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Storing Finished Chocolates


Darienne

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Now I know that this topic has been dealt with before, but after going through 19...count'em...19 pages of topics with 'chocolate' in the title, I could find no reference to simply how long a chocolate might last before it begins to look like the ones I was about to bestow on our butcher today. And now am not going to.

Barbara, confectionery partner, and I made simple marbled dark and white chocolates on February 4th. The leftover lot has been sitting in a dark, cool, airtight container since that day. It is now the 13th. They are not moldy or with bloom...they just look really old and tired and the gloss is gone!

I need some storage info, please. :rolleyes:

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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Now I know that this topic has been dealt with before, but after going through 19...count'em...19 pages of topics with 'chocolate' in the title, I could find no reference to simply how long a chocolate might last before it begins to look like the ones I was about to bestow on our butcher today. And now am not going to.

Barbara, confectionery partner, and I made simple marbled dark and white chocolates on February 4th. The leftover lot has been sitting in a dark, cool, airtight container since that day. It is now the 13th. They are not moldy or with bloom...they just look really old and tired and the gloss is gone!

I need some storage info, please. :rolleyes:

How soon after you made them did they start to look old and tired? I suspect the temper was the problem. A little over one week out - plain chocolate stored under those conditions should look fine.

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I did check them once, several days ago, and they looked fine. That was the only time they were disturbed.

The dark chocolate was tempered in the Revolation I...but it embarrasses me, now that I have asked for advice...to remember that we only melted the white and did not temper it.

Ooops. That might be the answer. :huh:

Still you are suggesting that properly tempered and stored, they should still look glossy quite a long while.

Oh well, I'll chop them up and Ed can eat them as time goes by with his peanut butter or something. :raz:

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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Don't be silly!! Now where do I remember reading "learn, learn, learn..." Hmmmm! Mistakes are exactly what make us learn and understand.

Well, actually I really was being 'silly', as in the emoticon for 'braz' :raz:

Oddly enough, the white non-tempered parts of the marbling are still shiny...it the dark brown which looks a bit tatty. Very curious.

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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How hot was the white chocolate? It might have taken the dark chocolate out of temper...

It wasn't hot at all. Just lukewarm. And as mentioned in my last post, it is still shiny, which it shouldn't by all rights be, and the dark brown is dull.

Learn, learn, learn...

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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I've got a theory here - the dark chocolate had been in temper for a while, maybe even overtempered - ie had lots of beta crystals in it. The white chocolate - if it was in temper at all - didn't have so many beta crystals. The white chocolate comes into contact with the crystal rich dark chocolate and starts to grow it's own beta crystals. The magic of the 'latent heat of crystallization' ie the heat given off as a mass of chocolate starts to crystallize and harden - warmed the dark chocolate at the interfaces between white and dark to the point that it went above the working temperature and it's beta crystals got dissolved. Walla - dark chocolate a bit out of temper and loses it's shine. That effect will 'creep' a bit over a few days.

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I've got a theory here - the dark chocolate had been in temper for a while, maybe even overtempered - ie had lots of beta crystals in it. The white chocolate - if it was in temper at all - didn't have so many beta crystals. The white chocolate comes into contact with the crystal rich dark chocolate and starts to grow it's own beta crystals. The magic of the 'latent heat of crystallization' ie the heat given off as a mass of chocolate starts to crystallize and harden - warmed the dark chocolate at the interfaces between white and dark to the point that it went above the working temperature and it's beta crystals got dissolved. Walla - dark chocolate a bit out of temper and loses it's shine. That effect will 'creep' a bit over a few days.

You are, indeed, the Chocolate Doctor!!! :smile:

Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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  • 6 years later...

I know the gold standard for storing molded chocolate bon bons is to vacuum-pack lightly, then freeze.  Any suggestions for an overly-enthusiastic home chocolatier with an abundance of inventory and no vacuum sealer?  My local coffe shop is selling my wares, but not as quickly as I've been producing them!

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Ziplock bag and sucking!  Some use a straw :)

 

If you don't need to use the mold again right away, you can leave the bonbons in the mold and wrap the whole thing up in plastic before freezing.  I figure at least most of the piece is protected from air or scratches.  I do this occasionally and it seems to work well.

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28 minutes ago, RuthWells said:

Thanks, PastryGirl!  Great suggestions.  How crucial is it to cool in the fridge prior to freezing?

 

 

Honestly not sure.  I do try to follow the rules, but I suspect that thawing slowly ( move to fridge for a day then let come to room temp) is more important so frozen truffles don't suddenly enter a warm room and get condensation on the surface.

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I use a plastic tub I buy in the local $2 shop. It is fairly shallow, but does have headroom above the chocolates. I pack them so their sides are just touching and then wrap in plastic wrap/gladwrap several times as the lid is not airtight. 24 hours in the fridge then into freezer. Taking them out is 24 hours in the fridge, then 24 hours remaining wrapped at room temperature before unwrapping them. 

 

I've done this for several years now and never had a problem with thousands of chocolates (Christmas is a big production time for me but due to our heat in December, I often start earlier and freeze)

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2 hours ago, RuthWells said:

Thanks, Ruth.  Do you worry about headroom and condensation with the Snapware?

 

 

I have several sizes. another thing we have been doing, is placing the cupped chocolates on a thin cardboard and then in a ziplock bag. We layer 3-4 bags in one large snapware. That way, we can pull out just one bag of what we need rather than the whole tub. If I have headroom, I wad up parchment paper to take up the space. On condensation, we are fortunate to live in a very dry climate at 5000 ft. I still wait until the container is at room temp before opening, but have been known to just open right from the freezer in an emergency. have not had a problem with sugar bloom.

Edited by Chocolot
too fast fingers (log)
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Ruth Kendrick

Chocolot
Artisan Chocolates and Toffees
www.chocolot.com

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