The Secret to Keeping Gourmet Chocolate Fresh

When we buy gourmet chocolate, we want it to stay fresh and delicious so it’s important to know how to store chocolate to keep it staying fresh. I remember a number of years back when I was first buying good chocolate.  I didn’t know anything about storing chocolate to keep it fresh. Since I was a kid, I had always made my own chocolate treats thanks to my mother and the chocolate was usually gone before I needed to worry about storing it. 

Then the opportunity came for me to buy my first imported Belgian chocolate truffles. So I brought them. I knew what the truffles would taste like because a friend of mine had shared some of hers with me and I was excited to get my own to share. My plan was to save the chocolate truffles for a special occasion so I left the chocolate in its box and stored it in the refrigerator. If I refrigerated the chocolate it would stay fresh I thought.  I have to admit; I sampled the truffles a few times before the party and enjoyed them.

Well, a few weeks later when I took the chocolate out for the party I was having and sampled some more of them, I was surprised to find the truffles had gone kind of flat. I knew how the chocolate was supposed to taste and it wasn’t supposed to taste flat. Needless to say, I was disappointed and vowed to myself not to let that happen again. After all, I paid allot for that fine chocolate.

The Facts about Storing Chocolate

I did some research and found how the chocolate connoisseurs store their good chocolate. The French and Belgian connoisseurs consider the following when storing chocolate, especially gourmet chocolate.

1. The chocolate should not be left in a cold place like a refrigerator because if it’s taken out often, the temperature change will cause condensation on it and will dry it out. Chocolate does need to be kept in a cool place though because chocolate is a lot like butter. It melts if it gets too warm.
2. If you’re in a heat wave and don’t have air conditioning, the chocolate should be refrigerated, but place it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  When you want to take the chocolate out, take it out still in the container and wait until the container gets to the room temperature, then take the chocolate out of it. This prevents condensation from forming on the chocolate. Having the chocolate in the container while in the refrigerator also prevents the chocolate from absorbing other food odors.
3. Chocolate needs to be kept cool as we have said before because high temperatures make the cacao butter rise to the surface and may give the chocolate an unsightly grayish color. It doesn’t affect the chocolate’s taste normally and can be corrected by melting and properly tempering the chocolate, but you want to avoid going through all that. 
4. It’s best to keep your chocolate in a cool dark place without much humidity like a pantry or cabinet. That way the chocolate doesn’t experience condensation nor is it harmed by direct sunlight.  Strong direct light is not good for regular or dark chocolate, but it’s worse on white chocolate. It can make white chocolate go rancid, which destroys it.
5. Another thing to consider is that since chocolate contains fat and sugar, it can absorb odors from things around it. Make sure the cool dark place doesn’t have other foods or substances with strong odors in it that could be absorbed by the chocolate – that will affect how the chocolate tastes when you eat it. If the pantry or cabinet does contain these odor causing items, consider using an airtight container in there too.
6. A final consideration when storing chocolate is its shelf life. Most filled chocolate can last up till one month and chocolate without filling can last almost a year if it’s stored appropriately. 

I hope these chocolate storage secrets help keep your good chocolate staying fresh.  Bon Appétit!