So you purchased your fine chocolate bars. They are so wonderful in flavour that you only need a few bites to be satisfied. So what do you do with the rest? How should you store them so that you can enjoy that vibrant flavour for weeks or months to come?
The following is true not only for your fine chocolate bars, but even your bags or blocks of chocolate you use to make chocolates with.
Where to store my chocolate:
In A Cool Dark Place (Ideally the best place)
What temperature exactly? Around 15-20°C is best. However, I have kept around ambient temperatures of 24-25°C, and they have kept well. However, cooler is better.
Why in the dark? So that it is not in the path of direct sunlight which can heat it up. Sitting on a table or counter that gets direct sunlight even for a few minutes can be enough to melt or destabilize the fat crystals.
Away from heat sources such near stoves, fridges, other appliances that get warm, or in cupboards near these appliances. Lower cupboards are often a bit cooler than higher ones.
Seal your bars back in the original wrapper. Usually there are two wrappers: The outer box/paper, and the plastic or paper wrapper around the chocolate. Wrap it back in the paper wrapper, or place it back in the plastic bag. Then if you can, place it back in the original box/wrapper.
Place it in an airtight container. This step is a sort of flavour insurance step. If your bars are in their original double wrapper, you don’t necessarily have to do this (especially if the cupboard or area they are in does not have any strong odours, or if you will eat them within a week or so). If you are keeping them longer than a few weeks, I would certainly put them in an airtight container. A resealable bag can work for the short term, but not long term. This is true for your blocks or bags of couverture chocolate s well. If the chocolate is in a resealable bag within a glass or plastic container, then that will be just fine.
Avoid strong ambient odours. Make sure the airtight container they are kept in, and the place you will store them (if not in a container) are void of strong odours. Chocolate (and even cacao beans) very easily absorb surrounding odours. This is why I recommend an airtight container (but make sure it is clean and odourless). This is also why I say that the resealable bag is only good for short term (a few weeks), as over time they may not be as durable a defense against surrounding odours. The bags also allow for a greater rate of oxidations, diminishing the fine flavour notes in the chocolate.
In The Fridge (If your home/kitchen gets too warm)
Yes. It is a myth that chocolate can’t be kept in the fridge. It can, but must be done properly. If done properly, it is ideal, especially if you live in warmer climates or worried your ambient temperature is pushing above 25°C for extended periods of time. Or if you will be keeping the bars for months or over a year, and worried you will forget to check them if your home gets warm.
As above in step one, you want to wrap it back up in the original inner and exterior wrappers. If you don’t have these, you can wrap it in odourless paper and place it in a resealable bag
You also want to be sure to keep in a resealable container, jar, or bag (as a last resort). This is for two reasons:
Fridges contain strong odours from time to time. A glass (best choice) or plastic airtight container will prevent odours from entering.
When you remove the bars from the fridge, you want to keep them in this container until they acclimate to the surrounding temperature (maybe an hour or a few hours depending on how warm it is in the room).
Let your chocolate acclimate before removing it from the container, and especially from it’s wrapper! If you don’t allow the chocolate to acclimate, and you unwrap your bars while they are cold, they will get condensation on them. This is especially true if it is both warm and humid in the room. Waiting a few hours is a good idea, or you can leave the container out overnight in a cool dark area. The condensation will cause sugar bloom, and make the chocolate bar sticky (the water melts the microscopic sugar crystals on the surface of the chocolate, and when they dry they crystalize leaving a white film on the bar). This sugar bloom isn’t bad for you, but it does change the look and the texture (which in turn influences your flavour experience). However, if you are using the chocolate to melt and re-temper, then yes, this will cause the chocolate to get thicker and be more of a challenge to temper well.
Once your bars have acclimated, you can unwrap them and enjoy them. You should never eat your chocolate cold. Eating your chocolate cold will change the way it melts (which is important) and will also dim or mute the fine aromas as coldness does to many of our foods.
How Long Can You Store Them?
Plain dark chocolate (cacao beans, sugar, cocoa butter) can last for years without spoiling, especially if kept dry. The high levels of polyphenols in dark chocolate, along with the high amounts of fat from the cocoa butter, make it virtually inhospitable for microorganisms to grow on.
That said, you don’t really want to keep your chocolate around for more than a year or two, as the flavours will change over time. Those fine aromas you loved in your bar when you first purchased it will dim over time. This is especially true for bars that have been opened, and those that are not heat sealed in a non-permeable material. The closer you eat it to the manufacturing date (if your bar indicates) the better tasting it will be. You can still eat it years later if kept well, but it may not taste as great.
Milk chocolate has a long shelf life too if kept cool, dark, and wrapped well. However, if exposed to moisture/air, it can grow mold from the high sugar content on it.
Bottom line is, keep your chocolate wrapped tight, away from heat/moisture/odours, and it will last for a long time.
This does not apply to chocolate bonbons or truffles or anything that contains fresh cream/butter/ganaches. These only last a few weeks outside the fridge (but more on these another time).
What happens if it DOES melt?
So, if your fine chocolate bar does melt, either from transport/shipping, or from you keeping it near the sun or somewhere warm, it’s not the end of the world.
Eat it melted! Absolutely nothing wrong with eating melted fine chocolate. This is another fun way to enjoy your bars, especially during colder times of the year. But you may want to save some of it, so what do you do?
Set it again by placing it somewhere cool or in the fridge, but keep it in it’s originally packaging, or in a resealable bag or wrap it in some way so it doesn’t leak.
It will solidify, but will look “ugly” as it is not in temper anymore. It may look white and blotchy, and so the texture won’t be as nice as you would want. Your chocolate isn’t moldy because of this, it is just that the fat wasn’t allowed to crystalize in the optimal way.
The flavour is still there! So acclimate your chocolate back to room temperature before unwrapping it, take a couple bites, move it around in your mouth, let it melt, and enjoy! The flavour is still there, and you can certainly still enjoy your chocolate bar. You just may not like the initial texture as it may be more chalky/gritty due to the way the fat resettled.
If you know how to temper chocolate, and how to temper it the table method, go ahead and re-temper your bar. Just spread the tempered chocolate on a parchment lined tray, chill it in the fridge, and you will have the same bar, with a beautiful texture, the same flavour, just in a different form!
Main Points
Wrap it well, and place in a (odourless) container for double insurance
Storage: (glass jars are best, then plastic containers, then reselable bags, and Plastic Wrap As a last resort).
Keep it cool - away from the sun and heat sources. Ideally 15-20°C
If coming from the fridge, let it acclimate before opening the wrapper.
Never eat it cold. Chocolate bars were not intended to be eaten chilled.
Eat it as close to the time you bought it. don’t let it sit around for a year or two on purpose. But if you do, you still can enjoy it.
A wine cooler/fridge is also a good place for them. Especially if you are a “collector” and will always have many bars you want to preserve. The same rules apply for acclimating before eating. Just make sure they are wrapped well, and if you are worried chocolate is exposed because the wrapper is torn, place it in a resealable bag, remove the air, and then place it in the fridge.
Geoseph
