Monday, January 31, 2005 Question: What to Use to Improve the Shelf Life of Confections?
A Reader Writes, asking, [sic] “to increase the shelf life of chocolates (assorted or filled with fresh cream/milk) what preservatives to use?” In general, I don’t like to recommend using preservatives, but there are many techniques that can be used to increase shelf life without using artificial preservatives … The shelf life of chocolates (filled confections) at room temperature is governed by what is called the “water activity level.” When chocolates go bad, what is happening is that the dairy product(s) used to make the ganache go sour and/or turn moldy. We’ve all seen this happen in our refrigerators at one time or another, but it’s something else to see the inside of a piece of chocolate turn into a biology project. What happens is that oxygen—which can be found in the ganache as well as permeating the chocolate shell—promotes the growth of bacteria in the dairy component of the ganache. The ways to improve shelf life (keep the bacteria from growing) include reducing the amount
