Climate Change and Chocolate

With a title like "Climate Change and Chocolate," you might expect this blog to be about the growing and fermentation conditions for cacao -- and that would be an interesting post, I'm sure. But tonight, knowing that vacation is nearing, my reflections are much closer to home. Since doing my professional chocolatier program in 2018, I have noticed the impact of hotter summers in my apartment, not only because of the impact on my own personal temperament, but also the temper of my chocolate.

Chocolate is sensitive to heat. Consequently, during summer in Canada, shipping chocolate becomes more complicated, requiring more expensive two-day shipping and the inclusion of ice packs to ensure it doesn't melt. While chocolate that has melted is still perfectly edible, when it re-solidifies, it is no longer in the ideal crystal structure and so is no longer "in temper." It will likely lose its snap and develop bloom. To avoid the additional shipping expenses, I tend to order my chocolate for the year in February before shipping restrictions come into play. While I don't keep a massive supply of chocolate on hand, it wouldn't be uncommon for me to have between 15 and 20 pounds at any given time.  

Now, in previous years, this wasn't an issue. The building I live in doesn't have central air conditioning. To cool my apartment, I have developed a system of opening windows at night to cool off my apartment and then closing them during the day to try to keep the heat and humidity out. I have three fans that I prop in the windows to facilitate air flow. And using this method, I have generally been able to keep the temperature in a safe zone for chocolate and my temper. That is, until last year.

Last summer, I struggled to manage the heat in my apartment and for the first time ever, the temperature rose above 26 degrees Celcius. In fact, I installed a portable air conditioner and MacGyvered a way to connect it to my bedroom window, which cranks open at the bottom. It's not practical, however, to run one of these units night and day throughout summer, so it couldn't solve the issue of chocolate storage. Finally I gave in and did the thing you shouldn't do: I put the chocolate in my fridge. 

A fridge is not an ideal storage location for chocolate. First, it is too cold. Chocolate is best stored between 16 and 18 degrees, and it tastes best between 12 and 20 degrees -- which is why you should always let it come to room temperature before eating it if you have refrigerated it. Second, there is too much humidity in a fridge, which can lead to bloom. Chocolate with bloom is still edible, but not particularly attractive. And third, chocolate stored in a fridge could lose its flavour and/or pick up smells from other items. When you store your chocolate in the fridge, then, you flirt with danger! But, for me, its better to wrap it properly and store it in the fridge than to leave it out and potentially have it come out of temper. (The chocolate, of course, could be re-tempered, but for small production without a tempering machine, it's easier to start with tempered chocolate that can be used for seeding. The chocolate could also be used in other applications, like ganache truffles.)

I don't anticipate that the summers will get any cooler; rather, I expect that they will only get hotter as time goes on. And so as I shut down chocolate production for the summer and prepare to go on vacation, preparing my chocolate for storage is mission critical. If the chocolate were still in an unopened Callebaut bag, then I would put that inside an airtight container or bag and put it directly in the fridge. But because my chocolate has already been opened, I emptied the bags into airtight containers (Carlisle 6 quart) and then, as a backup, wrapped that in a plastic bag. Then I put them in the very back of the fridge, on the bottom shelf. It takes up a lot of real estate in there, but it's a necessary evil.

[The other option, of course, would be to purchase a wine fridge and set it to 16 degrees. Believe me, I've thought about it! But I'm already running short on space in my apartment, so I'm not sure exactly where I could put it.]

And with the installation of the chocolate in my fridge, the chocolate factory is closed until September. But the chocolate adventures will continue, for while I may not be able to work with chocolate, I certainly can taste it and study it.