What's up with my chocolate?

[noparlpf]

So I found a couple of bars of dark chocolate in a zip-lock bag on a low shelf by my desk. Oddly, the chocolate has turned a lighter shade of brown in a sort of bubbly pattern. It tastes more or less fine, a bit off maybe, and the texture's kind of unusual. I've heard that improperly stored chocolate can develop white spots of fat or sugar coming out of the mix, but couldn't find anything on this. Any ideas what's up with this chocolate?

[Lady Moreta]

How old is it?

I've found that happen to me with chocolate that's old and past it's use-by date.

[Eurus]

I believe it's the same thing. "Chocolate bloom", as it's called, can be either white or a more beige-y color. Here's a quick link I found from googling, with a pretty good image of a light brown bubbling pattern that it says is from bloom.

http://www.fearlesschocolate.com/science-fact-the-infamous-chocolate-bloom/

[Winter_Wolf]

Does the place you store you chocolate ever get hot, or is it near a heat source? Is your computer blowing exhaust on it? Heat causes chocolate bloom.

Just be sure it's bloom and not mold; I had some chocolate which was highly suspect because it was in a room that ended up getting a mold infestation. :smallyuk:

[noparlpf]

How old is it?

I've found that happen to me with chocolate that's old and past it's use-by date.

...Chocolate expires? I don't know how old it is, I just figured that as it tasted more or less okay it was probably fine. (My mother actually bet money I wouldn't survive to eighteen. Hah! Showed her.)


I believe it's the same thing. "Chocolate bloom", as it's called, can be either white or a more beige-y color. Here's a quick link I found from googling, with a pretty good image of a light brown bubbling pattern that it says is from bloom.

http://www.fearlesschocolate.com/science-fact-the-infamous-chocolate-bloom/

Ah, okay. The couple of sites I saw all said it was always white. Yeah, it looks sort of like that. I think it might be a combination of the two, as the texture changed (sugar bloom) and it was heated (fat bloom).


Does the place you store you chocolate ever get hot, or is it near a heat source? Is your computer blowing exhaust on it? Heat causes chocolate bloom.

Just be sure it's bloom and not mold; I had some chocolate which was highly suspect because it was in a room that ended up getting a mold infestation. :smallyuk:

That place was normally near room temperature, but I think I vaguely recall leaving that bag of chocolate bars in a car sitting in the sun.

[Coidzor]

...Chocolate expires? I don't know how old it is, I just figured that as it tasted more or less okay it was probably fine. (My mother actually bet money I wouldn't survive to eighteen. Hah! Showed her.)


For sale, certainly. More of a best-buy date so long as it doesn't become contaminated or compromised by some kind of bacterial bloom.

I suppose there might be some way the fat in it could become rancid?

[noparlpf]

These supposedly expired sometime between six months and a year ago, depending on the individual bar.

[Wyntonian]

This is why I love this forum.

[Pie Guy]

These supposedly expired sometime between six months and a year ago, depending on the individual bar.

It's your call, but I wouldn't risk them. They may not be poisonous, but they probably don't taste very good.

[Coidzor]

It's your call, but I wouldn't risk them. They may not be poisonous, but they probably don't taste very good.

As long as they're not too bad of a brand they'll taste ok, not as good as they would have, but still something that's more pleasant to eat than unpleasant if you want to get utilitarian about it. Might be a bit dry and grainy, depending.

That's assuming they haven't gone bad in some legitimate way, but as long as nothing too crazy happened to them and they weren't exposed to the open air or something they should still be fine if that's all that's passed and the packaging isn't rubbish.

And, well, if they're not quite up to snuff you can just melt them down for some obscene purpose. Or hot chocolate.

[noparlpf]

It's your call, but I wouldn't risk them. They may not be poisonous, but they probably don't taste very good.

Eh, it tastes alright.


As long as they're not too bad of a brand they'll taste ok, not as good as they would have, but still something that's more pleasant to eat than unpleasant if you want to get utilitarian about it. Might be a bit dry and grainy, depending.

That's assuming they haven't gone bad in some legitimate way, but as long as nothing too crazy happened to them and they weren't exposed to the open air or something they should still be fine if that's all that's passed and the packaging isn't rubbish.

And, well, if they're not quite up to snuff you can just melt them down for some obscene purpose. Or hot chocolate.

It is (was?) Lindt 85%, if you're familiar with that brand. It's a bit dry and crumbly, but hasn't killed me yet, so that's a good sign.

[Socratov]

As far as i know, chocolate starts to bloom after a couple of years. It iiirc means that the cocoa butter 'sweats' out of the chocolate. Only when contaminated heavily can chocolate go mouldy. It has an expiration date for the sam reason vinegar has one: its edible and it is sold so by law it should have one (even if it makes no sense whatsoever).

[The Succubus]

Can you get superpowers from eating out of date chocolate?

[noparlpf]

Can you get superpowers from eating out of date chocolate?

I hope so. Getting a real job will be a drag.

[Weezer]

Can you get superpowers from eating out of date chocolate?

I think the real question here is what kind of superpowers would you get from chocolate based powers? Shoot liquid chocolate out of your fingers? Eat all the chocolate you want without getting fat? The possibilities are (far from) endless!

[noparlpf]

I think the real question here is what kind of superpowers would you get from chocolate based powers? Shoot liquid chocolate out of your fingers? Eat all the chocolate you want without getting fat? The possibilities are (far from) endless!

The ability to control peoples' minds through chocolate? The ability to teleport anywhere there is chocolate? The ability to manipulate chocolate telekinetically?

[Coidzor]

The ability to control peoples' minds through chocolate? The ability to teleport anywhere there is chocolate? The ability to manipulate chocolate telekinetically?

The ability to turn objects into chocolate?

[noparlpf]

The ability to turn objects into chocolate?

http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb416/noparlpf/5763722_700b.jpg

[Gnoman]

I expected you to go with this.

http://chocobooks.wikispaces.com/file/view/touch1.jpg/30209794/touch1.jpg

[noparlpf]

I expected you to go with this.

http://chocobooks.wikispaces.com/file/view/touch1.jpg/30209794/touch1.jpg

I've actually never heard of that.

[Drakeburn]

I actually have a bit of a funny story here. Ever since I was a little boy, I had this teddy with what seemed like a heart - tipped wand or something. Jump to my teenage years, and I discovered that the heart is actually a heart - shaped chocolate in wrapping and on a stick. It looked just fine. So I ate it. And it tasted ok.

[Lady Moreta]

...Chocolate expires? I don't know how old it is, I just figured that as it tasted more or less okay it was probably fine. (My mother actually bet money I wouldn't survive to eighteen. Hah! Showed her.)

Chocolate, according to the Cadbury Factory Tour (chocolate factory located in the city I went to uni at, they did tours), has a shelf-life of 52 weeks, provided it's stored correctly - and by which, I mean at a temperature lower than room temperature. Their chocolate storage facility was actually fairly cool. (Okay, so this particular company's chocolate has a shelf-life of 52 weeks... I have no idea about other companies.)

Your chocolate is probably still edible provided that, as someone else said, it's not mold, but it may not taste that good any more. I've eaten chocolate with that kind of gunk on it, and while it's still fine to eat, it never tastes very good.

[Winter_Wolf]

If you're in the rough vicinity, you could always pick up some new chocolate at Hershey World (Hershey, Pennsylvania). The most diabetic place on earth. Actually it's "the sweetest place on earth", but if you sampled everything on the same day....

Fresh chocolate is awesome. And they give you free samples every time you go on a ride.

[noparlpf]

I'm not a huge fan of Hershey's chocolate, actually. It's usually too sweet for me.

[Drakeburn]

I enjoy chocolate every once in a while. And whenever I get a Hershey's bar, I take a piece, put it in my mouth, and let it melt in there.

But for me, it's either Hershey's, Crunch, or Three Musketeers.

[noparlpf]

I found some fresh 85% Lindt on sale at the supermarket. I'll compare it to the old stuff I have here later.

[noparlpf]

Got new chocolate. New chocolate is indeed vastly superior to old chocolate.

[Weezer]

If you're in the rough vicinity, you could always pick up some new chocolate at Hershey World (Hershey, Pennsylvania). The most diabetic place on earth. Actually it's "the sweetest place on earth", but if you sampled everything on the same day....

Fresh chocolate is awesome. And they give you free samples every time you go on a ride.

Hershey's bars aren't chocolate. They're vaguely chocolate flavored wax...

[Winter_Wolf]

Hershey's bars aren't chocolate. They're vaguely chocolate flavored wax...

They still tasted good when they were definitely less than a week old and probably only two or three days old. Yum.