Hello,Firstly I'd just like to say hello and introduce myself; my name is Louise Thomas and I run a company called The Chocolate Consultant in the UK, which has the aim of educating people through different disciplines and events about the world of fine chocolate. I previously worked as a pastry chef, where I discovered this secret world, before leaving the kitchen to work in the industry with British chocolatiers to learn more.I have seen similar posts, so you will have to excuse me for reposting a similar topic. I have, luckily, lots of chocolate in my flat. I live in a basement flat in London and the temperature changes variably throughout the day depending on which neighbours are in, if it is windy or rainy, if it's hot it's close to unbearable. Now winter is upon us, but I don't have the need to turn on the heaters yet, as it is still comfortable in the flat. I am worried about my chocolate and have bought a specific chocolate fridge to try and keep it at a regulated temperature. The maximum I can keep the fridge at is 10C, and I obviously understand that chocolate is best kept at 16C. So a few questions:1. Is it ok to keep chocolate at 10C so long as I let it reach room temperature before tasting?2. Is it better to keep it switched off?3. Is it better to keep it at room temperature even though it is variable throughout the day?4. How do you store chocolate at home?Thank you for letting me pick your brains. It just makes me fret a little!Many thanks in advance,Louise
updated by @louise-thomas: 04/30/15 18:38:34

I store chocolate in a wine fridge and plastic bags or boxes in case of occasional condensation on the fan. I'm in upstate NY USA. We are having a freakishly temperate fall so I'm also keeping some in a padded thermo bag (my traveling bag for chocolate) and pulling stuff to eat it. I was traveling in Italy for two weeks and the thermo bag evened out all the crazy temperature fluctuations.