How To Thin Out Melted Chocolate For The Best Results

If you're trying your hand at making desserts, nobody would blame you for baking with chocolate first: Anything involving melted chocolate is sure to be a crowd-pleaser if you're in good company. Chocolate can be a goopy ingredient, though, and it's fairly common to have to thin out melted chocolate so you can pour it more easily. But just because you're watering down the chocolate, so to speak, doesn't mean you should use water. In fact, avoid adding water to melted chocolate because it can cause the chocolate to seize, which means it turns too thick and separates into uneven clumps. Rest assured you won't be able to drizzle seized chocolate on anything. Instead, prevent and resolve this problem with the help of canola oil or vegetable oil.

While a cooking fat can thin out unruly chocolate in a pinch, you might want to add oil to chocolate before you begin melting it. This will properly thin out your chocolate without causing the sugar and cocoa particles to stick together and stiffen the chocolate (like water does). Vegetable oil and canola oil are neutral oils without much flavor, but they've got a high smoke point, so they'll withstand the heat during the melting process. If you don't have either, coconut oil is a fine substitute with a more distinct flavor. Cocoa butter also works and it comes directly from cocoa beans, although it's typically more expensive.

Keep in mind that butter and oil will give you different textures — cocoa butter will make the chocolate creamier and can add a bit of extra flavor, while vegetable oil won't do much beyond thin out the chocolate, keeping its flavor the same. In terms of nutritious value, cocoa butter is calorie-dense but contains vitamins E and K, while canola oil, like a bottle of Crisco, is low in saturated fats. The more you add of either fat, the thinner your chocolate will get, but if you need a place to start, add about a teaspoon of oil per cup of chocolate or a tablespoon of cocoa butter per cup of chocolate.

Whichever option you choose, make sure it's not too cold, because this can also risk seizing up the chocolate. On a similar note, don't overheat the chocolate either once you begin melting it; keep it on low heat to prevent burning it. The tried-and-true method is to melt the chocolate with steam using a double-boiler, such as ExcelSteel's three-piece set, or a glass bowl over a saucepan. At the end, if you've still got some unwanted gritty texture in your otherwise runny melted chocolate, try sieving it over a mixing bowl. Just try not to spill any, as it'd be a mess, albeit a delicious one.