How To Get Melted Plastic Off Stove Top

How to melt chocolate chips on the stovetop or in the microwave

Someone holding a wooden spoon and stirring chocolate. — You can easily melt chocolate at home on the stove or in the microwave.

It's easy to melt chocolate at home in a microwave or on the stovetop.
Dark, milk, and white chocolate melt at different temperatures.
Stir frequently as you're melting to prevent your chocolate from burning.
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Thick, liquid chocolate is a true delight, used to make truffles, European-style drinking chocolate, any number of confections, pastries, or as a dip for fresh fruit. Thankfully, it's easy to melt chocolate at home in either a microwave or on the stove.

Chocolatier Susanna Yoon always has warm liquid chocolate standing by in a tempering machine at Stick With Me Sweets in New York City and uses melted chocolate to make a number of different ganaches for her jewel-like bonbons that are almost too pretty to eat. Here, she shares tips on how to melt silky chocolate at home.

"If you would like to melt your chocolate faster, the smaller the pieces, the better," Yoon says. "The more consistent the sizes, the more evenly the chocolate will melt." That means if you aren't using chocolate chips, chop your chocolate into evenly sized pieces to set yourself up for success.

Generally speaking, the higher the percentage of cocoa solids, the higher the melting point. White chocolate has the lowest melting point because it does not contain cocoa solids. Milk chocolate contains both milk and cocoa solids and melts at a lower temperature than dark chocolate. The optimal temperature to melt chocolate also varies between different brands, so check the label for the chocolate you're using.

Yoon works with Valrhona chocolate, made purely with cocoa beans, at Stick With Me Sweets. She recommends not exceeding 135 degrees Fahrenheit when melting dark chocolate and 120 degrees for milk and white chocolate. At home, you can melt chocolate easily without any special equipment either in the microwave or on the stove.

Tips and tricks for melting chocolate chips

Be patient when melting chocolate to avoid burning it, and make sure to keep it away from water.

Chocolate has a relatively low melting point. It literally melts in your mouth, or on a hot day in the sun. Be patient and gentle with melting to avoid burning your chocolate.
Avoid getting your chocolate wet. This causes it to "seize" and become clumpy and gritty.
Temper using the stovetop method. Tempering chocolate requires a cooking thermometer to precisely cool the melted chocolate to between 81 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit for a short time, allowing certain crystal structures to form. You then gently warm it again to between 85 and 90 degrees, before you begin working with it to achieve a smooth and shiny finish.
Tempering is tricky. Results can vary depending on variables including the humidity and temperature of the room, or the origin and percentage of cocoa. This is an advanced technique, but don't worry — chocolate tastes just as good without tempering. It just won't have the same glossy snap.

Insider's Takeaway

Melted chocolate can be used in a variety of delicious recipes and it's easy to melt chocolate chips at home with a microwave or on the stove. Dark, milk, and white chocolate have slightly different melting points depending on the amount of cocoa solids, but all chocolate has relatively low melting points so you'll want to err on the side of caution and lower heat to avoid burning your chocolate.

Amber Gibson is a journalist specializing in travel, food, wine, and wellness with bylines in Conde Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, Robb Report, National Geographic Traveler, Departures, Saveur, Bon Appétit, NPR, NBC, Fodor's, USA Today, and more. After studying journalism at Northwestern University, where she graduated as valedictorian from the Medill School of Journalism, Amber has been a full-time digital nomad, spending 350 nights a year in hotels. Champagne, dark chocolate, and gelato are her biggest weaknesses.