What to do with 12kg of white chocolate??

[Saltychoc]

A supplier recently sold me 4 packages of Valrhona Ivoire. But it was out of date last month (6/2023). They refunded me but now I have all this chocolate. I cannot find anything in my state food code (RI) directly prohibiting the use of food past it's best by date. Or rather use of non-tcs food past the best by date. I'm not really sure I feel comfortable using it for bonbons.. we all know how white chocolate gets and it would really have to be used up in just a couple of weeks. There is not way.. white chocolate just isn't popular enough. I've already reached out to a couple of weekly free meal setups around here to see if they might be able to use some... not sure for what, one of them does give out bags of cookies 2x a week and I've donated chocolate and other baking items to them before. I hate waste but I'm at a loss here.

 

1. I don't know if I can even use it.

2. Not sure if I should really offer this to a couple of bakery contacts.

3. It has to go fast.

 

Any ideas? Recipes that use up a massive amount of white chocolate? If in the end it has to be binned then it has to be binned but I'd like to try to figure something out.

[heidih]

My first thought - donate to local junior college culinary prgram - if they want it. 

[Jim D.]

Speaking for myself only, I would not be very concerned about a "best by" date.  Chocolate doesn't spoil (in the sense of being dangerous to eat).  It's the cocoa butter in it that can go rancid, so look for that taste.  If the chocolate still tastes good and doesn't have any off odors or tastes, I would use it without any qualms.   White chocolate isn't that popular in many circles, so I sympathize with your struggle to find recipes that will attract customers--and use up the chocolate.  Given the possibility that the cocoa butter can go rancid, I would seal the Valrhona bag in a larger plastic bag (vacuum-seal if possible, otherwise use an impulse sealer) and freeze them all.  Even if you have no way of sealing the chocolate, I think Valrhona bags are close to air-tight.  I've frozen large quantities of chocolate with no ill effects.  It's a noble thought to give it away to those in need, but you would have to find a way to package the fèves in manageable amounts.  I suspect a bakery would see this as a gift from the gods.

[heidih]

And if anyone is doing a big fundraiser - white chocolate covered pretzels are always a huge favorite. Also for holiday gifting

[lemniscate]

White Chocolate Liqueur

Lots of it.   Hand out like Egg Nog at Christmas.

[pastrygirl]

Does it appear to have been mis-handled  - bloomed or stuck together?  White chocolate could potentially get a little cheese-y if the milk fat goes off, but if it looks in good condition and tastes fresh, I'd use it through the end of the year. 

 

[Jim D.]

10 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

Does it appear to have been mis-handled  - bloomed or stuck together?  White chocolate could potentially get a little cheese-y if the milk fat goes off, but if it looks in good condition and tastes fresh, I'd use it through the end of the year. 

 

 

Good point about the milk fat (I didn't think of that). 

[pastrygirl]

Full disclosure: I bought a bunch of close to expired Valrhona when they were trying to unload it in late 2020 after all the hotels & cruise ships shut down.  It was fine and I have no regrets about making that Xmas a little more profitable.

[Jim D.]

5 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

Full disclosure: I bought a bunch of close to expired Valrhona when they were trying to unload it in late 2020 after all the hotels & cruise ships shut down.  It was fine and I have no regrets about making that Xmas a little more profitable.

 

I did the same thing with Felchlin Maracaibo dark sitting on ships outside East Coast harbors.  Who could resist?

[Saltychoc]

On 7/8/2023 at 6:02 PM, Jim D. said:

Speaking for myself only, I would not be very concerned about a "best by" date.  Chocolate doesn't spoil (in the sense of being dangerous to eat).  It's the cocoa butter in it that can go rancid, so look for that taste.  If the chocolate still tastes good and doesn't have any off odors or tastes, I would use it without any qualms.   White chocolate isn't that popular in many circles, so I sympathize with your struggle to find recipes that will attract customers--and use up the chocolate.  Given the possibility that the cocoa butter can go rancid, I would seal the Valrhona bag in a larger plastic bag (vacuum-seal if possible, otherwise use an impulse sealer) and freeze them all.  Even if you have no way of sealing the chocolate, I think Valrhona bags are close to air-tight.  I've frozen large quantities of chocolate with no ill effects.  It's a noble thought to give it away to those in need, but you would have to find a way to package the fèves in manageable amounts.  I suspect a bakery would see this as a gift from the gods.

I did not think to freeze it! It's just so much and I'm currently sharing freezer space. I do have a vacuum sealer and I will do a test. It seems fine for now! As for giving it away, the issue is paperwork.. as always. So I'm not sure what I am going to do about that right now. The milk fat is definitely the big concern. I'm not a huge dairy lover (ironic, I know) so I never really enjoy white chocolate, I think it tastes like regular Ivoire. That said - I've had a number of people try it and they have all thought it was fine.

 

Also! What a deal that 2020 chocolate must have been!

[Saltychoc]

23 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

Does it appear to have been mis-handled  - bloomed or stuck together?  White chocolate could potentially get a little cheese-y if the milk fat goes off, but if it looks in good condition and tastes fresh, I'd use it through the end of the year. 

 

There are no physical issues. They claim it just wasn't rotated properly but who knows what happened. I know how easily white chocolate sticks together, had an issue recently that ruined some. The off flavor of the milk fat is my main concern, it goes off so quickly. I am not a milk person and I always think white chocolate is a little off but this seems pretty similar to all the other ivoire I have gotten. If it lasts through the end of the year than that would be great, lots of uses for white chocolate at christmas. I would happily buy and use dark chocolate like this!

[Saltychoc]

On 7/8/2023 at 4:39 PM, heidih said:

My first thought - donate to local junior college culinary prgram - if they want it. 

We unfortunately don't have a program that runs over the summer. Or at least one that I have time to drive to right now. That would be such a good idea though!

[scott123]

I've had a LOT of cocoa butter go rancid on me.  You can practically look at cocoa butter and it will go rancid.  But white chocolate has so much sugar in it, that, in my experience, it lasts as long as milk chocolate.  An obvious exception would be if the chocolate was stored at a high temp, but, no one who's selling Valrhona is going to keep it in hot warehouse.