Recipe: How to Melt Chocolate (double boiler, microwave or oven)

HOW TO MELT CHOCOLATE

CHOPPING CHOCOLATE
To melt chocolate properly, first chop it into pieces that are roughly 1/2 - 3/4 inch in size. If the pieces are chopped into different sizes the chocolate won't melt evenly and you risk having to heat it too long for all of it to melt.

At home, I chop thin pieces of chocolate with a chef's knife and thicker chunks with an ice pick. I also chop chocolate, nuts, fruits, and other items on cutting boards reserved exclusively for baking so that these ingredients do not pick up the residual taste of garlic, onions, or other aromatic savory items.

MELTING CHOCOLATE
Chocolate can be a bit tricky to melt because it is an emulsion of cocoa butter and cocoa solids. If the chocolate is heated too much, the cocoa butter separates from the cocoa solids, streaking the chocolate gray. Chocolate must be heated without a drop of moisture and never to more than l15 degrees F for dark chocolate or 100 degrees F for milk and white chocolates. If you overheat chocolate, it scorches and becomes grainy, as it will if a drop of moisture falls into the melting mass. To avoid overheating it, always melt chocolate slowly over indirect heat. Another foolproof way is to partially melt the chocolate by whichever method you choose, remove it from the heat source, and let the remaining chunks of chocolate melt by the heat of the surrounding warm chocolate. For small amounts of chocolate, use the double-boiler or microwave method. For large amounts of chocolate, use the double-boiler or oven method.

Double-Boiler Method of Melting Chocolate:
For the double-boiler method, chop the chocolate fine, place it in a clean stainless-steel bowl or the top of a double boiler, and set the bowl over a saucepan of very hot or gently simmering (not boiling) water. You do not want the bottom of the bowl to come directly in contact with the water below nor the water to be boiling and spewing up large masses of steam, which could fall into the chocolate and turn it lumpy. Also, do not cover the bowl or double boiler because steam could collect under the lid and fall back into the chocolate, causing the mass to harden and become grainy. As the chocolate begins to melt, stir it with a heat-resistant spoon or rubber spatula, working the chocolate from the sides of the bowl into the center mass. When the chocolate pieces are almost entirely melted, remove the bowl from the heat, stir, and let the remaining chocolate melt by the heat of the larger mass.

Microwave Method of Melting Chocolate:
For the microwave method, finely chop the chocolate and place it in a clean microwavable plastic or glass bowl. Set the bowl in the microwave oven and heat it, uncovered, at 100% power for 15-second intervals, or at 50% power for 1-minute intervals, stirring between intervals. When you melt chocolate in the microwave, it retains its shape, which can fool you into thinking it is not melting. Be sure then to stir it between heating intervals or you won't be able to gauge if it has melted, and you might overheat it.

You can remove the chocolate from the oven when it has almost melted, then stir and let any tiny undissolved lumps melt by the heat of the surrounding mass. Read the back of the box to find out how to microwave those 8-ounce packages of chocolate from the supermarket that contain smaller, individually wrapped 1-ounce chunks. They suggest melting the chocolate in its paper wrapping in the microwave oven. I have tried this method and it works well.

Oven Method of Melting Chocolate:
For the oven method, place the chocolate in a moisture-free, ovenproof pan, and set it, uncovered, in an oven that has a pilot light. Leave the oven door ajar and wait until the chocolate has melted, 5 to 7 minutes.

Melting Chocolate with Liquid:
Even though I said earlier that you cannot melt chocolate with a drop of liquid because it will seize up, you can melt chocolate in liquid if you have the proper ratio of liquid to chocolate. To be on the safe side, melt chocolate in 1 tablespoon of liquid for 1 ounce of chocolate, even though for certain chocolates, such as milk and white, which contain fewer cocoa solids than dark, you need only 1 tablespoon of liquid for 2 ounces of chocolate.

A much-used preparation in cake-making is "ganache" a superb cream and chocolate mixture used as either a filling or a glaze. To make a ganache, bring heavy cream to just under the boil and pour it over chopped chocolate set in a bowl. It is crucial that before you blend them together, you let the mixture stand for 30 seconds to make sure the heat of the cream has been absorbed by each piece of chocolate, i If you don't wait, you might end up with microscopic bits of undissolved chocolate that would make your icing bumpy.

Troubleshooting:
If, despite all your good intentions and precautions, the chocolate seizes up while you melt it try to salvage the mess by whisking in, for each ounce of chocolate, 1 teaspoon solid vegetable shortening (not butter, which contains water). If you feel you have overheated the chocolate and it is about to scorch, immediately transfer the mass to a large clean bowl or dump it on marble counter, and scrape it back and forth few times to cool it down quickly, then scrape it back into a clean bowl.

Used by permission to Recipelink.com from Clarkson Potter
Source: Chocolate Cake by Michele Urvater