Never Keep Chocolate in the Fridge
It’s the age old question that has been dividing foodies for generations: Should chocolate be kept at room temperature or chilled in the fridge?
And according to one chocolate judge, those who answered the with the latter are incorrect.
Speaking to Stuff, New Zealand based chocolate expert and judge, Luke Owen Smith, said that even in a heat wave, it’s best to avoid storing chocolate in the fridge at all costs.
Mr Owen, who owns The Chocolate Bar and is widely known for his monthly boxes of quality craft chocolate bars, said that chocolate stored in the fridge becomes ‘dull’ and ‘doesn’t release the flavours’.
Instead, chocolate should be stored in a ‘cool, dark and dry place’ as ‘extremely cold temperatures can mess with the temper as much as hot temperatures can’.
If the heat is such that it is causing chocolate to melt into a soupy mess, Mr Owen said the best course of action is putting chocolate into a sealed container in the fridge but left out in room temperature for a while before eating.
Leading food safety expert Belinda Stuart-Moonlight, told FEMAIL previously that another reason chocolate shouldn’t be refrigerated is because it can lead to a ‘sugar bloom’.
This occurs when it’s chilled then exposed to warmer air. It causes condensation on the surface, dissolving some of the sugar, which recrystallises as a grainy, white coating.
Chocolate also absorbs odours, so there’s a risk it will end up smelling – and tasting – like last night’s leftovers.
There is one exception, however.
‘Chocolate with a creamy filling is likely to be at higher risk of going off and needs refrigeration,’ she said.
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