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Melting Chocolate

Before I get into the actual processes of melting chocolate, such as chocolate chips, I would like to take a minute and go over the differences between melting and tempering and when you should temper.

What differentiates chocolate tempering from melting chocolate, other than the process, is the final product. You only need to learn how to temper chocolate if you're making desserts that require the chocolate to be shiny and 'snap' when broken; such as with chocolate truffles. To learn how to temper chocolate, please visit my page on chocolate tempering.

If you do need to temper the chocolate, don't use chocolate chips as they contain an additive that helps them retain their shape when warm, which has the additional effect of preventing a proper temper.

If you are going to bake a chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies or make a chocolate pie that requires melted chocolate, there is absolutely no benefit to spending the time tempering the chocolate instead of simply melting it. However, there are a few points that should be kept in mind when melting chocolate to avoid problems, these are described below.

How to Melt Chocolate

Learning how to melt chocolate is a fairly straight forward process, but there are a few key concepts that should be kept in mind.

• Never let the chocolate get above 120°F, it causes undesirable reactions in the chocolate and can mess up the texture. Simply melt the chocolate slowly over low heat or if using a microwave, keep the power at 50% or lower.
• Always chop and chocolate into roughly uniform pieces prior to melting, try to avoid melting whole bars at a time. Melting chocolate chips is easy as they are already a uniform size.
• Stir from very regularly to constantly, 'melted' chocolate chips will retain their original shape until you stir them, same with some chocolate bars.
• Be sure you don't let any water get into the melted chocolate or it can really mess things up, the chocolate will seize, causing it to become hard gritty.

Methods of Melting Chocolate

Microwave

Use a bowl that you know won't get too hot to the touch when in the microwave, if it's too hot for you to handle easily then it's too hot for your chocolate.

Keep the power low, don't cook it on high or you risk over heating some parts of the chocolate before others are melted. You should also stop and stir the chocolate every 30 seconds to a minute.

Note that if your melting chips they will hold their shape and won't look melted until you stir them.

Double Boiler

Melting chocolate with double boiler is the traditional method and works great. Just remember, stir the chocolate regularly, unstirred chocolate can easily over heat. Remove the chocolate from the heat source shortly before it's completely melted, then stir it continuously until it's ready.

Hot Liquids

Many recipes, such as when making the ganache center for chocolate truffles, require you to pour a near-boiling liquid, such as milk or cream, over the chocolate pieces to be melted. This works well, just keep in mind that you should wait 1-2 minutes after adding the liquid before you begin stirring, then stir continuously until the mixture is completely smooth.

It's possible that all the chocolate won't melt with this method, it's usually requested by the recipe that you simply remove any extra unmelted chunks or chocolate chips. Don't place it in the microwave or add more liquid.

In conclusion

Melting chocolate is fairly simple and straight forward, however, forgetting the tips above can lead to serious problems with your chocolate desserts, learn how to melt chocolate properly and your life in the kitchen will be that much easier!

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