Friday, June 01, 2007
A Trick for Melting Chocolate
I'm a great believer in skeptically treating the One True Way tone you get in so many recipes. What someone did once becomes the prescribed method for all, even if it's not the best approach. I was part of an online discussion on a writers' board and someone started a discussion for those who develop recipes. One of the tangents was how sometimes the "safe" way of doing something is for the birds. For example, I make hollandaise sauce directly on the range and not in a double boiler; if you're careful, the eggs won't curdle and you'll be done in about a fourth of the time or less.
Another writer mentioned also being lazy and doing the same with melting chocolate, which I've also done. But I also mentioned a trick I learned from a book (I can't remember which one). Chop up the chocolate, put it into a microwaveable container, and microwave it on full power for about 60 seconds. Take it out and stir. The chunks that look solid will suddenly break apart and turn into nicely melted chocolate. If that time isn't enough, add more in 30 second blocks, doing the stir test at the end of each block. Eventually you get a nice pool of liquid chocolate with no danger of scorching or having the chocolate seize into a mass harder than a hockey puck.
Another writer mentioned also being lazy and doing the same with melting chocolate, which I've also done. But I also mentioned a trick I learned from a book (I can't remember which one). Chop up the chocolate, put it into a microwaveable container, and microwave it on full power for about 60 seconds. Take it out and stir. The chunks that look solid will suddenly break apart and turn into nicely melted chocolate. If that time isn't enough, add more in 30 second blocks, doing the stir test at the end of each block. Eventually you get a nice pool of liquid chocolate with no danger of scorching or having the chocolate seize into a mass harder than a hockey puck.
