Sheila Lukins, Julee Rosso

Melting Chocolate

Appears in
top 1000The New Basics Cookbook
The New Basics Cookbook

By Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso

Published 1989

  • About
Chocolate is easily scorched when heated. There are a number of ways to melt chocolate, but for all of them the chocolate must be attended to. Don’t walk away. Chocolate melts easiest if grated or chopped—even coarse chopping helps.

DIRECT HEAT: Put the chocolate in a heavy pan and put the pan over very low heat. Stir constantly until melted. This method works best with liquid or butter added to the chocolate to protect it from scorching.

DOUBLE B0ILER: Put the chocolate in the top of a double boiler over hot water. Stir constantly and keep the water below a simmer so that no steam or water gets into the chocolate, which would cause it to tighten or stiffen.