Quick and Easy Way to Melt Chocolate

Many recipes will tell you to place your chocolate in a bowl and sit over a saucepan of water to melt.  This is often time consuming and gets very hot.

To save yourself time, and get the same result, why not place your chocolate in a glass bowl and melt in the microwave.  You need to remember that chocolate holds its shape so you do need to be careful with the amount of time it goes in the microwave for.  Depending on the amount of chocolate I normally start at 1 minute for 200g.  Then with a metal spoon give it a good stir to see if the chocolate breaks down and the consistency is runny.  If it is not at the consistency that is required, place it back in the microwave for another 20 seconds.  Continue process allowing to cook for only 10 seconds at a time.