Chocolate storing tips - How to store chocolate

"What's the best way to store chocolate?" "The best place to store chocolate is in your mouth.

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Threats to Chocolate

The triple-threats to chocolate are heat, humidity, and odor. Too warm is bad (the chocolate softens or melts) as is too cold (moisture can condense on the chocolate as it warms up). The cocoa butter in chocolate sucks up odors faster than a dry sponge sucks up water.

Unopened bars of chocolate without dairy fillings do not need to be wrapped and can be kept at room temperature: 68–72° F. Kept away from rapid changes in temperature or humidity, dark chocolate bars will easily last a year and milk chocolate bars six months or more. There should be no need for special storage for bars until the temperature where they are stored climbs above 80° F. Opened bars can be stored in a heavy plastic bag or container or wrapped tightly with the new sticky cling-wrap product, but stay away from normal plastic wrap and aluminum foil.

Anything with dairy in a filling (e.g., a ganache) that is not going to be eaten within a week of being purchased should be stored much colder to keep the dairy from turning sour and, if there are air pockets in the piece, growing mold. The ideal place to store these chocolates is a wine refrigerator or wine cellar set for red wine. The temperature range of 57–60° F for red wine with a relative humidity of 55 percent is perfect for storing chocolates of all kinds.

When faced with the prospect of having to put chocolate under any form of refrigeration (including a wine cellar if the ambient temperature is above 80° F and the humidity is high—) it is important not to rush the process of either cooling the chocolate down or warming it up. Not to do so runs the risk of either or both: moisture condensing on the surface and forming a layer of sugar crystals (called sugar bloom) on the chocolate that permanently ruins the chocolate's texture; or cocoa butter bloomwhich is an unattractive whitish layer on the chocolate formed when the cocoa butter comes out of suspension.

Five Simple Steps

Following are the five simple steps you can take to ensure—should the need ever arise to refrigerate or freeze chocolate—that you'll be able to maintain the highest possible quality:

1. Divide the chocolate into serving-sized portions.
2. Wrap each portion in a separate small freezer-weight plastic bag and loosely cover the chocolate with an unbleached paper towel. Remove as much air as possible from the bag without squishing the chocolate and seal.
3. Put the individually wrapped portions into the fridge.
4. After 15 minutes or so check the bag to see if any moisture has condensed on the inside of the bag. If yes, replace the paper towel with a new one and return to the fridge.
5. After an hour in the fridge, remove the paper towel (to avoid the chocolate picking up its odor) and place the small individual bags into larger freezer-weight bags and return them to the fridge or put them in the freezer.

At this point you can keep the chocolate safely in the fridge for at least six months and in the freezer for a year. To warm the chocolate prior to eating it you'll need to think ahead or face the possibility chipping a tooth and helping your dentist put his or her kids through college. Remove only as many servings as you need from the freezer and place them in the fridge for at least eight to twelve hours or preferably overnight. From the refrigerator, place the bags in a cool dark place and let them warm to room temperature, one to two hours.

Enjoy!

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Ideally, chocolate should be stored in a slightly cool, dry, dark place. The perfect environment would be 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit, have low humidity (less than 50 percent), be out of direct sunlight, and away from any other foods or substances with strong odors that could be absorbed by the chocolate. Frequent exposure to high temperatures can cause the cocoa butter in chocolate to rise to the surface, creating “bloom,” an unpleasant cloudy gray color. This is a superficial flaw that can be corrected by melting and properly tempering the chocolate. However, in addition to bloom, white chocolate can go rancid when exposed to strong light, which will greatly affect the flavor and quality of the chocolate.

If you live in an extremely warm area and do not have air conditioning, you may need to keep your chocolate in the refrigerator or freezer to prevent it from melting. To freeze the chocolate, place it in an airtight container, and do not remove it from its container until it has been brought up to room temperature, to prevent condensation from forming on the chocolate. These water droplets will prevent the chocolate from melting smoothly and might affect the texture of the melted chocolate.