How to Make Chocolate Stay Melted

Whether you are making a chocolate dipping for strawberries or churros, ideally you would want to have a bowl of melted chocolate that stays melted. After all, if that chocolate dipping hardens, you can no longer dip into it or pour it.

Chocolate naturally hardens at room temperature, however. Therefore, to make chocolate stay melted, there is a secret trick you should know. Read on to learn how to make chocolate stay melted.

How to Melt Chocolate Properly

Before we get into how to make chocolate stay melted, first you should know how to melt chocolate properly. You can not expect to make a great chocolate dipping if you melt chocolate directly in a pot!

Chocolate is a heat-sensitive ingredient, so it is important to know how to melt chocolate properly. There are three ways to melt chocolate:

1. The Bain-Marie Method

This method is one of the easiest ways to melt chocolate. You will need a bowl and a pan, with the bowl being larger than the pan.

Fill a third of the pan with water and turn to medium heat on a stove. As the water heats up, add the bowl on top of the pan and make sure that it does not touch the water. Add in your chocolate coins or chopped chocolate and stir until melted completely.

2. The Microwave Method

Place your chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Make sure to not fill the whole bowl all the way to the top: a 1/3 of the way or at most ½ of the way up in the bowl. Microwave the chocolate in 30-second intervals. After each interval, take the bowl out and stir with a spatula. Do this until it’s completely melted.

3. Using A Melter

A melter is a machine designed to melt chocolate. It’s great for those who need to melt a big amount of chocolate regularly, because they help to keep your chocolate at a liquid consistency for as long as you need. 

All you need to do is add your chocolate coins or chopped chocolate into the melter and set the temperature. Once it starts to melt, stir with a spatula until you you get that nice glossy liquid chocolate.

For more information about how to melt chocolate properly, read our “What is the Best Way to Melt Chocolate?” blog.

How to Make Chocolate Stay Melted and Shiny

Now that you know how to melt chocolate properly, now let’s find out how to make chocolate stay melted!

Here’s the secret ingredient to make melted chocolate stay melted and shiny: Vegetable oil.

Before you melt your chocolate, add a little bit of vegetable oil. Our chefs recommend sunflower seed oil or grapeseed oil, but any odorless vegetable oil will do. This will keep your chocolate from drying out.

You don’t need a lot of oil to make your chocolate stay melted. A good place to start is with 1 teaspoon of oil for a cup of chocolate coins.

So, the next time you want to make the perfect chocolate dipping or sauce, be sure to melt your chocolate properly and add vegetable oil!

Troubleshooting Melted Chocolate

We often get asked about how to fix several problems when dealing with melted chocolate. Here is a list of the answer to your questions:

1. Why Did My Chocolate Seize, and How Do I Fix Seized Chocolate?

Seizing happens when chocolate turns into a gritty, rough paste. This happens almost instantaneously when a small amount of water is added to the chocolate.

This may sound counterintuitive, but to fix seized chocolate, what you need to do is add more water (or other liquid) to it. What this does is dissolve the dry particles in the clumps, bringing the fluid consistency back.

For starters, add 1 teaspoon of boiling water to the chocolate at a time, then stir vigorously until it forms a smooth mixture. This dilutes the chocolate, so it’s best to use it for chocolate sauce or drizzle.

With seized chocolate, it is best to prevent seizing from happening in the first place. Eliminate any chance of water coming in contact with your chocolate. Make sure all utensils and workspace are dry, and be especially careful when melting chocolate using the bain-marie method, as even moisture from boiling water can potentially seize your chocolate.

2. My Melted Chocolate Overheated and It Formed a Thick Lump, What Do I Do?

Chocolate is very sensitive to high temperatures. When melted chocolate is overheated, it will lose its shine and become thick and muddy.

To fix this, first you need to cool the chocolate. Remove it from its heat source and transfer it to a dry, cool bowl. Stir in a handful of solid chocolate chunks or coins and stir constantly to allow the solid chocolate to cool the melted chocolate.

If the melted chocolate remains thick or lumpy, try sifting it. You can also try to add a small amount of vegetable oil or cocoa butter and stir thoroughly. 

If none of these helps your chocolate, save the chocolate for baking. Note that the tricks mentioned above only helps with the texture. When chocolate overheats badly, it could form a burnt taste. If this happens to your chocolate, it is best to start over, as this burnt taste cannot be removed.

To prevent your chocolate from overheating, melt the chocolate slowly and don’t use high heat. For dark chocolate, the maximum temperature is at 55°C, while milk and white chocolate is at 50°C.

3. Why Doesn’t My Melted Chocolate Harden Properly?

When making coating or glazing, ideally we’ll need our melted chocolate to set again. To create a shiny layer of chocolate, we often need to temper it.

Tempering chocolate doesn’t only involve melting chocolate, but also conditioning the chocolate to reach a stable state, so to speak. To know more about the chocolate tempering process, read these articles:

• Why Do You Need To Temper Chocolate? What Does It Do?
• 3 Different Methods of Tempering Chocolate
• Chocolate 101: Chocolate Tempering Process