Early 20th Century Chocolate and the Machines That Made It

Early 20th Century Chocolate and the Machines That Made It

October might bring to mind costumes, pumpkins, treats, and candy. But have you ever wondered how all that chocolate is made? What types of machines are used? Let’s travel back to the early 20th Century to learn more about some of those chocolate-making machines.
This trade catalog is titled
Samuel Carey Chocolate Machinery
(circa 1915) by
Samuel Carey
. It includes machines for various steps in the chocolate-making process, such as roasters, melangeurs, mixers, refiners, coating machines, and more.
Samuel Carey, Brooklyn, NY.
Samuel Carey Chocolate Machinery
(circa 1915), front cover.
Samuel Carey, Brooklyn, NY.
Samuel Carey Chocolate Machinery
(circa 1915), title page.
At the time this catalog was printed, the factory for Samuel Carey was located in Glendale, Brooklyn, New York while their office was located in New York City. This particular catalog includes an exterior image of the factory in Glendale and an interior image of the factory’s erecting floor, both shown below. Let’s flip through this catalog to learn a bit about a few of the machines built at this factory.
Samuel Carey, Brooklyn, NY.
Samuel Carey Chocolate Machinery
(circa 1915), unnumbered page [3], exterior view of Glendale Factory.
Samuel Carey, Brooklyn, NY.
Samuel Carey Chocolate Machinery
(circa 1915), unnumbered page [5], interior view of factory’s erecting floor.
One machine was the Cocoa Bean Roaster. According to this catalog, there were several ideas in regard to roasting cocoa beans. It explains that some at that time felt slow roasting was best “to maintain the flavor of the cocoa” while others preferred rapid roasting. There were also preferences on whether steam should be allowed to escape or not during the roasting process. Samuel Carey built roasters that were capable of both rapid or slow roasting and the ability to control the escape of steam for either moist or dry roasting.
The Model Cocoa Bean Roaster which produced a moderate output is shown below. Due to the arrangement of the agitators within the drum of this machine, the batch was “constantly and thoroughly mixed.” This, as explained in the catalog, produced a uniform roast of the cocoa beans. It was also possible to test the beans at any time during the process.
Samuel Carey, Brooklyn, NY.
Samuel Carey Chocolate Machinery
(circa 1915), page 8, Model Cocoa Bean Roaster.
The 60 Inch Revolving Bed Melangeur accomplished the job of heavy paste mixing. As the catalog explained, its purpose was “to amalgamate the Cocoa Liquor and sugar together in such a form as to be received by the Finisher.” This particular melangeur (below left) included granite rolls and a granite bed. A handy feature was its deep pan. The inner, or revolving pan, extended upwards to within about 1 inch of the outer shell. This created a deep pan to prevent materials within the pan from spilling over the edge and creating waste. Underneath the pan was a large coil of …