Chocolate Pumping Solutions

The chocolate-making process is a delicate craft perfected over thousands of years. Cacao trees are harvested for their beans which are then roasted, ground up, and mixed with oils to create a semi-liquid, which is the beginning point in the making of finished chocolate.

If the chocolate has been liquified by heating, it is known as chocolate liquor (liquid chocolate).

Early-stage chocolate is called bitter chocolate named after it's bitter taste. Add sugar, and it is known as sweet chocolate. Add milk for milk chocolate.

Despite the name, white chocolate does not contain any chocolate liquor or cocoa solids. It is a mixture of cocoa butter, sugar, and milk. Chocolate can be further diluted with fats like palm oil, coconut oil, or lecithin.

Chocolate Makers Trust Viking Pump

We Know the Struggle

Slow and complicated pump startups
Abrasive products wearing away at the pump internals
Product buildup within the pump
Leaky pumps leave product all over the floor leading to slip hazards and costly clean up

Positive displacement pumps have been the reliable solution to the challenges that the chocolate industry faces.

Viking has worked closely with processors to overcome the many difficulties of pumping chocolate and developed solutions for each unique chocolate liquid.

Hardened parts to minimize wear by abrasive cocoa liquor
Extra clearances and drilled idler gears to prevent caramelization of white chocolate
Grooves to promote flow behind the rotor to prevent solids buildup on sugar-free chocolate
Special seals for cocoa butter and fats
Jacketed for smoother startups
Cast iron and stainless steel material options

Get in touch

Viking pumps are used in the manufacturing process (bean to bulk), making confections (bulk to bar), and plants that do both (bean to bar). Whether it's loading or unloading tanker trucks, transferring materials from one process to another, or recirculating dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or white chocolate in an enrobing machine, Viking does it all. Typical applications for our product are shown on the process map and include transferring product between the following processes:

Ingredient loading/unloading

Transfer between storage tanks

Tempering Process

Chocolate tempering is a complex process that requires careful control of temperature, humidity, and other factors in order to produce the desired product. Fortunately, there is now an efficient solution that can make chocolate tempering simple and efficient—the chocolate pumping solution.

This innovative technology consists of two parts: a chocolate pump and a tempering chamber. First, the chocolate pump circulates tempered chocolate from the tempering chamber to the destination, such as a mold or pan. The tempered chocolate is then ready to be used for whatever applications it’s needed for.

Enrobing

Enrobing machines are an integral component of any chocolate processing facility. They are the final step in the production process and are responsible for coating and filling components with a thin layer of chocolate before they can be packaged and shipped to consumers.

Depositing

Chocolate depositing is a process that requires careful attention to detail in order to ensure accurate and consistent results. The depositing step involves placing the necessary ingredients into the machine hopper, setting the desired quantity and speed of operation, and allowing the machine to pump out predetermined amounts of product. The resulting liquid will likely be a different consistency coming out than it was going in.

Cocoa mass milling

Cocoa mass milling is the process to achieve uniform texture and flavor. This process is conducted in order to break down the cocoa beans into smaller particles, producing the cocoa mass that is used as a base for chocolate products.

Double O-Pro® Seal vs Packing

We have listened to customers and evolved our offering to provide a seal that reduces loss of product due to leakage. A pump with packing allows for leakage, creating a slippery hazard in facilities. This makes the O-Pro® seal an excellent choice to add to your existing system. Read More >>

Speak to an Expert

Joel Fenton

Chocolate Market Specialist

Submit a contact form or call 224-263-1818

Chocolate Plant Elimates Leakage with O-Pro® Barrier

August 02, 2019

A major producer of chocolate confections in the eastern United States had been operating many Viking pumps on a variety of confectionary liquids for decades.

Many of these gear pumps have shaft packing, an extremely reliable means of preventing leaks, but which require some…

Chocolate, O-Pro®

Distributor Spotlight | Rogers Machinery

September 03, 2019

Rogers Machinery Company, Inc. was co-founded in 1949 by two war buddies, Ned Rogers and Walter M. Novak, who served together aboard the USS Reno in the South Pacific during WWII. These like-minded veterans followed their dream to build a business providing compressed air equipment and pumps to the Pacific Northwest (Portland, Oregon), home to…

Chocolate

EC1935 Certified

The EC1935/2004 regulation sets up a general safety requirement applicable to all possible materials that could come into contact with food and articles for the EU. It enables adoption of specific safety requirements (i.e. further harmonization at EU level) for seventeen Food Contact Materials (FCMs) across the EU: plastics (including recycled plastics), ceramics, regenerated cellulose, active and intelligent materials, adhesives, cork, paper & board, metals & alloys, glass, coatings, silicones, rubbers, printing inks, ion-exchanging resins, textiles, waxes, & wood. Where specific requirements have not been adopted at EU level, Member States could adopt such measures at national level, which is the case for most of the FCMs.

The Viking Pump Advantage

Viking Pump has been a trusted partner in reliability with chocolate and confectionery processors around the world for more than a century. As the world's leading positive displacement pump manufacturer, solving difficult liquid transfer problems is what we do. And it doesn't get more difficult than chocolate, so you can rely on Viking's experience and expertise.

Low shear design protects delicate shear sensitive chocolate suspensions
Hard materials provide long life on abrasive liquors and chocolates
Internal gear pump principle handles viscosities ranging from thin cocoa butter to thick peanut butter
Rotatable casing can locate ports in any of 8 positions for easy piping connections
Simple, in-house maintenance
Stocking distributors worldwide provide local sales service and support
In-house research lab for prompt liquid performance and endurance testing

Internal Gear Pump - How It Works

Viking Pump invented the internal gear pumping principle, a type of positive displacement pump, more than a century ago. The pump rotor (outer gear) is mounted to the shaft and rotates at slow speeds, turning the idler (inner) gear on the idler pin, mounted on the pump head. The gears open large voids between their teeth as they turn, creating low pressure zones that enable atmospheric pressure to flow chocolate in. As the gears re-mesh, the voids collapse and chocolate flows out the discharge port. Flow rate is directly proportional to speed, so variable speed drives can provide precise process control. Direction of flow is reversible, to strip material from the line after pumping.