How to melt chocolate in a water bath

All novice confectioners sooner or later face the question of how to melt chocolate in a water bath. This simple technology will be needed if you need to make icing, cake decor, or homemade chocolates. At the same time, the final product will undoubtedly be unique, which opens up wide opportunities for confectionery creativity.

How to choose chocolate to melt

You can buy any chocolate to melt and then decorate dishes, but there are rules for choosing. Some types are not suitable for a particular case at all. Chocolate bars with the following features are preferred.

Chocolate “Dining”.
No additives: nuts, raisins, jam.
Sufficient amount of cocoa, from 55%.
Porous chocolate is excluded for melting.
Dessert chocolate is not suitable for icings.
Poor quality tiles are also unsuitable.

So the choice of chocolate also depends on the type of dessert: pour over ice cream or prepare strawberries in glaze. The shape can be any, not just tiled.

Chocolate glaze is the perfect “coating”

The taste of chocolate goes well with the vast majority of ingredients used in the production of desserts:

nuts;
ice cream;
fruits and berries, including dried;
coconut flakes,
marmalade;
different types of creams;
condensed milk, etc.

With such a variety of options, calling on your design skills to help, you will certainly create an inimitable chocolate miracle even from an ordinary gingerbread.

How to melt correctly

In order not to spoil the dessert and chocolate, you need to melt it correctly. In liquid form, the mass should be quite thick, shiny and tasty-smelling. The principles for making hot melted chocolate are as follows.

How to make a water bath? Place a small saucepan in a larger one, filled with water to the bottom of the inner container, heat to a boil.
Break the tiles into small pieces and place them in a smaller container.
When melting, do not be distracted from the container, stirring all the time, every 40 seconds.
You should not cover it with a lid, as condensation will get into the mass, which should not be allowed. It will lose thickness and taste.
Add cream or butter, not water.
It is necessary to prevent steam from entering from the lower pan.
It is better to take a spoon made of wood or silicone.
The melting temperature for dark chocolate is 55 degrees C, and for white chocolate – 45. The heat should be extremely low.

The higher the grade of chocolate, the better the dessert will be. To add shine to the cake coating, add butter. The biggest disappointment will arise if the chocolate mass burns. When melting in a water bath, melting occurs slowly, but uniformity and quality are guaranteed. This is a popular way to make tiles liquid.

Useful tips

Before you start melting, consider the following tips:

The product must be at room temperature, otherwise it may become covered with a white coating or separate.
Butter will add shine to the mixture. But cream, butter and other liquids must be warm or hot so that the sweet mixture does not harden after adding them.
Use a kitchen thermometer or pyrometer to monitor the temperature during cooking.
Provide gradual heating. Avoid sudden changes in temperature.
Do not melt bars from different brands or with different cocoa content at the same time.
If there is too much product, divide it into several parts and melt gradually - this will make it easier to control the process and prevent overheating.

How to make a water bath

A water bath at home is easy to do. To melt chocolate on it, you need two saucepans (or sauté pans). One container must be larger than the other in order to fit the first one. The most suitable container in which chocolate melts well is enameled. The small saucepan should not touch the bottom of the large one.

The following steps explain how to make a water bath.

Pour water into a larger saucepan and bring to a boil.
Place a smaller container with finely broken chocolate in a pan of boiling water. Set the fire to low.
Stir the chocolate as it melts. If necessary, add additives - heavy cream or butter.
Turn off the fire and let it cool to about 36 degrees C.

Now the prepared mass can be used in a brownie pie, for a cake or for frosting fruits. Now we know how to melt chocolate in a water bath.

Recommendations for the melting process - do not overheat the mass, as bitterness may appear in it, and after hardening it will be excessively hard, avoid getting steam or droplets of water into the molten mass.

Melting rules

First of all, during the process it is advisable to control the temperature of the melting product using a pyrometer. This will help avoid overheating. This is especially important for white chocolate, whose melting point is 43-45°C, which is lower than that of dark chocolate (45-50°C). If the thermometer shows that these values are exceeded, then the chocolate mass is removed from the bath and continues to be stirred without heating.

Other rules that must be followed when melting in a “bath”:

Water should not get into the product, otherwise lumps will form in the mass and it will be spoiled. For the same reason, the dishes for the fire must be dry.
Do not forget about constant stirring; do not leave the bath unattended until the very end of the melting process.
It is important to ensure that water from the lower container does not enter the upper one.
You should not cover the melting mass with a lid, as the collected drops of steam will easily fall into it and spoil the result.

You can remove the bowl from the bath as soon as most of the product has melted. The unmelted pieces will disperse on their own in the total mass.

Using a slow cooker to melt chocolate

There are various methods of melting, for example using electronic kitchen appliances. How to melt chocolate in a water bath in a slow cooker? Those who have this unit can easily melt the mass in it. More precisely, here the mass melts in a steam bath. But so much the better for chocolate, which will retain its properties from overheating.

We take the following steps.

Break the tile into pieces.
Pour water into the bowl to the minimum level.
Place the pieces in the steamer tray.
On the remote control we set: “steaming”.
Stir occasionally until melted.

The multicooker does everything automatically according to the program; you just need to monitor the process.

What you need to know

How to melt chocolate at home? The use of a water bath - the simplest and most effective method in this case - requires compliance with certain rules.

The melted chocolate mass should have a uniform consistency, specific aroma and shine. In order to give it more shine, add a little butter to it.
The melting point of dark chocolate is 55 degrees, for white chocolate – 45 degrees C. Overheating can lead to bitterness, so the process must be controlled.
If you heat chocolate in a water bath, you should not leave the stove. Continuous stirring will prevent burning and the formation of lumps that will ruin the final product.

How to melt chocolate in the microwave

The microwave can also be used instead of a water bath to melt chocolate. You will need a glass container that will not heat up very quickly. If the glass bowl gets too hot after a few minutes in the microwave, it could be bad for the chocolate. Therefore, you need to transfer the chocolate mass to another cold bowl and add a few pieces of unmelted chocolate. Mix everything thoroughly.

It is very good when the microwave supports the set temperature function. When melting chocolate, it is better to choose a low temperature so that the mass does not burn. You should periodically remove the container from the oven and stir the mixture. If the microwave does not have a turntable, then you should turn the bowl of chocolate yourself from time to time.

It is quite difficult to say how long it will take to melt chocolate in the microwave. This depends on the amount of cocoa butter in the chocolate, the volume of the chocolate mass and the power of the microwave oven. It takes approximately 3 minutes to make 240 g of chocolate, and in 4 minutes you can melt almost a whole kg. The correct thing to do is remove the chocolate every 30 seconds and mix well. This way you won't miss the right moment. The chocolate mass should be smooth and shiny, and the chocolate pieces should be completely dissolved.

Chocolate chips or pieces are placed in an appropriate container and placed in the microwave. Heating is carried out at a power of 800-1000 W, monitoring the process every 15 s. or more often, so as not to overheat.
Take out the chocolate when almost all the chips are melted.
“Add” the contents until smooth.
Now add cold tempered chocolate and cool to operating temperature.

It's time to get down to business

When everything is prepared, you can calmly begin your plan. Chocolate can be taken in a variety of forms: both in the form of bars and in the form of drops (small chocolate candies without filling). For everything to go well, you need to follow a simple algorithm:

Grind the chocolate. This can be done with your hands, breaking it into small pieces, or with a knife, chopping it into small chips. Interestingly, the smaller these pieces are, the faster they will dissolve.
Build a water bath. As already mentioned, to do this you need to place one bowl or pan on top of another, but before that you should pour a little water into the bottom one and bring it to a boil. It is important that the bottom of the upper vessel does not touch the surface of the boiling water, but only succumbs to the influence of steam.
Place the chopped chocolate in the top bowl and wait until it transforms into a liquid, elastic and shiny mixture. You need to keep an eye on it throughout and stir well so that it doesn’t burn. If you use white chocolate, it will not be as pliable, so you will have to work hard before achieving the desired result.
The formation of the required mass will indicate the completion of this simple work. If desired, you can add cream or milk (this is especially true in the case of white chocolate).

Article on the topic: High platform in the bathhouse on which 5 letters are steamed

After melting the chocolate, you need to cool it at room temperature and then use it. How many uses can be found for it! This is the most interesting stage, since it is here that the possibilities of a person’s imagination are revealed.

Method 1/3+2/3

The method is similar to the combine method, only the process is performed manually.

2/30 of the total mass of chocolate is subject to melting.
Then add the remaining 1/3 of the chocolate in bars or coins with constant stirring.
If the chocolate is not melting well (a common occurrence with this tempering method), use an immersion blender and beat the chocolate until completely melted.

The resulting chocolate will be thicker than when tempered on marble and will not be suitable for making sweets or thin-walled products. But it is ideal for creating sculptures or decoration.

Methods regarding how to properly melt chocolate in a water bath will be useful for preparing a wide variety of desserts, simple and complex. The mass will not overheat, which will have a positive effect on its taste. It is not necessary to use chocolate for frosting cakes and making decorations. It will be very tasty just to drink it or dip pieces of fruit. It is also possible to melt the mass using an oven or microwave. Everyone uses their own method, which they like best.

Frappe with banana

Ingredients for a delicious drink:

ice cream – 220 grams;
milk – 300 milliliters;
banana – 1-2 pcs.;
white chocolate – 30 grams.

Frappe can be prepared as follows:

Melt white chocolate in the microwave or in a water bath.
Heat the milk and add to the melted sweetness. Continue heating and stirring until they become one.
When the consistency is smooth, pour it into a blender, adding chopped banana and ice cream. Whisk all ingredients thoroughly.

Pour the resulting cocktail into glasses and garnish as desired.

Lactic

Many people think that this type of dessert cannot be melted at all in order to make a cake decoration out of it. It is worth considering that such tiles cannot melt to a liquid state; they still remain quite viscous. This dessert delicacy can be used to make an inscription or drawing on the finished cake. It will be extremely difficult to use as a glaze.

Mousse recipe

With melted chocolate you can cook whatever your heart desires.

Ingredients:

eggs – 4 pcs.;
sugar – 1 tbsp. spoon;
chocolate – 100 grams.

Mousse preparation technology:

Melt the product in a bathhouse, add the required amount of sugar.
Remove the resulting mass from the stove and beat with four yolks.
Then beat the whites to form a stable and strong foam. Stir into chocolate mixture.
Prepare portioned bowls, glasses, and spread out the mousse. Then you can refrigerate for an hour.

Serve garnished with fruit, whipped cream and a sprig of mint.