Chocolate in the fridge – right or wrong?
February 20th, 2012
We’re now partway between Valentine’s Day and Easter, making this a prime season for chocolate-lovers. Shops are putting their leftover heart-shaped choccies on special and introducing new varieties in the shape of eggs and rabbits.
But whether you’re saving the sweets from your sweetheart for later or building a burrow for the Bunny in advance, opinion is divided over whether chocolate should be stored in the fridge or the cupboard.
The case for fridges
On a tour of a chocolate factory (no, not that one), a Belgian chocolatier told my tour group that good chocolate should never be kept in the fridge, and is best enjoyed at room temperature.
“Mate,” I thought, “that might be true in Brussels, but things might be different in an Australian summer!”
It’s a fact that it can get pretty hot in Australia, and at any given time of the year, regardless of the calendar seasons. It’s also a fact that chocolate melts when things get too hot, regardless of any special treatments that Australian chocolate-makers may use in their recipes. Having your chocolate be a bit soft is one thing, but having it liquefy is another.
Even if it doesn’t get hot enough to completely melt, repeated heating and cooling of chocolate can lead to instances of fat bloom, where the fats in the cocoa butter separate and give the chocolate a yellow-streaked appearance. The chocolate will still be safe to eat, but not as great to look at, which is bad if it was intended as a gift. Refrigeration keeps chocolate more stable for longer, so that you can stock up now and keep a supply in reserve in case of chocolate-related emergencies (hey, we all know they happen).
Refrigeration isn’t just handy for storing and preserving chocolate; many people appreciate the cool crispness of chocolate that’s spent some time in the fridge. It even works for certain brands of chocolate biscuit:
The case against
That Belgian may have been onto something. While fridges do provide a stable temperature, their high degree of condensation keep them from offering an ideal environment for storing chocolate.
Without getting too scientific, interaction between warm and cool air creates condensation; the droplets of water that you find at the back of your fridge. This water can get into chocolate and affect its composition, which can in turn affect your enjoyment.
Ever noticed that after a while, the chocolate you leave in your fridge can start turning white and have a bit of a different texture? This is what expert chocolatiers call sugar bloom.
Sugar bloom is caused by the condensation of your fridge settling on the surface of your chocolate and drawing sugar out of its body. When the temperature of your chocolate is raised again (such as when it’s taken out of the fridge to eat), the moisture evaporates, leaving white sugar crystals behind. Your chocolate will still be safe to eat, but perhaps not as great to look at or enjoy.
What’s more, many people prefer the smooth melting sensation and silky texture of room-temperature chocolate, and will go out of the way to achieve it. Consider the true story of the man who wanted his refrigerated Easter Egg to be a bit more melty, so he put it in the microwave, foil and all. One exploded microwave later, and we’ve got another contender for the Appliances Online Sausage In The Kettle hall of fame.
Give peace a chance
There doesn’t need to be violent conflict between Pro-Fridgers and Anti-Fridgers. It is possible to compromise.
If you prefer softer chocolate and conditions are mild and stable, you don’t really need to worry about your chocolate melting. You can store multiple blocks at a time in a cupboard or any other cool, dry place for as long as you need – chocolate typically has a long shelf life. If things start getting warmer though, such as during summer or unseasonal heat waves, you may need to switch your storage solutions around.
When keeping your chocolate in the fridge, whether to prevent a meltdown or to get it nice and cool, it’s best to keep it well-wrapped and inside an airtight container to keep it free of condensation. If you take chocolate out of the fridge, be sure to eat it, as returning it to the refrigerator after partial thawing/melting may increase the likelihood of sugar bloom (another excuse to gorge!).
Do you prefer your chocolate from the fridge or the cupboard?
I would prefer my chocolate to be available at room temperature but here in the tropics it is just not possible. In our summer temperatures it starts to soften by the time I get home. Apart from the heat, we have a bad ant problem.
I have been told by chocolatiers that the best temperature for chocolate is around 14 Degrees – conveniently this is also cellaring temperature for wine. Perhaps the true choco nuts should be buying your wine storage cabinets? After all, a great chocolate and a great red do go together marvellously?
I say keep it in the freezer. Smash it up first and place in a container. Help your self anytime of the day or night. Hmm maybe just as your passing by. Yummo frozen is definitely the best.
I prefer room temp around 20 degrees, but unfortunately i live in australia, and ‘room temp’ can be up to 40 degrees in summer. TOO HOT. In such situations fridge temp is necessary.
For me it depends on the chocolate. I like Tim Tams from the fridge but chocolate, such as Lindt balls which have a melting centre of chocolate are completely lost in the fridge when they go hard. Mostly I like it out of the fridge but I’ve just had a massive weevil infestation, so they all went into the fridge!
I prefer it room temperature, but if it’s really hot and i don’t intend to eat it now I put it in the fridge. I leave it out if it’s for cooking and needs to be melted; easier to get it to melt if it’s already at room temperature and on a hot enough day it’ll melt without needing the double-boiler. If it’s for something like muffins or biscuits with chocolate chips I put the chocolate chips in the freezer – they hold their shape better and don’t melt as rapidly, so you get a chocolate chip biscuit, not a biscuit with chocolate-flavored patches.
Just like cheese, which is best at room temperature, this isn’t always ideal in Australia – especially if you don’t want your air-con running 24/7 to keep things at the “ideal” temperature. The solution: keep it in the fridge then leave as much as you intend to eat out on a bench so it can warm to room temperature before you eat it. Usually it only takes 15-20 min.
As far as the changes to chocolate in Australia to help stop it melting, all it does is make the chocolate sit in your mouth like a lump of plastic. I’d rather it retain a lower melting point and have to keep it in the fridge so it actually melts in my mouth when I eat it. Most chocolate just isnt’ the same any more (with Lindt being the exception).
A wine fridge set at 16-18 degrees C is perfect for chocolate
Personally I find that if chocolate is refrigerated the pleasure lasts longer… because you have to eat it more slowly to wait for it to melt in your mouth. I’m a chocolate snob though and prefer it to be dark, high cocoa % and thin… e.g. Lindt. I love the crisp ‘snap’ that you get from cold chocolate. Nothing worse than a hot fat glob of it that you have to lick off your fingers…. that’s just not on when you are trying to read a book (an activity that goes so well with chocolate). Also, I prefer to actually taste the chocolate, and not just the sugar so milk chocolate must especially be refrigerated as things don’t taste as sweet when cold. So I gather that everyone who doesn’t like it refrigerated doesn’t like Ice Magic (the stuff you pour over ice-cream that goes nice and CRISP)?
Oh No , I would never store chocolate in the fridge .
It becomes all hard and tastless.
Just store it in a dry cool cupboard away from heat and sunlight like you should with a red wine.
After all Chocolate goes great with wine , so why not store them together.
Definitely should not be put in the fridge. It changes the taste of it and it is not as nice as when it is stored at the room temperature.
I’ve been told by many not to put my chocolate in the fridge, but I can’t detect any change in taste, in or out of fridge, in fact, I prefer it cold and i don’t care if the fridge makes the colour alter and I end up with white bits. What I do care about is melted chocolate, nothing worse, and if I keep it in the fridge and hide it well, behind the cherry tomatoes, I know there’ll be some there when the craving hits during the Cadbury ad on TV, well timed after dinner.
Summer in Qld leaves you no choice but to store in fridge. I usually place in one of the drawers and there does not seem to be any ‘damage’ to taste.
Summer in Qld leaves you no choice but to store in fridge. I usually place in one of the drawers and there does not seem to be any ‘damage’ to taste.
Def straight from the fridge and washed down with a glass of ice cold milk! YUMMO!!!
Chocolate is best at room temperature except on really hot days. However Mint Slice and Tim Tam biscuits always taste better straight from the fridge.
Of course it doesn’t belong in the fridge normally, but during summer if you have a hot house it’s got to be. But it is much better to bite into when it’s soft. So I love it when the whether and therefore the house starts cooling down so you don’y have to break your teeth to bite into it and you get that lovely juicy feeling in your mouth.
We love dark chocolate and always keep it in the freezer- no blooms or condensation problems.It melts within seconds in your mouth,……..just devine, and just for the record, red wine should be served at 16 degrees C.
Yes the only way to each chocolate, nice and hard and then it can slowly melt in your mouth
I only eat chocolate at room temp. lindt balls are best when they are melting in the middle !!
Chocolate never lasts long enough in this house to make it anywhere near the fridge !!