Chocolate in the Refrigerator

[Shel_B]

Does chocolate suffer in any way from being refrigerated?  What about when being moved to and from the refrigerator, especially several times?  Thanks!

[Mjx]

Chocolate is fine in the refrigerator, although I can't think of any good reason to store it there, unless it is really hot in every corner of your home. Like almost everything else refrigerated, it'll develop surface condensation when you remove it, so you'll want to wipe it down.

[Kerry Beal]

The problem with the surface condensation that Michaela mentions is that the sugar in the chocolate becomes dissolved in it - then when the water evaporates you get a fine coating of sugar on the surface.  This is called sugar bloom.   It makes the chocolate look kinda moldy - but it doesn't harm it in any way.  

 

Chocolate doesn't need to be refrigerated though.  If you are keeping it for a long time - a cool dry spot will work just fine.  

 

If you want to avoid the surface condensation - put the chocolate in an airtight container, bring the whole container out to room temperature for 24 hours before opening the container.  The condensation will form on the box, not the chocolate.  

[Shel_B]

The problem with the surface condensation that Michaela mentions is that the sugar in the chocolate becomes dissolved in it - then when the water evaporates you get a fine coating of sugar on the surface.  This is called sugar bloom.   It makes the chocolate look kinda moldy - but it doesn't harm it in any way.  

 

Chocolate doesn't need to be refrigerated though.  If you are keeping it for a long time - a cool dry spot will work just fine.  

 

If you want to avoid the surface condensation - put the chocolate in an airtight container, bring the whole container out to room temperature for 24 hours before opening the container.  The condensation will form on the box, not the chocolate.  

 

Thanks for the detailed info, Kerry.  I don't usually put my chocolate in the fridge, but Toots does, and we had a discussion about it yesterday.  Your comments, and Michaela's, may get sweetie pie to change her habit,

[Kerry Beal]

It's been my experience that people who like to keep their chocolate in the fridge are hard to convince otherwise!

 

My hubby doesn't keep chocolate in the fridge - but does like to chill his chocolate before eating it.  

[DianaM]

Mine does, too! Drives me up the wall. I told him if I break a tooth on that 85%, there'll be hell to pay.

[Sandia]

I use to keep chocolate in the fridge, this way I'm sure that it doesn't melt ; however I've been hearing that if the temperature is too high its flavor will be lost and sometimes it causes bloom.

[Jim D.]

One other issue with refrigerating chocolate:  It easily pick up up odors from other foods and can be ruined that way.  Someone recently brought me a filled chocolate from a new lunch spot in town.  As this is not a "chocolatiering town," I was excited to give it a try.  Any chocolate flavor was completely overwhelmed by the "refrigerator smell/taste."  I don't know what produces the fridge odor, but it's pretty bad--and it happens even when there is no stinky food in the fridge.

 

For summer storage of chocolate, I bought a wine refrigerator with a charcoal filter to help absorb moisture (I believe I got the idea from Keychris on this forum).  I vacuum-seal the chocolate, and last summer it kept perfectly.  It does acquire condensation when you remove the (sealed) bag, but the condensation is on the outside of the bag, not on the chocolate.

[shubashuba]

Would it be possible to make moulded chocolates in hot humid weather with the help of a fridge? After staying in cool,dry climates for a while, I'm now back in the tropics where its almost ridiculously hot and humid with temperatures hitting 29 degrees C (89°F) on an average night. I know most people say to give up chocolate work at such temperatures, I still want to give it a last shot- I can temper, cast and fill the moulds with the AC going but might have to switch it off after that. Would it be possible to store it when its crystallizing and after they are capped in the fridge? I'm thinking of cling wrapping them to prevent condensation problems, but I'm not sure if it'd doable...

[Kerry Beal]

Can you turn your fridge up to around 14-17º C?  If so you can leave them in there almost indefinitely.

[mrk]

Would it be possible to make moulded chocolates in hot humid weather with the help of a fridge? After staying in cool,dry climates for a while, I'm now back in the tropics where its almost ridiculously hot and humid with temperatures hitting 29 degrees C (89°F) on an average night. I know most people say to give up chocolate work at such temperatures, I still want to give it a last shot- I can temper, cast and fill the moulds with the AC going but might have to switch it off after that. Would it be possible to store it when its crystallizing and after they are capped in the fridge? I'm thinking of cling wrapping them to prevent condensation problems, but I'm not sure if it'd doable...

You can temper chocolate at 29C room temperature? how can you do that?

[Kerry Beal]

You need first to cool down to 27C for dark or 25 C for milk - under these circumstances I would do it either on a cooled slab or over cold water.

[shubashuba]

@mrk (not sure how to quote on a mobile, sorry!): Apologies, poor phrasing on my part. What I meant was I have air conditioning, which would lower temperatures to workable temperatures but I can't keep it on for the time needed to complete moulded chocolates, which I was estimating would take at least 2 days. So I was thinking of keeping the chocolates in the fridge after filling and before capping, e.g. cast the moulds and fill in one evening with air conditioning on, store in the fridge, take em out another evening with AC on and cap, then back into the fridge. It seems like quite a bit of trouble, but I'll probably give it a go one day anyway...