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Post by Howard on May 5, 2006 8:51:45 GMT -5
I've got about oh 1 and 1/4 lb of 70% criollo left from the 1 lb13 oz I made yesterday. It's good stuff and my kids love it but right now it's sitting on a cookie sheet in the kitchen and the temptation is to grab a piece every time I walk by. In itself, that's not a bad thing but well, I've got to clean up sometime. Also, I'd like to set some aside for a couple of months to see what happens to the flavors. So how do you store your chocolate? I have a vacu-seal, I can use ziplocs, freezer? refrigerator? basement with the wines?
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Post by Alan on May 5, 2006 9:19:24 GMT -5
I use freezer zip-lock bags. But, I have seen recommendations to use vacu-seal bags. I don't do that myself because I am always getting into things to taste them, but it would probably be better for freshness and to avoid any moisture settling on the chocolate in temperature changes. That "dew" can lead to sugar bloom. In terms of temperature, there is no full agreement on this. I've seen experts totally disagree with each other as to whether it is okay to freeze chocolate and how cold is too cold, etc. One key is that temperature swings harm chocolate. The more you change from warm to cold to warm to cold, the more you risk fat bloom and texture degredation. So it is generally best to store in a cool place, but not one so cool that it is very different from room temperature where you will be eating the chocolate. Most manufacturers say 58-68F or something like that. Your wine cellar might work for that. Some people use wine coolers (little fridges for wine) that keep right around those temperatures. One thing to remember is to let the temperature of your chocolate adjust to ambient temperatures before opening the bag, and to get as much air out of the bag as possible when sealing it. This will help to avoid that sugar-bloom that I mentioned above. You don't want to open a bag of 58 F chocolate without wrapping on it in a room that is 78 F. Wait till the chocolate warms up and then open the bag.
Hopefully that helps.
C-L
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Post by Howard on May 9, 2006 14:25:16 GMT -5
Thanks Alan, As I suspected, there's not enough left to store Howard
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Post by Alan on May 9, 2006 21:34:12 GMT -5
Thanks Alan, As I suspected, there's not enough left to store Howard Yes, Well that's the storage secret that I usually employ: IBE (intra-belly-enclosure), It is much cheaper than plastic, and is all natural. Alan
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Post by sote23 on May 12, 2006 5:02:29 GMT -5
Thanks Alan, As I suspected, there's not enough left to store Howard Yes, Well that's the storage secret that I usually employ: IBE (intra-belly-enclosure), It is much cheaper than plastic, and is all natural. Alan hi alan, i've never heard of ibe. can you elaborate what it is, and where it can be purchased? louis
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Post by Alan on May 12, 2006 7:52:52 GMT -5
Yes, Well that's the storage secret that I usually employ: IBE (intra-belly-enclosure), It is much cheaper than plastic, and is all natural. Alan hi alan, i've never heard of ibe. can you elaborate what it is, and where it can be purchased? louis Dear Louis, It was actually a joke; perhaps a bad one... I meant the stomach, i.e. IBE (intra-belly-enclosure), i.e. just eat it and you won't have to store it, and in terms of storage, that is certainly all natural and completely free.
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