How to Melt Chocolate

Chocolate is delicate.  To protect the endearing qualities found in this awesome food, you must use some caution.  If you want to melt your chocolate for use in a recipe then follow these steps and you can't go wrong.

When using squares of baking chocolate, be sure to finely chop them into small pieces before melting.

You may think that chocolate chips are ideal for melting because they are already small and uniform in size, however, chocolate chips are actually made to keep their shape at higher temperature.  That way they don't melt away when baked in cookies.

Melting chocolate in the microwave is both fast and easy.  Begin by chopping the chocolate into very small pieces.  Place them in a microwave safe bowl and heat on high for about half a minute.  Remove the bowl and stir.  If chocolate is not completely melted, continue heating for 30 second increments.

Melting chocolate on the stove is slightly more complex than the microwave, but still doable.  Prepare the chocolate by chopping into small, uniformly sized pieces.  Place half of the pieces in a saucepan.  Heat over low to medium heat and stir almost constantly to prevent scorching.  When the chocolate in the pan has melted, remove from heat and stir in the remaining half of the chocolate.  Continue to stir until the texture is smooth and creamy.

     Remembering these easy steps for melting chocolate will help you incorporate it into your next great dessert or dish.