There are several ways to melt chocolate. Most common is the double boiler method as well as the microwave method. It can be a little tricky to heat chocolate properly. Chocolate contains cocoa butter as well as cocoa solids and you don't want the solids to separate from the butter. Chocolate is heat sensitive and will scorch over direct heat, so you need to be careful in order to avoid lumpy and grainy chocolate.
To melt chocolate using a double boiler, fill a pot with about one inch of water and put a heat proof bowl on top of the pot, not stainless steel (it transfers heat too easily). You want to make sure that the bowl isn't touching the water and that no steam emerging from pot can reach into the bowl. If the chocolate comes in contact with the water, it can become lumpy and grainy.
Put on low heat and bring the water up to a low simmer, you don't want boiling water. Add finely chopped chocolate pieces – or chocolate chips in the bowl. Continuously stir the chocolate and make sure the heat isn't on too high, it's even a good idea to remove the bowl from the pot occasionally to prevent it from getting too hot, as the chocolate will scorch if that happens. Don't hurry this process along, it will take some time. Note: You do not want your chocolate to be to much above 100 degrees F. To melt chocolate in the microwave, use a microwaveable bowl and add finely chopped chocolate or chocolate chips. Heat the chocolate in one minute intervals on 50% heat. Take out the bowl and stir in between each interval. When the chocolate is basically completely melted, take out and stir until smooth and shiny. Note: The chocolate may not look melted but it will have absorbed a lot of heat, so stir before returning to the microwave.
Tip! If the chocolate does scorch, then stir into some vegetable shortening (about 1 oz of shortening for every 6 oz of chocolate) and you might be able to save the batch.
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