Primitive men devised tools to make chores easier to accomplish, to which civilizations that followed made improvements to achieve faster and better results. As tools became modern, inventive and creative people were able to discover additional ways of using available raw materials.
Chocolate bars for example, were invented only in 1847 after a confectioner discovered how to harden melted chocolate. Much later, use of thermometers became necessary as it took away the guess work in tempering chocolates when making chocolate bars
Cacao Beans’ First Use was for Pottery
Modern historians have discovered that the ancient Aztecs first used cacao beans for pottery. This was after artefacts found in Honduras, dating as far back as 1400 years before the common era (B.C.E.) were analyzed to have been made from some mixture that included cocoa beans.
Perhaps, at some point, pottery makers started liking the taste of the pounded cocoa beans that someone from the group began to boil leftover cacao beans to make hot beverages out of them..
After Europe’s discovery of the Americas, the popularity of cacao beans had spread to different countries that it later became an important baking ingredient.
In 1847, a British confectioner was the first to come up with the idea of using cacao paste and sugar to make chocolate bars. The idea was soon picked up by other candy makers who developed processes by which melted chocolate can be transformed into hardened but smoother and shinier bars and candies. Tempering of melted chocolate was a key step to producing the best-tasting and most delicious-looking chocolate sweets, which made the thermometer an important tool.
Today, DIY chocolate makers no longer have to start from scratch because they can simply buy chocolate melts for making chocolate bars and varieties of candy. While whipping up homemade chocolate bars do not require fancy tools, using those that allow accomplishing more with less time and effort, as well as with better accuracy makes a DIY experience more enjoyable.
Tools are Designed to Accomplish Tasks With Little to No Frustration
Having the right tools and learning how to use them properly are the surest and fastest ways of completing DIY projects. More often than not, they were invented and designed by people who enjoy what they do; yet thought of ways on how to make their tasks easier and faster to accomplish, whilst producing even better results.
Going back to chocolate bars as an example, the use of thermometers for better tempering of the melted chocolate eliminated relying on guess work. Since nowadays, food contamination can be an issue, there are thermometers that indicate temperature without the need for direct contact with the concoction.
DIY power tools are fast becoming a household necessity these days. After all, there’s an abundance of tutorials and how-to articles and videos that show how to use them and what could be accomplished by using them. Even more important is the satisfaction of being able to achieve smoothness in woodworks by using an electric sander, which takes away the tedious, often boring process of manually sanding with an abrasive paper.
While chocolates and woodworks are worlds apart, the smoothness of both products is often a standard of excellence. If properly tempered, chocolate bars come out hard but looking smooth and shiny. Similarly, sanding a woodwork using a random orbital sander can help make the finished product achieve an ultra-smooth look and texture.