How to Make a Fondue Stand

If you don't have a fondue set, you can make your own.

Fondue is the companionable practice of melting a cheese sauce or chocolate at the table in a suitable pot, and gathering friends or family around to dip their favorite foods into it. The practice goes back centuries in Switzerland, where it is something of a national dish. In America, fondue has been in and out of fashion over the decades. If you would like to host a fondue party but don't currently possess a set, you can improvise one using simple materials found around the home.

Things You'll Need

• Tea light candles or can of gelled alcohol
• Saucer
• Empty soup, juice or vegetable cans
• Wire trivet or cooling rack
• Saucepan
• Butter
• Cheese sauce or melted chocolate

Instructions

1. Place your candle or alcohol fuel on a saucer, to guard against the heat damaging your table's finish. Place four empty soup or vegetable cans around the heat source, forming a square slightly larger than your saucepan.

2. Set your wire trivet on top of the cans. It should be at least 3 to 4 inches above a tea light, and 5 or 6 inches above alcohol fuel. If it isn't, find higher cans.

3. Test your height and temperature by placing the saucepan over your heat source and lighting it. A tea light should be able to melt a piece of butter, but not make it foam and brown. Gelled alcohol should keep boiling water at a simmer, but not a full boil. Get taller cans, if necessary, to keep the saucepan from overheating.

4. Prepare your cheese sauce or melted chocolate just ahead of time on the stove top, over a low heat. When your guests arrive, transfer the saucepan to your improvised fondue stand, and light the candle or gelled alcohol.

5. Serve immediately, or keep the sauce warm over your burner while you entertain your guests. Remember to stir the fondue periodically, especially chocolate fondue, to prevent scorching.

Tips & Warnings

• Choose either tea light candles or a can of gelled alcohol fuel as the heat source for your fondue. Tea lights provide a gentle heat suitable for chocolate fondue, while alcohol fuel provides enough heat to keep cheese sauce at a simmer.

• To prevent the trivet from sliding, attach it to the empty cans by sliding bobby pins over the trivet's wires and onto the sides of the cans. Attach at the outer edge of the cans, since bobby pins are made of nylon and might melt on the hotter inside edge.

• Remember that your improvised stand will not be as sturdy as commercial versions, and be careful of jiggling or bumping the table. Keep children and pets out of the room while the pot is in use, and warn adults that it may not be perfectly stable.

References

• Fine Cooking: The Rules of Melting Cheese
• Recipe Tips: The Basics of Fondue
• Recipe Tips: Fondue or Chafing Dish Burner and Fuel