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avatarChocolate in the Freezer?

By Bryn Kirk on December 17, 2010 | Comments (0)

A question I hear somewhat frequently is, “Should I store chocolate in the freezer?

A friend once told me that the best place to store chocolate is in your mouth.  :)

Now for a more serious answer, the best place to store chocolate is in an odor-free, air-tight container surrounded by a 65 to 68 F air temperature with no more than 50% relative humidity.  How’s that for precise?

Really, there’s no point to freezing chocolate.  Freezing it or even storing it in the refrigerator will NOT extend the life of the chocolate!  So there is no good reason to store in the freezer. 

At the same time, there are good reasons for avoiding the freezer as a storage place.  The main problem with getting chocolate so cold is that when you take it out into a warm room, the dramatic change in temperature causes condensation and, eventually, bloom. 

Condensation is the accumulation of water on the surface of the chocolate.  Chocolate contaminated with water becomes an unusable dry, hard, crumbly mess that won’t temper.

Bloom, the unpleasant gray/whitish coating that is sometimes seen on the surface of chocolate, develops when the condensation evaporates and leaves a layer of dissolved sugar on top. 

There is one exception to my do-not-put-in-freezer rule…

When you make cookies or bread and the dough/batter happens to be on the warm side, the chocolate you add may melt a little while you stir it in.  The result is smearing and discoloration to the dough.  Here’s a neat trick: add very cold chocolate (put it in the freezer about 1 hour prior to adding to dough) and that will buy you enough time to mix it in without melting and smearing.

Categories: chocolate education,chocolate Q&A,fun chocolate facts
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avatarHarry & David Truffles

By Bryn Kirk on November 29, 2010 | Comments (1)

Harry & David is a large direct marketing and e-commerce company that sells many edible products, including chocolate.

Harry & David may be best known for their gourmet fruit and gift baskets. Recently, I sampled a bag of gold foil wrapped chocolate truffles from a gift basket. 

They looked good on the outside, meaning the packaging was nice.  But once opened, I saw that they had been taken over by bloom – perhaps stored in a place that with fluctuating temperatures.  I can’t imagine it myself, but could it have been the last thing left in the gift basket???

Since I know that bloom is only unappealing in appearance and completely safe to eat, I ate it of course!  The chocolate coating was dark, with bold cocoa notes and the chocolate center was a slow melting center of velvety smoothness. 

The overall experience was good, but not my favorite in terms of truffles. My first choice is a fresh truffle with a made-from-cream ganache center.  I enjoy the ganache type much more than the coconut oil melt-a-way types of truffles.

Still, the chocolaty flavor was nicely balanced with soft nutty notes.  These truffles would make a great gift to the chocolate lover in your life – provided you don’t leave it in the gift basket too long!

Categories: chocolate review
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avatarCandy Has A Shelf Life

By Bryn Kirk on October 19, 2010 | Comments (0)

As a kid, I used to have a designated dresser drawer in my room where I would store my Halloween candy.  I would try to make it last as long as possible.  After several years of this practice, my experience told me to eat my favorite pieces first because some candy just didn’t taste good after a while.  What I didn’t know at the time was that candy has a shelf life.

Shelf life is the length of time a product may be stored without becoming unsuitable for use or consumption.

This shelf life for candy can range between two weeks to a year.  The length of time depends on the type of candy, along with correct packaging and the proper storage conditions.

Chocolate has a shelf life, but it doesn’t go from good to bad very quickly.  Most milk chocolates last from six to nine months and dark chocolate at least a year, sometimes more.  Chocolate may “bloom” (turn gray) but this just means that it may not be at its best anymore, but it can still be eaten safely.

Candy that is coated in chocolate generally has a shorter shelf life because of what the center is made from.  Chocolate-covered nuts, caramels or fruit fillings will oxidize or go rancid faster than a bar of strictly chocolate. These candies can get grainy, change in color, and acquire off-flavors and after-tastes.

A good rule of thumb is the softer the candy, the shorter its shelf life.

Looking back, storing candy in my bedroom dresser drawer wasn’t the best way to keep chocolate.  The dresser was located next to the radiator (anyone remember radiating heat?), exposed to extreme temperature fluctuations.  Loose in a drawer also exposed it to too much air.

Storing chocolate at a constant 65 to 68 F and keeping it in an air tight container is the best way to keep that Halloween, or any of your favorite candy, good to eat for a long time.

Categories: chocolate education,chocolate in the news
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avatarWorking With Chocolate and Caramel Filling

By Bryn Kirk on August 8, 2010 | Comments (0)

One of my email subscribers was wondering how chocolate candies made with high water content fillings, like caramel, can seemingly withstand blooming or other adverse effects?

It is true that even the smallest amount of water and chocolate don’t get along.  The combination often leads to problems like seizing and sugar bloom.  Yet, you can buy chocolate-covered caramels and see for yourself that they look good and tastes good.  They have a fairly decent shelf life, too.

So what is the secret for getting this to work?

Let me say, first of all, that it isn’t so much a secret as it is strategy.  It is a timing game.  How long can we keep nature’s forces at bay because eventually the issues between a high water content filling and the chocolate coating will come to life. 

Tip #1 – Find the right caramel formula.  During the caramel making process, boiling the ingredients will allow most of the water to evaporate and the remaining water should be trapped among the sugar solids.  But this behavior depends on the right recipe.  Finding the right formulation will take experimentation and practice.

Tip #2 – Wrap a thick coating of chocolate around the filling to slow down the migration of any water or liquid fat from reaching the surface.  You’ll know pretty quickly if the coating is not thick enough because bloom will appear early and the shelf life will be shorter than expected. 

Tip #3 – Store and package the final product correctly to prolong the arrival of bloom.  It is optimal to store at a room temperature of 70F and 50% relative humidity.

Categories: chocolate education,chocolate Q&A
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