You can melt chocolate in a microwave or in a bain marie or water bath. My personal favourite is the microwave as its minimal effort, quicker, needs just one pan and is less messy. Here are the fundamentals:
In a Microwave:
- Chopped, uniform pieces of chocolate will ensure even melting.
- Water is kryptonite! Absolutely avoid any contact to water. Water will make the chocolate unworable so ensure that even your spatula and bowl are completely dry.
- Do not over heat or the chocolate will end up becoming grainy
In a Microwave:
The most critical part of using the microwave is choosing the right container. You want a bowl that is microwave safe and yet remains fairly cool or slightly warm to touch. If the bowl is too hot for you to handle after microwaving, chances are it is too hot for your chocolate to handle as well.
It is also preferred to melt you chocolate on a lower power setting as you don't want to burn it. Another alternative is to heat the chocolate for short intervals, and stirring between each interval.
This is the more traditional way of cooking chocolate. The biggest plus of using this method is that you can see the chocolate progress so there is no risk of burning it. You want enough water to provide heat, but not so much that the bottom of the chocolate bowl touches the water.
