The Continuous Production Of Milk Crumb

Bart Christiansen
Project Engineer Green Division/Dover Corporation

ilk chocolate was invented a century ago, in Switzerland, from which emerged a very appealing flavor quite different than that of dark chocolate. One major problem confronting the early producers of milk chocolate was the inability to maintain the flavor of the chocolate during extended storage periods. The resultant bad flavor was caused by degradation of the milk fat. As the market for milk chocolate in Europe expanded, new methods of production were introduced which eliminated the problem of milk fat degradation during storage. The use of milk crumb in the manufacture of milk chocolate was one of these methods. Milk crumb not only improved the keeping qualities, but also produced a more flavorful finished product. Presently, there are many companies throughout the world using and/or manufacturing milk crumb of varied formulations. Some firms have their crumb plants in rural areas where fresh milk is plentiful. The good keeping qualities of milk crumb enable manufacturers to store the finished crumb in large silos with controlled atmospheric conditions for up to nine months. This assures an adequate supply of crumb for chocolate making during seasonal milk flush periods. The primary reasons, as mentioned above, for using milk crumb in chocolate making is the resultant 56

flavor of the chocolate and the improved keeping qualities, There are also some process advantages when using crumb. Since a considerable amount of flavor development is accomplished during crumb manufacturing, conching time can be reduced appreciably. The use of crumb also eliminates the need for adding milk powder later in the chocolate making process, When chocolate liquor is included in the crumb recipe, another step is avoided later in the process. These advantages may or may not be indigenous to all chocolate making processes, and just as chocolate making processes differ, crumb processes differ as well. There are many different types of crumb making processes in operation, and a good number of them are proprietary. The traditional, and probably the most familiar, is the vacuum oven process. Liquid milk is concentrated in multiple effect evaporators to approximately 40% solids after which sugar is added according to the recipe required. This sweetened condensed milk is then concentrated in a vacuum pan to approximately 90% solids. After sugar crystallization has begun, as determined by the operator, the mixture is discharged into a heavy duty mixer charged with chocolate liquor. As the presence of crystals is imperative at this stage, a seeding device 30th P.M.C.A. Production Conference, 1976