Zap It

What’s the best way to melt chocolate? Hands down, the microwave. No other melting method gives you as much control, as long as you do it slowly. You want to break or chop your chocolate up into small-to-medium sized pieces, put them in a glass or ceramic bowl, and zap it on high for intervals of about 20-30 seconds each (longer to start, less as the chocolate starts to melt). After each one give the chocolate pieces a stir and return the bowl to the radiation. Zap, stir. Zap, stir. Zap, stir, until it’s nearly smooth, at which point the residual heat should melt away any remaining lumps. Not using the zapper any more than you have to is the key to melting chocolate this way. The reward is not having a double boiler to wash.