Jack and the Chocolate Factory

During our last week in Florida, Porter and I walked to Jimmie's Chocolates to buy some handmade chocolates for Daddy because he had been working so hard doing boat projects. At the store, we met Rob, one of the owners. He asked what we were doing and when we explained about living on Sila and buying a present for Daddy, he thought it was the best story he had heard all week. While we were there, he told us that he wanted to meet our parents. So for a few days, we tried to take Mama there to meet Rob, but he was always out.

Finally, we were at the store at the same time as Rob. After introducing him to Mama, I asked him if he could teach us a little about making chocolates. He agreed and we arranged to meet a few days later at Jimmie's, the chocolate store.

When Rob arrived, we were ready for him to teach us about chocolates. We then walked half a block down the road to the chocolate factory. Rob dialed in the code and we stepped in. The smell of chocolate wafted over me. I could almost taste it. I looked around. It was a lot smaller than I thought it would be. It was two rooms. One was the size of a garage and the other was half that. In the big room, there were boxes and desks and racks of things. In the small room, there was a normal-looking oven and stove, a table in the center with marble slabs on it as well as machines and dish racks that lined the walls. Rob first taught us about tempering chocolate. He started by showing us three big things that looked like giant pots. One pot was full of melted milk chocolate. The others were filled with dark chocolate and white chocolate. Rob told us that he tempered the chocolate in the enormous pots that are always kept warm. That means they raise the temperature, then drop it, then raise it, then drop it over and over again. This process makes the chocolate more smooth and shiny when it is done.

Rob then explained to us the steps for making the chocolates. All the chocolates sold at Jimmie's are made from scratch. Step #1 is to build the centers. If you want a sea salt caramel, you would make the caramel first. Step #2 was to make the bottom. They took the center and slid it across a chocolate covered grate. The center would then pick up the chocolate and form a bottom. The bottom and center then went onto an ice-cold surface. Mama, Porter and I saw the surface and I could imagine employees eating the chocolates then and there. Step #3 is where they covered up the center. This was the most amazing part to me. The chocolates are put onto a conveyor belt. Under the belt is liquid chocolate. Two wheels, like thin carriage wheels, on either side of the conveyor belt, lift up the chocolate and the chocolate flows onto a slab above the conveyor belt then flows down into a waterfall or curtain of chocolate. The conveyor belt takes the center through two curtains of chocolate, completely covering the center. Rob turned on the machine for us so we could see the wheels lift up the chocolate and then the curtain form over the conveyor belt. I wanted to dip my finger under the curtain! Step #4 is decorating the chocolates. Rob showed us a spot on the conveyor belt where people would perfect and decorate the chocolates at this station. They might shake a colored sauce over it making streaks, or sprinkle salt on them or other decorations. Step #5 was the cooling tunnel. The cooling tunnel led from the small room into the big room. The chocolates would go through the cold tunnel on a conveyor belt. At the other end of the tunnel, a person would pick up the chocolates and put them in boxes.

Here Rob is explaining about how the curtain of chocolate works. If you look closely, you can just see the curtain starting to form over the conveyor belt. Rob turned on the machine so we could see it running.

One thing I liked learning is that every chocolate is touched by the human hand three times. The first is when the person picks up the bottom with the center on it and puts in on the belt to go under the curtain of chocolate. The second time is when they decorate the tops of the chocolates. And the last time is when they pick them up and put the chocolates in boxes or on trays to take to the shop.

Rob showed us the secret formula for some of his chocolates…but I cannot tell you that part. He showed us a tray of centers, waiting to be made into chocolate vanilla creams. He pulled the tray of vanilla creams out of the fridge. They did not have chocolate around them yet and Rob let us try one each. It was delicious.

These are the vanilla cream centers that we tasted. You can see the three missing ones on the ends!

I also enjoyed learning about the temperature in the factory. They had to keep it cool but not too cold so they could work with the chocolate but not have it melt. They had fans and air conditioning to control the temperature.

Also in the factory, there were a bunch of bottles full of extract. There were about twenty different flavors. Chocolate is a really strong flavor that would easily overpower other flavors. Rob explained that if the center was raspberry, they would squirt raspberry extract in the chocolate so you could taste the raspberry better. This was one of the most interesting things we learned.

Rob told us more things about the chocolate factory then we left and went back to the store. At the store, we saw how they make molded chocolates. They fill the molds and let the chocolate harden into a shape. Rob even showed us how they put the colors on the outside of the chocolates by painting the stencil first.  After painting, they would fill the mold with melted chocolate. To keep the chocolate from dripping down to the bottom of the mold, they would twist and move the mold to keep the chocolate moving until hardened up all over the mold. Then they would add more chocolate and do it again until the piece was thick enough to stand on its own. There was a bunny that was 3 feet tall. Now that I know how it was made, I am pretty impressed.

This is us with Rob in the shop. In the back , you can just see a couple of the large chocolate bunnies. These are not the biggest ones. These ones are about two feet tall.

It was a pretty fun and interesting visit. I really enjoyed walking with Rob and learning about the chocolate factory. We bought a box of chocolates right before we left and ate them on the passage to the Bahamas.

Now that I know how the chocolates are made, I wanted to slowly savor them because I know how long they took to make. Devouring them would be offensive! – Jack Rabbit