How to Keep Chocolate From Melting Without a Refrigerator?

How to Keep Chocolate From Melting Without a Refrigerator
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Tell us, is there a person out there who does not like chocolate? Chocolate is one of the world’s most popular treats, but it can also be very hard to maintain its solid state over time. Although most of the chocolate bars are consumed right away, some people are also looking for a way to preserve the chocolate without a refrigerator. 

Keeping the chocolate from melting without a refrigerator is possible only if the chocolate is kept at a cool, dry, and dark place, without any exposure to light or heat sources. Keeping the chocolate in an air-tight container will prevent it from picking up smells from its surroundings. 

Stay with us to learn what is the best way to store the chocolate at room temperature, and how you can recover chocolate that has already melted (hint – don’t use the refrigerator for this cause!). 

How Do You Prevent Chocolate From Melting?

If you really want to enjoy your favorite piece of chocolate, then you must be able to learn how to keep it the right way. Some of the studies have shown that keeping the chocolate in the refrigerator is not the best possible option for storing the chocolate, but we will discuss this later on. 

First, let’s talk about ways you can store your chocolate in a melt-proof way. Since chocolate is a product that is very sensitive to heat and direct sunlight, we recommend the following storing methods you can try to keep your chocolate nice and fresh. 

Keep It in a Cool and Dry Place

This is the number one piece of advice you will receive for storing most of the foods that exist on the market. There is no food that is prone to the effect of being exposed to direct sunlight. 

Even though some products don’t melt under the Sun, the thing is that the heat that is generated will most likely induce bacterial growth, and if it is very humid, even mold can occur on the surface.

With chocolate, all of this is true; however, the number one concern when exposing the chocolate to the sunlight is the melting. The chocolate is solid at room temperature, but even when you hold it with your fingers it tends to melt. Imagine now keeping the chocolate bar under the sunlight. 

To avoid ruining your chocolate in such a way, find a kitchen cabinet where you can store your chocolate safely. Also, make sure that the cabinet is not close to some heat source (like an AC unit, for example). 

Keep It in an Air-tight Container

For sure you must have noticed that when the chocolate is being kept for too long near some smell sources, it picks up that distinguished smell, and the taste is altered (not to say ruined). This is because one of the main ingredients of chocolate is butter. 

Butter in chocolate has the ability to pick up smells from the surroundings like a sponge. Of course, short-term exposure will not harm the chocolate, but over some time, the chocolate will start having the taste like the food you keep next to it. 

Thankfully, this can be prevented by keeping the chocolate in an air-tight container. Storing your chocolate bars like this will prevent them from picking up smells from other foods, and it will keep them fresh for longer. 

This is recommended especially when you open the bar. However, even the closed, unopened ones should be kept in this special vacuum container. 

Eat It Fast

One of the best chocolate-keeping advice may sound contradictory, but it is to eat the chocolate quickly after opening it. Storing the chocolate can be manageable, but the chocolate tends to lose its properties over time. Keeping it in a fridge won’t help this issue (in fact, it will only make it worse). 

Because the chocolate is so delicate and specific, the best thing you can do is to consume the product very quickly after buying it. Storing it and keeping it for several weeks is fine, but keeping the chocolate fresh for months can pose a real challenge. 

Does Putting Chocolate in the Fridge Ruin It?

Contrary to popular belief, keeping chocolate in the fridge won’t help you preserve the properties the chocolate has. This is because the phenomenon of chocolate blooming can happen if you choose to keep the chocolate in the fridge. 

Chocolate blooming is a term that is used to describe the white “flowers” that can appear on the surface of the chocolate when it’s kept in the fridge. This happens because the sugar from the chocolate reacts with the moisture from the fridge and starts a chemical reaction. 

Chocolate blooming is not dangerous, nor is it a sign that the chocolate is not usable. It only means that the sugar is separated and appears on the surface, which can alter the taste of the chocolate in some cases (depending on the quality of the chocolate). 

Can Homemade Chocolate Be Kept at Room Temperature?

The answer to this question solely depends on the type of chocolate you have made. If you make chocolate with a high percentage of cream, it will most likely spoil very soon if you keep it at room temperature, and such chocolate needs to be refrigerated. 

If you have made chocolate that resembles the one from the store, in terms of being solid enough, keeping it at room temperature for a few days won’t do any harm. 

However, since these products are very specific, it is always better to consume them right away, after a few hours of making, to make sure that the quality of the product is at its maximum level. 

Can You Put Melted Chocolate in the Fridge?

Getting chocolate from melted to solid-state again by using the fridge will most likely cause the chocolate to bloom, as we have already mentioned. This will happen almost instantly because the chocolate needs to be solidified gradually in order to keep the sugar from “detaching” from the rest of the chocolate. 

The best way to achieve this is to keep the melted chocolate in a dark, cool, and dry place where it can solidify on its own. In this case, the chocolate will most likely not bloom, and you will be able to enjoy its full taste.