You might say that we know a thing or two about chocolate. After all, it is what we do! It also puts us in the perfect position to help others when they want to broaden their horizons and uses for chocolate. Baking, moulding (like we do), and even ice cream toppings all use chocolate in different ways, but before you create your perfect treat or dessert youâre going to need to know how to melt chocolate correctly.
When youâre ready to learn how to melt chocolate, weâve got the guide for you right here. Take a look below to find out how you can get started on one of the first steps towards even better baking and treat making!
- Ways You Can Melt Chocolate
- How to Melt Chocolate on a Stove
- Melting Chocolate Like They do on TikTok
- How to Melt Chocolate in a Pan
- How to Melt Chocolate in a Microwave
- Melting Chocolate Correctly
- How to Melt White Chocolate
- How to Melt Dark Chocolate
- How to Melt Cooking Chocolate
- How to Cool Melted Chocolate
- How to Melt and Temper Chocolate
- Check Out Our Other Chocolate Tutorials
- Order Online and Enjoy ASAP
Ways You Can Melt Chocolate
There are plenty of different ways that you might melt chocolate, so weâve picked the most popular ones to help you learn how to do it right.
Before you begin any of these, youâll need as much chocolate as you want to melt. It should be broken up into uniform pieces, cut with a knife into bits of chopped chocolate, or poured in like a bag of chocolate chips if you want to melt all of the chocolate quickly. Whole chocolate bars will melt far slower, and who has time for that?
Here youâll find the different methods you can use to melt chocolate, whether itâs for baking, desserts, or for dipping snacks like marshmallows or strawberries:
How to Melt Chocolate on a Stove
Melting chocolate on a stove is the most controlled method, which is why weâve put it right at the top. Itâs also relatively straightforward. Youâll only need a medium-sized saucepan and a heatproof bowl to get going:
- Fill your saucepan with 4 cm of water. Place this over medium heat and bring it to a gentle simmer
- Place your heatproof bowl over the top of the pan. It should fit snugly, but shouldnât touch the water
- Lower the heat to a very gentle simmer
- Add your chocolate pieces to the bowl, before leaving it to melt for 4 to 5 minutes (stir it regularly!)
- Remove the pan from the heat and allow the chocolate to cool a little bit before you use it
You have to make sure that the chocolate youâre melting doesnât come into contact with the water when youâre melting it on a stove. If it does, it will become grainy and start to clump. This is called âseizingâ, and once it does that you canât use it anymore.
The water can also get too hot, which is why it should only be on a gentle simmer at most. The chocolate will split otherwise, meaning that the fat will separate from the sugars.
Donât worry right away if your chocolate splits, though. If it happens, there might be a way to fix it; adding fat to the chocolate can often bring it back. Ideally, this should be cocoa butter, but if you donât have any then vegetable oil might do the trick.
Melting Chocolate Like They do on TikTok
You might have also seen a TikTok trend in which a user, named Rumaisah, melted an entire Cadburyâ bar in its wrapper by boiling it on a stove for a while. This is a good way to ensure your chocolate is ready for piping in a ready-prepared bag once melted, with no mess.
However, we would suggest being careful if youâre going to do this. Rumaisah doesnât say how long the chocolate needs to be in the water, for one thing, which might mean the chocolate wonât be completely melted, and youâll need to make sure the wrapper is completely sealed and not broken anywhere around the bar before it goes anywhere near hot water. You donât want your chocolate to seize!
How to Melt Chocolate in a Pan
We understand if you donât want to faff around with extra bowls and utensils (you might see this called the âdouble boilerâ method) when melting your chocolate. Luckily, it is possible to melt chocolate in a pan by itself as well â as long as you do it on very low heat! Youâll need a small pan for this, as well as a rubber spatula or a whisk:
- Put your hob on the lowest temperature possible
- Pour your chocolate pieces into the pan and place the pan on the hob
- Stir the chocolate using the whisk or spatula, occasionally taking the pan off the hob to give you better control of the temperature and stop the chocolate from burning
- When the chocolate is around 85% to 90% melted, take the pan off the hob and continue stirring until all of the chocolate is melted
Chocolate that youâve melted in a pan will be slightly thicker than chocolate melted using the double boiler method. If you donât want this, adding a little bit of vegetable oil or coconut oil should thin it out.
Chocolate also burns easily and you donât want it to stick to the pan, so you must never leave it unattended while youâre melting it.
How to Melt Chocolate in a Microwave
The easiest method youâll find of melting chocolate is doing it in a microwave. All youâll need is a microwave-proof bowl, your chocolate pieces, and a spatula or a whisk.
Because all microwaves are different, we canât tell you exactly what setting will be best for you to melt chocolate in one. Using a low setting is more likely to keep your chocolate from burning, though, so youâre more likely to have success with it. Just put the bowl of chocolate in the microwave, uncovered, for around 20 to 30 seconds.
Take it out, check it and stir it after this, and if most of the chocolate hasnât melted by that point, put it back in the microwave and blast it again on the lowest setting in 5 to 10-second intervals. Keep stirring in between these, and do it until all the chocolate is melted.
Melting Chocolate Correctly
To some, this might sound odd. You canât exactly melt chocolate incorrectly, can you?
Well, you can. Different kinds of chocolate are made using different ingredients, and it melts faster when it has a higher percentage of cocoa butter and fat. This means youâll have to watch out more with certain types than others if you want your chocolate to melt into a lovely, gooey, chocolatey mess instead of just burning.
How to Melt White Chocolate
Much like milk chocolate, white chocolate has a high percentage of sugar and milk solids. This means that while you can melt it like any other chocolate you will have to keep a close eye on it to make sure it doesnât catch and burn. It will involve a lot of continuous stirring to keep it nice!
How to Melt Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate, unlike milk and white chocolate, doesnât contain milk at all. It only has sugar, cocoa butter, and cocoa solids (you might also know this as cocoa powder). When you look at dark chocolate in a shop, it will normally have a percentage on it telling you how much of the bar is cocoa solids. Most experts will recommend a good bar of 70% dark chocolate if youâre using it to bake because it gives a richer flavour.
Because of its high amount of cocoa butter in comparison to other ingredients, dark chocolate melts the fastest, so you wonât have to spend as much time getting it soft. It also has a thinner overall consistency than milk or white chocolate when melted, which means you shouldnât worry if it looks a little different to other types once itâs liquidy.
How to Melt Cooking Chocolate
Most people will probably assume that cooking chocolate is the same as normal chocolate if a slightly lower quality. This isnât true, though. Cooking chocolate has a very high cocoa content and contains little to no sugar, giving it a strong cocoa flavour that makes it great for baked goods. Traditionally itâs bitter dark chocolate, but many brands have branched out to create milk and white cooking chocolate too, as these flavours have become more popular with people looking to bake or finish their desserts.
Happily, the differences donât mean that you have to prepare cooking chocolate in any special way. You can put it in a pan on a stove, use the double boiler method, or put the chocolate in a microwave to melt it. Just remember to be extra careful if the chocolate is white or milk â you donât want it to burn!
How to Cool Melted Chocolate
If youâre cooling your chocolate to use for dipping, a dessert, or some other treat, then youâll only need to leave it alone for a few minutes to cool by itself before it can be used. Itâs also often a good idea to take it off the stove early if youâre melting the chocolate in a pan or using the double boiler method, as this stops it from overheating.
How to Melt and Temper Chocolate
Once youâve learned how to melt chocolate, the next step in honing your culinary skills will be to learn how to melt and temper chocolate to make it hard and give it a glossy finish. Weâve got another guide to take you through this, so go right ahead and start learning more about how to temper chocolate today.
Check Out Our Other Chocolate Tutorials
Now that you know a little more about how to melt chocolate, for baking, dipping or making something like chocolate-coated strawberries, or even just to have on its own (we wonât tell if you wonât), why not take a look at some of our other blog posts and tutorials? Youâve already got the link to our guide on how to melt and temper chocolate, but why not start learning how to make hot chocolate bombs, or how to make your own chocolate tree?
Of course, if youâd prefer your sweet pieces to come crispy, crunchy, and delightfully chunky, you can always save your melting for later and take a look around our website instead. Weâve got a fabulous selection of favourites waiting for you to choose from, so why not put the chocolate lessons on hold and get some sent to your home?
Order Online and Enjoy ASAP
Our entire confectionerâs collection is easily ordered on your computer or your phone; all you have to do is pick the pieces you want, add them to your basket, arrange a date for delivery, and complete your payment to place your order. Simple! Your work will be done and ours will begin. That means you can sit back and relax, and keep an eye out for your delivery.
Order all the delicious delights you want from Sweet Tree by Browns and enjoy them in the comfort of your own home, without any fussing around or cleaning up in the kitchen, as soon as possible.
