Melting chocolate can be a little complicated, but if it’s all that stands between you and chocolate-covered strawberries, cookies, pretzels, marshmallows, and even potato chips, let’s fix that right now. To melt chocolate three easy ways, you should have the smoothest, glossiest, most dippable chocolate in just minutes, with no fancy equipment.
What to Know Before You Start:
Break the chocolate into pieces or squares: Chocolate comes in solid bars or small chips. If you’re using chocolate bars, break them into uniform pieces so they’ll melt evenly. Chocolate pieces are already the ideal size for melting.
Stay chocolate dry: Moisture ruins melted chocolate, so you are sure to wipe everything down. Also, you don’t let even a tiny drop of water get into your chocolate. If you’re dipping fruit, be sure to pat it dry before dipping it into the chocolate.
Stay chocolate low: High heat will scorch your chocolate. Low and slow is the way to go.
Because melt chopped chocolate bars or chocolate chips, don’t let water get into your chocolate, and keep your heat low and slow.
How to Melt Chocolate 3 Easy Ways:
Melt Chocolate on the Stove
You’ll need
- Pot or double boiler
- A heat-proof bowl that fits over the pot (because who has a double boiler?)
- Heat-proof spoon or spatula
Pour a few inches of water into the pot. Fit the bowl over the pot, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Heat the water to a simmer. Turn off the heat and add 2/3 of the chopped chocolate bar or chocolate chips to the bowl. Stir gently to melt. Add the remaining 1/3 of the chocolate a little at the time and stir gently to melt.
By melting a portion of the chocolate and then stirring in the rest, you’ve just used the “seeding” method to temper chocolate. That means the small cocoa butter pieces have stabilized and the chocolate will be lusciously glossy. Learn more about tempering chocolate so it always turns out well smooth and ultra glossy.
Melt Chocolate in a Microwave
You’ll need
- Microwave-safe bowl
- Heat-proof spoon or spatula
Microwave chocolate for 30 seconds on high. Remove and stir.
Chocolate pieces will retain their shape until you stir them, so you don’t rely on looks alone.
Repeat with 10- to 15-second blasts until most the chocolate is melted. That time you should remove from microwave and keep stirring until the remaining heat melts the rest of the chocolate.
Melt Chocolate in a Crock Pot (Slow Cooker)
You’ll Need:
- Slow cooker or crockpot
- Heat-proof spoon or spatula
A slow cooker, set on low heat, is ideal for melting chocolate and keeping it at just the right temperature while you dip a lot of cookies, pretzels, strawberries, etc. All you need to do is stir it occasionally and keep an eye on it to make sure it’s not getting too hot.
If it does get too hot, you should turn off the slow cooker, remove the insert, and stir in a couple of pieces of unmelted chocolate to cool it down quickly.
Hopefully, these ways will give you melt chocolate easily!
