large Cooking PotLarge Cooking Pot
FirewoodFirewood
Mortar and PestleMortar and Pestle
4

Press

Wrap the warm liquor in muslin and press it hard in the screw press: the cocoa butter runs out (keep it). What remains is the press cake.

Tools needed:

Muslin ClothMuslin Cloth
Cloth Screw PressCloth Screw Press
Glass JarGlass Jar
5

Powder

Break and grind the cake, sift it fine, and check a pinch stirred in water with a pH strip; the head asks for pH 7-8. Keep it in a closed jar.

Tools needed:

Mortar and PestleMortar and Pestle
Fine Mesh SieveFine Mesh Sieve
pH Test StripspH Test Strips
Glass JarGlass Jar
6

Potash for your nibs

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Materials

2

Tools Required

13

This blueprint makes

Thumbnail
Placeholder

Cocoa Powder (Dutch Process)

Free

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