How to melt chocolate: Slow and steady means smooth and shiny

Chocolate Basics

Start by finding which chocolate you really need first. You know your favorite chocolate type, but the contents also matter. Dark (bitter) chocolate has lower fat and takes longer to melt. Whereas milk chocolate has more fat as well as also milk in it, which makes it softer and easier to melt. Just don’t overheat it! White chocolate is even easier to melt since it has lots of butter and milk, but needs more attention to avoid burning it. There is also “couverture” chocolate, AKA “the professional” one. You can find any chocolate type in this couverture form, which just has a high cocoa butter content. Perfect for that patisserie-standard - shine on cakes, pies, and any other sweets covered in chocolate.

How do I melt chocolate?

Our best tip is to use the bowl method over a water bath (also known as bain marie). Simply place a heatproof bowl of chocolate over a pot of simmering water and stir while it melts. The two most important things here are: 1. Make sure no water touches the chocolate itself. This will ensure that it stays smooth. 2. Don’t let the bowl touch the water in the pot. You’ll risk burning the chocolate. As an alternative, you can also microwave the chocolate. Best course of action here: start slow and see how quickly your chocolate melts. Try 30–40 seconds on low at first, and repeat until you see small pieces left. Then you can just stir to mix it all in. For drinks, you can add in cream or milk depending on the perfect consistency (hello hot chocolate).

How do I temper chocolate?

Tempering chocolate will give you a shiny and smooth finish for your chocolate. This is great when you need to cover or glaze something with chocolate. The easiest method is to roughly chop most of your chocolate to melt as usual. Keep the remaining part to finely chop. When most of the chocolate is melted, remove it from the heat and add in the finely chopped chips and mix well. The trick is not to let it get too hot or too cold while tempering. If it’s too cold, briefly heat over the water bath again, if it’s getting too hot, add in a bit more chopped chocolate to balance.

Enjoy your meal!