How to melt chocolate without ruining it

Chop evenly so the pieces melt at the same rate. Heat gently — a bowl over barely simmering water that does not touch the bowl, or a microwave in short bursts with stirring between. Stop while a few small pieces are still visible and stir until they disappear in the residual heat.

Chocolate is dry particles suspended in fat. A small amount of water wets the sugar and cocoa particles and pulls them together into a stiff paste. Add enough liquid, though, and everything dissolves into a smooth emulsion — which is what a ganache is. So a seized batch cannot be returned to melted chocolate, but adding roughly a tablespoon of liquid per 50g turns it into a usable sauce.

Dark chocolate tolerates about 50°C. Milk and white should not exceed about 45°C, because milk solids burn well before cocoa solids do. Scorched chocolate is grainy with a burnt smell and cannot be recovered. Most scorching happens from heating until everything is molten rather than stopping early.

Steam from a bain-marie whose water is boiling hard, condensation on a bowl taken from a cold place, a damp spoon, or a wet spatula. Dry everything, keep the water at a bare simmer, and use a bowl wide enough to sit on the pan rather than in it.