Melting Chocolate

There are a number of ways to melt chocolate and a few pitfalls, too. Follow one of the three methods outlined here, and melt the chocolate slowly. The main things to avoid are water getting into the chocolate and the chocolate overheating. You can cool and re-melt the chocolate several times if you handle it carefully. If you are planning to temper the chocolate (see Tempering), you may find you need to practise melting it a few times until you get the feel for it. I prefer to use a very low oven to melt chocolate, but the bain-marie and microwave methods work well, too.