What’s the difference between a Chocolatier and a Chocolate Maker?

I’m glad you asked.

A Chocolate Maker purchases cocoa beans and transforms them into chocolate.

This requires a process of:

• sourcing the cocoa beans

• purchasing

• sorting (checking the bags of cocoa beans on arrival for any nasty beans - mouldy, insect-infested, etc - or foreign objects, like screws, leaves, insects)

• roasting the beans - this can even be done in a standard oven. Some makers have barrel ovens, others use a nut or coffee roaster, some use industrial ovens you could use to bake bread.

• winnowing the beans - this means to remove the papery outer husk from the cocoa beans. If you don’t get rid of this then your chocolate will be gritty and bitter. Also it’s illegal to have more than a tiny percentage included in the bar. A winnowing machine is bespoke to chocolate making. Many makers makeshift their own but smaller ones can be purchased now.

• breaking the beans into pieces, called cocoa nibs

• grinding the cocoa nibs - this means crushing and agitating the nibs until the pressure and heat from the friction eventually turns the nibs into smooth, glossy chocolate. During this stage is where sugar and sometimes milk powder will be added to be ground into the mix, too. Most chocolate will have additional cocoa butter added at this stage

• ageing the chocolate - the molten chocolate is usually tipped from the grinder into food-safe containers and left for 2-4 weeks. The flavour then stabilises for 18-24 months. The ageing is done for consistency in customer experience - usually it still tastes great straight after it’s made. Not all chocolate makers age their chocolate.

• tempering the chocolate - the process of heating, cooling, heating then cooling the chocolate again so all of the cocoa butter crystals are in the correct Beta5 formation that will give the chocolate maker shiny chocolate with a crisp snap. The final cooling stage is done in the mould which determines the shape of the chocolate bar.

• wrapping and labelling - many smaller chocolate makers wrap and label by hand. This is incredibly labour intensive.

• selling and marketing

A Chocolatier purchases chocolate and transforms it into other chocolate products.

This is still an impressive skill. People often come to being chocolatiers after training as a chef, or going to culinary school, where tempering and making chocolates is taught. I have met many excellent self-taught chocolatiers, so it isn’t necessary. The investment in equipment for becoming a chocolatier is much lower than for becoming a chocolate maker, but is not insignficant.

The process involves:

• purchasing the chocolate - this might come as bars or buttons or - if you’re large enough - in a tanker of molten chocolate

• polishing the chosen moulds

• making fillings for the chocolates (unless they are just remelting in a bar without a filling)

• tempering the chocolate

• EITHER:

  • lining the moulds with a thin layer chocolate, filling these once they’re set and putting another layer of chocolate on top of the filling to seal (or cap) the chocolate

  • dipping the fillings in the chocolate

  • pouring tempered chocolate straight into bar moulds and shaking out the air bubbles and possibly adding toppings

• packaging the chocolate

• selling and marketing

Can you be a Chocolate Maker and a Chocolatier?

Yes.

This is increasingly common as either chocolatiers seek to have more control over the flavour and supply variables of the chocolate they use or because a chocolate maker sees an opportunity to expand their offering to their customers.

It is still not particularly common. Especially as it requires a totally different set of equipment and skills and more space.

They are quite different skills and companies that do this most successfully hire an experienced person to help them expand.