The unseasonably cool days in Southern California these first few days of May lulled me into thinking that summer wouldn’t be so bad this year (granted it’s not officially summer yet, but you know what I mean!) Those erroneous thoughts must have jinxed things because now there is a heat wave predicted for this weekend (it will be 91F / 33C tomorrow). 😲
Not-ideal-for-chocolate days are right around the corner for those living in the Northern Hemisphere (or maybe it’s already HOT where you are), so perhaps you’ve been thinking about purchasing a wine fridge since you’ve heard that it’s not a good idea to store chocolates in your regular refrigerator for a variety of reasons. Buying a dedicated cooler for my chocolate stash a couple of years ago was THE BEST investment I made!
Inspired by Lilla from Little Beetle/Taste.Better.Chocolate, let me give you some practical tips from my own personal experience.
** PLEASE NOTE that the temperatures I will be quoting below are in Fahrenheit.
** KEEP IN MIND that not all wine fridges are created equal, so YOUR actual experience might differ!
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FUNCTIONALITY:
- Most wine fridges work based on ambient room temperature and can only cool the air inside the unit to approximately 30 degrees cooler than the room’s temperature. During a heat wave when my apartment exceeds 100F, my wine fridge struggles to maintain 70F even though set to 65F.
- Conversely (since the wine fridge isn’t equipped with a heater), if your room’s temperature is COLDER than the temperature you have set for the unit, you might see that the temperature of the stored chocolates is LOWER than what you are expecting! During the winter, I set my fridge to 62F, but there are days that I wake up to see 52F (or lower) on the digital display!
THINGS TO WATCH FOR:
- When there is a power outage, my wine fridge will “reset” to the lowest temperature setting available for the unit (~46-54F) and then slowly climb to sync with the room’s temperature.
- Make sure to leave room for airflow at the top/bottom and/or near where the fans are located.
- Invest in a small digital thermometer to determine where the coldest spots are in your fridge (sometimes the temperature displayed isn’t the *true* temperature of the unit). Once you learn which are the coolest shelves, utilize that accordingly, if you don’t already have a dual zone refrigerator.
The digital thermometer I use doubles as a hygrometer to measure humidity (more on that below).
HELPFUL TIPS:
- As you know, one of the worst things for chocolate is moisture. Condensation might collect at the bottom of the wine fridge, so add a few desiccant pellet packs and replace (as needed).
- Storing chocolate bars in zip-lock freezer bags helps to avoid sugar bloom caused by moisture. This is also a great way to reduce cross-contamination of flavors and aromas. If you have a strongly scented/flavored bar (like rose or coffee), you might consider sealing that in a completely separate bag.
- Some units’ shelves are curved (since the fridge was designed to store round bottles), so it’s a good idea to stack like-sized/shaped bars together as evenly as possible to create a flat base. Try not to over-pack your storage bags, otherwise bars might break/crack.
- Depending on the width of your storage unit, some bars (like Pump Street or Smooth Chocolator, for example) won’t fit horizontally (East/West orientation) & will need to be stored vertically (North/South).
Another advantage of storing your bars in a controlled wine fridge is that the chocolate will come up to room temperature more quickly than if you were to store them in a regular refrigerator or freezer!
While you might not be as obsessive as I am, I can’t live without my spreadsheet telling me on which shelf I’ve stored a particular chocolate bar! This handy list now allows me to avoid keeping the fridge door open for extended periods of time while removing each bag in search of an elusive bar of out of an inventory of 150+ options.
One thing that I cannot stress enough is to buy a bigger size than you *think* you might need. Would you believe that I was certain that I could make do with a countertop-sized, 4-bottle unit? My boyfriend convinced me to buy an 8-bottle fridge which quickly became “maxed out” such that I now have TWO wine fridges in constant use: an 8-bottle fridge that sits atop a coffee table and a dual zone 12-bottle fridge 😲
If YOU own a wine fridge (or two) and have helpful practical hints you’d like to share, please leave me a message below!
May all your chocolates stay cool and comfortable even though you might roast this summer!