Tuesday, November 27, 2007 1:15 PM
How do I melt chocolate?
It only takes one batch of greasy or chalky-looking dipped Buckeye balls to make you realize that there's more to melting chocolate than nuking it. But the technique also depends on what you're making.
If you’re folding the melted chocolate into baked goods (like brownies or the incredible Flourless Hazelnut/Almond Chocolate Cake you’ll find here in the Recipe tool), the microwave method is the easiest:
• Place the chocolate (in chips or chopped pieces) in a microwave safe container. In the book Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey (found here), author Jill O’Connor recommends placing 6-8 oz. of chocolate in a single layer on a large dinner plate so that it heats more evenly.
• Heat the chocolate in short, 30-second bursts on high.
• Stir the chocolate after each turn in the microwave. This step is important because it keeps the chocolate from getting too hot. Chocolate burns if heated over 200*F.
CANDY-MAKING and DIPPING CHOCOLATE
When you’re making candy or dipping/coating chocolate (like this recipe for chocolate-dipped Berry-Full Wafers; or Macadamia Brittle Cookies (pictured), or this recipe for Apricot-Chocolate Triangles) it’s important to “temper” the chocolate.
Tempering is simply a way of stabilizing chocolate by melting and cooling it at a certain temperature so that when it hardens, it’s glossy, smooth and malleable. If the chocolate isn’t tempered properly, the cocoa butter in the chocolate can form crystals and turn clumpy, dull, streaky or greasy when it hardens.
The chocolate bars, chunks or chips you buy in the store are already tempered, but when you melt it again, you take it out of temper. To get the same crackle-y, shiny, smooth chocolate when it hardens, you have to temper it again.
It takes some practice, but one method (called “seeding”) makes the process relatively easy.
You’ll need:
* Double boiler OR a large pot and a heatproof bowl made out of a material like Pyrex, stainless steel or enamel
* Candy thermometer
* Silicone spatula (for stirring)
* Chocolate, roughly chopped
To temper by seeding:
* Add water to the bottom pan or pot, at least ½ to 1 inch full (but not enough to touch the bowl holding the chocolate). Place the pan over a medium-low flame.
* Dump approximately 2/3 of the chopped chocolate into the top bowl and place the bowl over the water pan.
* Gently stir the chocolate as it melts. Check the temperature and heat the chocolate until it is 110*F-115*F and almost fully melted, with a few small chunks still visible.
* Remove pan from heat and stir in the remaining 1/3 chocolate chunks. (This cools the chocolate.)
* Stir the chocolate until it is fully melted and has cooled to the tempering range. (This can take 10-15 minutes.) The chocolate should be held at this temperature until it is used:
Temper Temperatures
Dark chocolate: 88-90*F
Milk chocolate: 86-88*F
White chocolate: 80-82*F