Bain-Marie Method

This quick and simple method involves melting the chocolate over boiling water. If you are melting a bar or slab of chocolate, break it into squares or roughly chop it before placing it in the bowl. Make sure the heatproof bowl into which you place your chocolate is bigger than the pan of water, so you can seal off the water (this avoids steam getting into the chocolate and ruining it). You should need only a couple of inches of water in the pan, and the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water. Turn off the heat when the water reaches boiling point, then add the chocolate to the suspended bowl. The residual heat should melt the chocolate. If it doesn’t, put the pan of water back over a low heat for a short time to warm it up again. If you take the bowl off the water, dry the bottom of the bowl with a tea towel to avoid any water getting into the melted chocolate.