It’s been a chocolaty week, so I thought I’d close it out with one more chocolate-themed post…
After cocoa beans are roasted, the shell is removed from the bean by awinnowing machine. The collected shells represent the only part of the bean which is not usable in chocolate due to their dry, fibrous texture and an unpleasant taste they bring to the finished chocolate.
While, the shells do make a surprisingly useful garden mulch (they contain nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorous), that hasn’t stopped people from experimenting with other potential uses:
Engineers at Public Service of New Hampshire, the state’s largest electric utility, successfully tested a novel fuel mixture for one of its electricity-generating boilers: coal tempered with cocoa-bean shells. Hedonists have long rhapsodised about the seductive power of chocolate; now cocoa power may light homes as well.
Unfortunately, this did not improve the coal burning smell:
State officials, who had previously approved the utility’s conversion of another boiler to burn wood, watched the testing procedure closely. … Observers and neighbours, meanwhile, did a lot of sniffing. But to everyone’s disappointment, coal and cocoa shells burned together do not fill the air with the sweet smell of chocolate.
Note: You will need an account on Economist.com to access the link above (register to receive a 14 day premium pass). The Economist is a wonderful publication and I highly recommend you explore some of their other content while you’re there.
