Seven mistakes to avoid when melting chocolate
If it hasn’t happened to you at least once, consider yourself lucky. You’re standing in front of the stove, melting some of those little blocks of chocolate that come in boxes. You gleefully anticipate those chocolate dipped strawberries that will be the end of tonight’s dinner. You look up to check the time or talk to the kids, and when you look back at the stove, your chocolate isn’t turning silky smooth, but gooey and weird. And to add insult to injury (culinary), the more you heat and stir, the lumpier they get.
Your chocolate has taken over. The good news is that you can still use that chocolate mess in other recipes if you haven’t burned it. The bad news is you’re not eating chocolate dipped strawberries tonight. Read on to discover the seven most common ways melting chocolate ruins and what you can do to avoid a disaster.
Mistake #1. Let the water come into contact with the chocolate: a block of chocolate doesn’t look like it, but it doesn’t have any water in it. It is made from small dry particles of cocoa and sugar and cocoa butter. A drop of water entering the melted chocolate causes the particles to clump together around the water. This is seizing. You can prevent this by keeping moisture away from the chocolate. If you melt the chocolate in a bain-marie, don’t use too much water at the bottom and Do not do let the water boil.
Mistake #2. Excessive heating. If the heat is too high, the chocolate will burn before it is completely melted. While this doesn’t technically stick, the burnt chocolate forms little lumps on its own. There’s nothing you can do with burnt chocolate except maybe use it as a face mask or something. Don’t eat it.
The double boiler is a lifesaver here (although it’s still not totally foolproof). Again, bring the water to a simmer, do not boil. You can also melt chocolate in the oven if you have extra time. Put the oven on its lowest temperature and check the chocolate every few minutes and give it a stir. Note that the chocolate should not get hotter than 115 degrees F when melted. This is just warm, not hot.
The microwave works pretty well if you set it to 50% power, check your chocolate and stir after 1 minute, then take it apart and stir every 15-20 seconds until it’s almost Melted. Stir without heating and let the residual heat melt the chocolate completely.
Mistake #3. Attempting to melt a large chunk of chocolate: Not only will you be standing in front of the stove until tomorrow trying to melt it, but you’ll have charred it long before the entire chunk melts. Chop the chocolate, please. Try to cut it into fairly even pieces. Think chocolate chips for dark chocolate, finer for milk or white chocolate as they tend to burn more easily. This applies regardless of the method you use.
Mistake #4. Trying to melt it directly in a pot on the stove: too hot, too fast. You know that the chocolate that touches the bottom of the pan will be over 115 degrees. do not do it
Mistake #5. Neglect it: melted chocolate needs attention; needs love It must be stirred frequently to distribute the heat evenly.
Mistake #6. Putting a lid on the melted chocolate – OK, I’ve seen this recommended before, but the problem here is that any moisture trapped in the pan will condense on the lid and drip into the chocolate. And you know what happens then, right?
Mistake #7. Trying to make it melt faster – Patience is a virtue. You can’t rush the process. You’re just looking for trouble. Use low heat and take your time.
Remember: use low heat, take your time, keep it dry, and stir, stir, stir. You are working with chocolate here. Breathe in that rich aroma. Marvel at the silkiness of the melted chocolate. Anticipate the delight of the final product. Hey, don’t get too lost in your senses. You have to keep stirring. Good luck.
In the next article on chocolate, I will talk about what they can do with that seized chocolate.
Leave a Reply