How to store chocolate at home

Chocolate is a favorite treat for everyone since childhood. It can be bitter or sweet, black, milk or white, with any additives, of various shapes and sizes. As a rule, your favorite treat is eaten very quickly, but there are times when the chocolate has to lie for a long time. How much chocolate can be stored and how to make sure that it does not lose its organoleptic properties? In order to answer these questions, you need to figure out what chocolate is and what it is made of.

Types and methods of preparation

Chocolate can be black, milk, white and combination. In addition, there are porous options, as well as with fillers and filling. The methods for preparing different types of chocolate are different.

1. Dark chocolate. The most natural option of all possible. Create it from grated cocoa and cocoa butter. Most often, powdered sugar is also added. The more powder, the lighter and sweeter the tile will be. Real dark chocolate does not have this ingredient at all, but it is very tart and not everyone will like it.
2. Lactic. In addition to what is in the black tile, milk powder or milk powder is added to the dairy. As a rule, milk is taken nonfat, up to 2.5%.
3. White chocolate. It does not contain grated cocoa, but it has vanilla and milk powder with a caramel flavor.
4. Combined. Includes black and white or milk and white chocolate. The tile looks spotty.
5. Porous. May be black, milky or white. It differs from the usual one in that before hardening the tile is placed in a vacuum. Thus, bubbles form.
6. Stuffing and additives. The chocolate recipe does not change, but until it hardens, nuts, raisins, crispy crisps, jam, pralines and other fillings are put in it.
7. Confectionery tile. This, in fact, is not chocolate at all. As part of such a tile there is no cocoa butter, instead of it soy or synthetic analogues are added. Such a tile is cheaper than regular chocolate and is intended for the preparation of glaze.

Terms and rules for storing chocolate directly depend on its type.

Shelf life of chocolate products

If the chocolate bar is wrapped in its original packaging, then it must necessarily contain the terms of manufacture and storage. However, firstly, such terms are not always given truthfully, secondly, they can be changed in the store, and thirdly, the conditions for storing chocolate at different stages of its implementation can be far from ideal. In addition, there is no deadline at all on the wrappers of chocolates, they are only on the boxes that remain in the store.

Hint: when buying chocolate without packaging or in a wrapper that does not indicate the date “use before”, ask the seller for the timing of its manufacture and receipt in the store. If in doubt about the veracity of the answer, ask for a box or delivery note. The buyer has the right to know the timing of the manufacture and sale of goods.

So how much time to store different types of chocolate?
One year. Such a period can be "lived" a bar of dark chocolate. It is the most stable of all products that are derived from cocoa.

1. Half a year. So much it costs to store milk chocolate. The milk powder included in its composition significantly reduces the durability of the product. However, modern stabilizers can extend the life of milk chocolate for up to a year.
2. Three months. Such is the age of chocolates with additives: nuts, crisps, raisins, sesame seeds, cookies.
3. Month. The ideal shelf life of white chocolate, but since it is rarely prepared without stabilizers in its preparation, you can read on the package: "store 12 months from the date of manufacture."
4. Two weeks. The shortest time allotted for the use of chocolate or sweets with filling. We are again talking about natural products, without various preservatives.

Thanks to the addition of certain chemicals, the chocolate stays fresh longer, so you should pay attention to the dates on the package.

Chocolate storage rules

Have you ever wondered why chocolate is sold in foil, thick paper or cardboard wrappers, and sometimes all together? The answer is simple: it is adversely affected by direct sunlight, oxygen, high humidity and odors.

In direct sunlight, a chocolate bar will melt faster without packaging than in it. Under the influence of cocoa oxygen, the oil begins to oxidize, giving the favorite treat a bitter taste. It is worth noting that the more cocoa powder in a chocolate, the less oil is oxidized in it. Consequently, dark chocolate will last longer in the open air without consequences.

Water is also harmful to this treat, which contributes to the appearance of mold on the surface of the tile. In addition, chocolate has a great ability to absorb the smells that surround it. This has a very bad effect on taste.

Hint: always buy chocolates that are sealed tightly - this is a guarantee that they do not interact with the environment during storage at the factory, warehouse and store.

There are several general rules for storing any kind of chocolate:

1. The ideal temperature is 18 ° C - 20 ° C. At an ambient temperature above 30 ° C, chocolate begins to melt. Chocolate with less cocoa is susceptible to faster melting.
2. Always store chocolate packaged. After opening the branded wrapper, try to use the product for several days or repack it, for example, in foil.
3. Never put even packed chocolate on the same shelf with spices, vanilla, cinnamon, perfume or any odorous substances. The smell can still penetrate the tiles.
4. Do not store chocolate in the refrigerator. Under the influence of low temperature, cocoa butter crystallizes and a white coating appears on the chocolate bar. After being in a warm room, the chocolate will become softer, however, an unpleasant aftertaste will remain.

Hint: There is one exception to the last rule. It is proved that at a temperature of -18 ° C, which corresponds to the refrigerator’s freezer, chocolate can persist for several years without consequences. This is provided that it is frozen and thawed only once.

We can conclude that chocolate in airtight packaging and at the optimum temperature regime retains its taste much better. However, do not neglect the shelf life. The faster you eat your favorite treat, the more distinct its taste will be.

Video: how to make chocolate at home