Thursday, December 23, 2010

How to melt chocolate

If you are a chocolate addicted, the first step in making amazing recipes is learning how to melt chocolate. Once you learned it you can make a killing with a chocolate brownie, drizzled cookies and many other chocolatey sweets.

I recommend to melt chocolate only with a double boiler, because chocolate is very sensitive and easy to overheat. This method is best for its gentle heat from the hot water below.

With a sharp knife chop the chocolate in equal pieces, to ensure even melting. Place the chocolate in the top bowl of the double boiler.

Place the pans on low heat to ensure gentle heat.


Chocolate melts gradually from the heat of the bowl, so you need to stir in constantly to prevent overheating the chocolate on the bottom of the pan.


When you hear the water below boiling, remove the bowl with chocolate and continue to stir until the bowl gets cold.  Return the bowl on the steam and continue to stir until is completely melted (shiny and smooth).


To prevent overheating and for the best consistency use a chocolate thermometer: 120 degrees for dark chocolate and 110 degrees for milk and white chocolate. Do not allow the chocolate to exceed this temperatures.


This is your smooth and glossy melted chocolate!


Tips and tricks:
  • use bowls and ustensils completely dry
  • don't cook while you are using chocolate, because it will turn muddy and lose its shine due to the humidity
  • never try to melt whole pieces of chocolate that have not been chopped
  • melt the chocolate slowly over low heat
  • overheated chocolate means you should never heat dark chocolate above 120 degrees or white and milk chocolate above 110 degrees
 

1 comment:

  1. Oh how useful! Nice post! I always melt chocolate the easy way- in the microwave :/

    ReplyDelete