How to Set Up a Double Boiler for Fudge

Cooks use double boilers to warm delicate foods, like chocolate and custards, over indirect heat. You can purchase a double boiler, which consists of two fitted saucepans, at any restaurant supply store or you can improvise with items in your kitchen and make your own using a large saucepan and smaller metal bowl. If you are making fudge, a double boiler is a necessity since the chocolate must melt gently to prevent scorching.

Instructions

1. Add about 1 inch of water to a large saucepan and set the pan on your stove.

2. Turn up the heat on your stove top so that the water in the pan comes to a simmering boil. The pan should put off a good amount of steam. This steam is your indirect heat source.

3. Put the chocolate for your fudge into the metal bowl.

4. Set the metal bowl on top of the pan of boiling water so that the two pieces nest together.

5. Heat chocolate to the desired consistency and then carefully remove the metal bowl from the saucepan by lifting it straight up and allowing any water to drip down from the bottom of the bowl.

Tips & Warnings

• A double boiler is also useful for melting wax for making homemade candles.

• The water in the saucepan should never touch the bottom of the bowl. If this happens, then you will no longer have an indirect heat source. Instead, you will heat the chocolate over direct heat, which is too harsh for a delicate ingredient like chocolate.

• Do not allow the water in the saucepan to evaporate completely. This type of overheating can damage your saucepan.

• Always use an oven mitt when handling the double boiler--the metal bowl can become very hot.

Resources

• Demonstration of a double boiler for heating fudge.