Anyone know how long chocolate keeps on average?
Is there a better quality chocolate to buy than another (ie., in terms of lasting longer?)
I suspect that the average lump of massmarket chocolate won’t keep as long as higher quality chocolates. I bought some “easter eggs” today, but there are no expiry dates on them.
Judging from personal experience, the best way to keep chocolate is in somebody elses freezer at least a mile from my home.
I have big Cadbury bars in the refrigerator that are as good as when I bought them 3 months ago. No ‘bloom’ yet. I’m guessing they’d keep a good long time in the freezer.
If only we could manage to stay out of them! ;-)
Can’t do much better than a frozen Milky Way, Snickers Bar or Baby Ruth. I tried putting these in the freezer at one time while dieting and did not want them lying around and being tempted by them. Found out that they were even better frozen!
Chocolate syrup stores really well if you are worried about having a sweet tooth and want to prep for it.
ricewiki: actually its the other way around. supermarket chocolate keeps way longer.
You guys are bad! You now have me thinking about my stash of premium dark chocolate. And it is late in the evening, and my defenses are down.
All natural cocoa in tins bought at any Health Food Store will keep a very long time. And it does require a little preparation so you are less likely to put a big dent in your supplies, if that mood strikes.
I just checked my store room, and I have bags of Nestles Chocolate Chips with a Best When Used By Jun 2007. So, being stored in a cool, dry place, at least a year and a 1/2.
FWIW, the date code on M&Ms is as follows. The 1st digit is the Year, and the second 2 digits are the week of manufacture…so 517AGFV Means the M&Ms were made the 17th week of 2005….
nawty
Keep chocolate? What do you mean keep chocolate? Are you talking more than 2 - 5 hours?
Seriously, out of sunlight or warmth will always work but cold is best. I have found that solid chocolate bars do not freeze so well - it is the runny gooey yummy centres that are needed in the ones you freeze. Solid chocolate bars are good in the fridge though.
M&M’s were made for the military….melt in your mouth, not in your hand. Should stand up under any conditions!
Chocolate cake frosting right out of a can!!! I know it is in my preps and it is calling to me. Must resist!
Bastards at Albertson’s Supermarket has a 10 for $10 canned frosting sale right by the front door. I’m thinking they know about the prepper thing and are trying to take advantage of us all. Devils!!
We obtain good chocolate only 2 or 3 times per year, brought in from Europe (in bulk). We keep it in the drawer at the bottom of the fridge, packed in ziplock bags to keep it from moisture. It stays in prime condition that way.
By the way, the best chocolate in the world is Cote d’Or, formerly Belgian, now owned by Kraft Foods USA.
Don’t feel guilty, scientists found that chocolate is good for your health !
Just today I bought the “old fashioned” Hershey’s syrup in the can with the little yellow lid on it. My kids love chocolate milk and figured it would store really well. Small enough to hide.
Oooh, I know this one! I used to work in a chocolate shop!
High quality chocolate with no wax or preservatives has a shelf life of 6 months, providing it does not contain nuts. Anything with nuts has the potential to go bad much more quickly.
Typical cheap chocolate (such as Hersheys) has a shelf life of 3 years — again, if it contains no nuts, so no Snickers, etc. Of course, you would have to assume it was recently produced to make it 3 years.
When chocolate “blooms” (lighter colored spots on the surface), it does not necessarily mean the chocolate has gone bad, only that some of the oils have separated. This can happen even when the chocolate is quite fresh if it has gone through temperature fluctuations. It should still be perfectly safe to eat.
Glad I could finally help, since I get so much useful info from you all!
where can you get canned chocolate ?
Mmm… comfort foods. Maybe we should come up with a recipe book of no-cook, easy-to-store, long lasting, nutritious snacks. I know nutrition is the priority, but if it tastes good, I can’t imagine that hurts. It’s psychological too, of course.
And some of us women have terrible chocolate cravings that I swear are hormone-related. That’s my excuse, anyway ;-)
LOL I have a test Hershey bar in a mylar bag!
Long term chocolate storage is an oxymoron just like leftover wine.
Here is a link to expiration date coding on popular candy.
http://www.amarogue.com/foodcode.html
By the way, nutella has a shelf life of 1 year past the expiration date printed and does not need to be refridgerated; this applies whether or not it has been opened. Information obtained from the customer service rep at nutella.
(Anyone who can refrain from eating Nutella that’s in the house for a year, my hat’s off to you!)
I wouldn’t know the answer to this as I’ve never been able to get a chocolate bar all the way home from the grocery.
I wouldn’t know the answer to this as I’ve never been able to get a chocolate bar all the way home from the grocery.
Hersheys caned chocolate syrup in parmalat shelf stable whole milk is really good. both store in all varied temp conditions.
Ok - that’s it, I’ve said it before but not done it yet - I am off to the store to find Nutella!! This must be great stuff.
We have a boutique chocolatier in my town called Legacy Chocolates. (Shameless plug I know, but I am not an investor, just a happy customer.)
I plan to buy a few pounds of their 73% dark chocolate discos and keep them in my freezer. They also do chocolate sauce for ice cream that is divine. Don’t get me started about the truffles.
Point is I am not sure about choc quality and storage issues. Darker chocolates have higher percentages of cocoa butter, and less sugar, and I have no idea how well cocoa butter keeps.
Anybody?
Everyone in my house loves chocolate. I bought a ton of chocolate miniature bars. I thought they would store well. I vacuum sealed them in half-gallon mason jars, and then I stored them in a cool, dark place downstairs.
Here is a site I found re storing chocolate:
It states:
Ideally, block chocolate should be wrapped properly and stored at a constant temperature of 55 to 60 degrees F with a relative humidity of about the same or 55 to 65% — with neither temperature and humidity varying much. A wine cellar is a perfect place to store chocolate in as it is temperature and humidity controlled, or in a cool, dark place. The refrigerator is not recommended because it is a moist environment. However, if your kitchen is particularly hot and humid, and you can’t find a cool, dark place to store you chocolate, placing chocolate in the freezer is still a better choice than refrigerating it. If refrigerated, there’s a good chance the chocolate will “bloom”-- that’s the cocoa butter starting to separate out from the chocolate, and it forms a thin layer of cocoa butter on the surface. They’re totally fine to eat if they bloom, they just don’t look gorgeous. Stored under perfect conditions, unsweetened and dark chocolate will last for up to 18 months in good home kitchen conditions; milk and white chocolate for 6 to 12 months. If you buy a large block of chocolate, for long-term storage in the freezer, break it up into 1 pound chunks and store separately. Before storing, chocolate should be wrapped properly, too, so it does not come into contact with moisture. It’s also important that the cocoa butter in it does not pick up any odors or dry out. Chocolate should be wrapped in two layers of protection. For the first layer, eEither leave the chocolate in the wrapper that the manufacturer provides or wrap the chocolate in a freezer-weight resealable bag and get all of the air out as possible. I like store chocolate in the bags supplied by my home vacuum-sealer and then use the machine to remove the air. The new Press-N-Seal freezer-weight plastic wrap works well, too. Do not use aluminum foil! For the second layer of protection, place the wrapped chocolate inside a resealable heavy-weight freezer bag, making sure you expel all of the air, or use your vacuum-sealer bags and machine.
If you do freeze your chocolate. make sure it is double-wrapped in freezer-weight bags. To freeze the chocolate: after wrapping, place the chocolate the refrigerator for a short time to bring its temperature down. If it starts to condense, open the bag and place a paper towel on the chocolate to absorb the moisture. Leave the chocolate there for an hour, remove the towel and rewrap. Immediately place the chocolate in the freezer while the chocolate is still chilled. To thaw, place the frozen block of chocolate in its wrappers in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight to thaw, depending on its size. Then, place the chocolate in a cool place, away from heat or sunlight, to warm to room temperature before using.
Good thread - really helpful as I am CLUELESS about chocolate but I want to add some as treats for my family. I am one of the perhaps 3 or 4 people on the planet that HATES chocolate. No that is not a typo - I really can’t stand it - I would spit it out as a toddler - LOL people look at you like you have 2 heads or something when you tell them that you don’t like chocolate.
Rainla -
I’ll take your share of chocolate!
Just got back from the store with Nutella in hand. Just tasted it. Obviously my preps need to include enough Nutella to have the following menu:
Breakfast - Nutella on a bagel
Lunch - Nutella on whole wheat bread
Dinner - NOS (Nutella on a Shingle)
LOL!And remember- don’t leave home without it…
I bought some syrup for my kids (powdered milk is nasty!) and ovaltine (some vitamins and calcium). Also, extra Swiss Miss w.calcium - we live in a cold climate. Finally, I just eperimented at x-mas with freezing fudge. I made a batch of the standard recipe on the Fluff Far. I froze about half of it and took it out recently. It still tasted very good, but a bit grainy. However, teh beauty of fudge is you don’t need too much to get that satisfaction fix!
Watching in Texas, just pack a spoon for that Nutella!
lauraB - a one inch square piece of fudge is enough to make my ears ring and my heart skip beats. Nothing like a sugar rush!
I bought 2 jars of Nutella just on y’alls recommendations. Don’t dare open. Don’t want to know how good it is. Its strictly verboten. I’m bad enough with my Lindts. My husband needed a large Lindts bar every afternoon, so I think of him every time I take a nibble. He turned me into a chocaholic. Right now I’m working my way through all the $1 reduced Seattle peices I bought at T.J.Maxx. The David and Harrys chocolate covered dried cherries are too old, the dried cherries are like little hard rocks. Have to toss them into my tea.
Theres a little fruit and produce store that is wonderful and the Lindts used to be 1.39 a large bar. Now I think its1.59. Reminds me to go and stock up on Pistachio and Rasberry Bars. They have premier quality things and sell at reasonable prices.
If any of you know any Boy Scouts, they sell this white chocolate-covered popcorn with dried cranberries. It is to die for fabulous!
I too am hesitant to admit that I normally do not care for chocolate. If it is in brownies or a cake, I love it. But, I rarely eat candy bars. I also love to cook or bake with it. I have a fantastic recipe for homemade chocolate fudge/syrup as well as a chocolate covered cherry cordial cookie. I cook well, but when cooking in the quantities that I do, I don’t feel like eating what I cook—most of the time :)
P.S. I have a really great recipe for a chocolate playdoh that is edible, although it can confuse the little ones as far what is O.K. to put in their mouths and what is NOT O.K. to eat !!!
“Point is I am not sure about choc quality and storage issues. Darker chocolates have higher percentages of cocoa butter, and less sugar, and I have no idea how well cocoa butter keeps.
Anybody?”
Pure cocoa butter has a shelf life of 2–4 years. It keeps even longer with refigeration or freezing.
What I love is a really high grade cookie with chocolate, left in a warm car> It may have been there for days. You have a good cup of Coffee from the Java Bar or Quikcheck or any of the great coffee takeouts and you find this leftover gooey messy thing, and scarf it down with sighs of pleasure. Now a gooey chocolate bar, not good.
Des
Hope you’re still around! Can’t lose such a chocolate connoisseur as yourself.
Just wondering for everyone, which types/brands of chocolate will melt the LEAST or the SLOWEST?
I am thinking of putting chocolate bars in my bug-out bag, where using one, one might be hiking for a while in warm weather outside, or sitting in a vehicle for a while… I’d hate to see the chocolate destroyed.
Is there a really good kind/brand of chocolate for such activities? Something that won’t melt if you’re hiking and have no cold storage?
This thread is sure got to be a woman thing, us men do so prefer sausage, etc, but…Hershey’s makes tropical chocolate designed to stnd up to anything and lasts in MREs for 10 years or so. Does not really taste like chocolate and I don’t think it even melts after you eat it, but they call it cohcolate and must sell it somewhere.
golly, I feel dumb….never knew about Nutella….what does it taste like? In a can? Is it like cake frosting?
As long as you are not talking milk chocolate, look for just about anything with a cocoa content of at least 50% and you won’t go too wrong. Pure cocoa melts close to human body temperature (God’s perfect food), its normally the addition of paraffin that raises the melting temp and makes the chocolate more stable. The really good ones are at 70% or more and these days may even come from single estates, much like fine wines. Like Michel Cluizel – Hacienda ‘Los Ancones’ for instance, or Neuhaus – Occumare Venezuela, pure heaven in a little bar, wonderful with a nice well aged Port or even an old Medeira.
It’s ground hazelnuts and chocolate-yummy! It comes in a plastic jar and is very creamy. The label says not to refrigerate it-I guess it would get too hard to spread because of its high fat content-shhh, forget I said that. It’s delicious!!
Sorry, that was for I’m-workin’-on-it, about Nutella.
Hillbilly Bill
Secret to avoiding the sugar rush is to eat only dark chocolate (is there any other kind) that is at least 70% cocoa, 75, 80, even 85% cocoa. Storage life!? That is a puzzle, because no matter how much we buy it’s never lasted more than a month or so. Maybe if we pack it away with some of the preps down the basement where it is cool and do not, repeat, do not write down on our inventory…
There are a lot of great chocolates out there. We accidentally bought a bar at the Italien Pavilion in DisneyWorld a couple of years ago. Now our favorite. Cuba Venchi, which is made in Italy. Buy mine from a place in New Hampshire, World Wide Chocolate, decent prices, fast shipment, although they recommend the insulated cold pack when shipping in warmer months. Also available through other companies, I just like this one and besides, it is a New England company and try to support local business.
Besides, chocolate is an anti-viral, right?!!
“Stored under perfect conditions, unsweetened and dark chocolate will last for up to 18 months in good home kitchen conditions; milk and white chocolate for 6 to 12 months.”
It’s probably a good thing I like dark chocolate better. I switched because it’s supposedly healthier for you (in moderation, of course). The stuff with more cocoa has more antioxidants, so that may be part of the reason for the lack of sugar rush.
After getting used to dark chocolate, I tried a regular milk chocolate Hershey’s bar the other day, and I just couldn’t stand it. Maybe there is a quality difference. *Shrugs*
Oh…I first had Nutella when I stayed in Germany as an exchange student. But they do have it here. It’s great stuff.
Nutella really is the best. I first had it almost 20 years ago when my sister lived in Holland. Haven’t had this in a long time, but I used to make a mini chocolate cream pie out of the stuff. Lightly toast half an English muffin (or a crumpet…I suppose a bagel would do), spread with thick layer Nutella and cover with Ready Whip whipped cream. Now that’s a yum.
Well, it’s now on my list!
Called the Ovaltine hotline and this how the expiration date code works.
Look at the first 4 numbers printed above the UPC. Using the example 3065, the first 3 numbers (306) is the calander day of production. The 306th day is the first week of November - 306 days divided by an average of 30 days per month is 10.2 months. The last digit (5) is the year of production. My Ovaltine was packaged in November of 2005. It expires (translation - safe for consumption) 18 months later. Therefore, it expires the first week of May 2007.
Now chocolates my subject. Bloom is nothing bad. All it is when moisture get to the chocolate and turns the chocolate white. Chocolate can be melted in a medal mixing pan over a boiling pan of water. Stir constantly and do NOT get water in the chocolate. Take chocolate that been melted and mix with nuts, raisins, rice krispies, coconut, crispy egg fo yong noodles, all of the above some of the above and POOF you have made your own candy …Easy as one two three.
I just sampled some M and M’s that I had in a jar for at least 3 years. They seem OK to me.
You know that quik chocolate milk powder? Back in 2003 or 2002 we bought some of it that was only $0.50 per metal box of it(it was a fair bit past the best before date). I still find it delicious now and it doesn’t make me sick or anything.
DennisC – at 20:43 - I just sampled some M and M’s that I had in a jar for at least 3 years.
M&M’s in a jar for THREE YEARS?! DennisC must be a monk.
We used to go through them very fast. I have one that REALLY enjoys chocolate as much as I like cherry milk shakes. But then my duaghters got married and moved off with their husbands. So the ones in the “old cabin” just set there. Now if they were chocolate covered cherries….. gone in a flash.
oh I love chocolate! I was at Sams today..thinking of buying a box of 30 snickers but it didnt have an expiration date. Most of the chocolates didnt. I have some Hersheys baking cocoa powder. Oh by the way anything sweet.. chocolates or not are good for your brain before a test or exam.. fyi if you have kiddos taking finals this month. The brain thrives on glucose. Fyi.
Old thread - Closed to increase Forum speed.