Yeah, too bad that hardly ever update their site too. Not as bad as Valrhona, though. I wonder if they forgot about their site.

I read something interesting on Schrffen Berger’s site about the new 82% chocolate.

“This chocolate is delicious now and will improve with age.”

Most chocolates expire after a year or so. What does they meen by saying this? Is the chocolate edible longer than other chocolates? Hasn`t the flavors “settled” yet? Should I keep it with my wine bottles and give it to my grand children?

Dark chocolate can improve with age, this is true. Without boring you with the details, the cocoa butter changes over time. While it may appear solid at room temperature, a good 20% of it is still liquid and fluid. Plus, cocoa butter, once it does harden, can do so in a variety of ways. Most of these turn out and show themselves as bloom – however, those that don’t will spontaneously convert to other, harder, stabler forms over time, which does impact flavor release. Generally over time, darks will mello out, become milder, and their aromatic peaks and valleys will flatten out. There is a time limit on how long this is the case, so I wouldn’t start storing them with your french wines in hopes of having a taste ephiphany 20 years from now, but I’d say that a good years’ age on dark chocolate is a very good thing.

Obviously this isn’t the same for milk chocolates, where you’ve got milk products to consider…

Yepp!

“I`ve got lots of friends in San José. Do you know the way to San José?”

damn this forum is cool! [8D][8D]

In a more general chemistry sense, oxidation simply refers to an atom’s or molecule’s loss of electrons; and fats, proteins, and DNA all undergo this process. When this happens, the good molecule turns bad, into the villianous free radical which snatches electrons from other stable molecules. Hence aging, cancer, heart disease, etc. However, if one wants to be real specific, a fat’s decomposition can be classified as either hydrolysis or oxidation. As you mentioned, chocolate contains long fatty acid chains and is thus more stable for a longer period of time. Butter, as I mentioned, is more vulnerable to hydrolysis because of its shorter chains, which allow the smaller molecules to fly off into the air easier. Even when stored in the refrigerator, this reaction occurs, but eventually the butter will become volatile. The same happens to nuts, and heat and light can also cause the rancidity (aka oxidation). This is why we need to store fatty foods in a “cool dry place.” Basically, rancidity in a nutshell (pardon the pun), is the disconnection of fatty acid chains. Length, type, and external factors, such as heat, light, etc. all play a part in how long a fatty food will last.

I never thought that my old knowledge in chemistry (half a term at the university…) would be so relevant for the eating of the Gods. [:)]
I celebrate the healt of choc with some pieces from my in-office stored supplies. I decided that it was better to have a bit choc at the office and eat it, than to dream about it all the time…[;)]

***
My name is Polarbear and I am a chocoholic…

True, all true. Natural cocoa does have lipases (enzymes that act like knives that only cut fat) present, but the processing steps involved have heat treatment steps high enough to inactivate those enzymes. Fat is made of a backbone chemical called glycerine (glycerol), to which is attached 3 fatty acids. When they’re all hooked together, it’s called a triglyceride. If those enzymes are present, they enzymatically drive a chemical reaction called hydrolysis (acids, and in some cases for some fats, the presence of water can drive this as well). This means that 1 or more of those 3 fatty acids that are attached to the glycerol backbone get ‘cut’ off, and that’s one of the large factors that drives rancidity. All EU and US regs have maximum levels of FFA (Free fatty acids) that can be present in cocoa butter, with the maximum level that I’ve seen from any country at 1.75%. However, I’ve never, ever seen a rancid cocoa butter, even after severe deodorization steps. I’ve never kept a finished dark chocolate around for more than a few years to test specifically for changes over time (with the exception of frozen material, but that doesn’t really count). I mistakenly have kept a milk chocolate for over 5 years, and that wasn’t a pretty site.