Cocoa
Bean Drying
East
New Britain
Here
is an example of a cocoa bean dryer
in ENB. The cocoa beans are taken
from the tree, dried, bagged, and
then taken to Rabaul or Kokopo
to sell. The wood and coconut husks
you see to the left of the dryer
are used for burning to heat the
beans.
Before placing the beans on the
main drying platform, they are placed
in these bins. A batch will sit in
the left bin for a few days, and
then they will be moved to the right
bin until they are ready to be heat-dried.
Here is the the main drying platform,
which is located above a slow-burning
fire to finish drying the beans.
