Oreo/white Chocolate Bark-help-the Chocolate Got Hard

This might be too last for you now. I never melt chocolate chips or any other chocolate in the microwave. I always melt it in a sauce pan over low heat on the stove. Stir it constantly until it is the consistency that you want. It has to be stirred and watched the whole time.

I always use a double boiler. I was melting chocolate chips the other day, and they started to burn. I had been making lots buckeyes and had run out of water (it had all evaporated), so I just had a really hot pan! Oops! I threw those out and started again. I think with chocolate, you just have to really watch it and realize that sometimes it's going to burn.

Just the other night I had to help my son with a Cub Scout project that would have been right up my husband's alley. I really had no idea what I was doing and had ot ask the other dads for help. I told my son that there are lots of things I don't know how to do, so I just remind myself to not worry about it and ask for help. It was a good lesson for both of us.

uh oh. your chocolate seized. no coming back from that.
it can still be melted down (probably needs to have some sort of liquid added, depending on the recipe) and used for a sauce or within a dough of some sort. but it won't be any good for dipping or coating.
it happens to everyone sometimes, no matter how careful you are. you can avoid it most of the time by heating your chocolate chips very very gently. the microwave is fast, but a double boiler tends to be more bulletproof.
hope your bark turns out terrific!
:) khairete
S.

E.! You are not alone! I stumbled across the bark recipes a few years ago and was soooo excited! Until I made them. And of course I didn't do just one but like 3 at once and they all were awful. I don't even know what I did, it seemed so simple but somehow I screwed it up. I didn't take them to church and I can't remember if we even ate them. lol I'm not a good cook and I don't really "like" to cook so I always am on the lookout for the easiest recipes possible and thought bark would be one. Uh, no. Lol

I didn't read the other responses so I hope you got some good suggestions. Good luck.

I second the double-boiler method - melt your chocolate in a pot above a pot of boiling water. Chocolate (including white chocolate) can be very quickly destroyed by direct, high heat.

If you have something like shortening in the house, it can help to add a small amount of that to the pan too - it makes the chocolate/white chocolate melt smoother and easier to handle.

Did it get hard from seizing, cooling off, or is it burned? If it seized, you can try to add a bit of fat or more chocolate over a double boiler; that doesn't always work though. If it cooled you can reheat in a double boiler. If it's burned or smells off, toss it.

If you heat it in the microwave make sure you do it in glass. After each 15 s interval pull it out and stir to distribute the heat before going again.

Did it get hard because it cooled, or hard because it got over-cooked (burned) or seized (if it came in contact with water)? If it's because it cooled, just warm again for a few seconds on 50% power to re-melt. If you over-cooked it, you can try to salvage it with a bit of shortening (Crisco), which might bring it back to the right consistency. If not, you'll have to toss it.

The chocolate that you use makes a difference - Candy Melts are the easiest to work with and have a stabilizer in it that makes melting smooth and easy. The "bark" stuff sold at Wal-mart is also supposed to be easy to work with. Chocolate chips can be touch and go, depending on the brand. Some chocolate chips, particularly white, have a wax that prevents them from melting easily.

For your next batch, if you're using a whole bag of chips or melts, microwave for 1 minute at 50% power, then stir. Then continue to microwave for 15 second at a time, at 50% power, stirring each time until they are smooth. Make sure your bowl and spoon are dry - chocolate and water don't mix.

There's no embarrassment in learning things and trying new recipes! We all have had some trial and error situations!

If there's even a drop of water in the bowl where the chocolate was, if you had recently cooked something in the microwave and there was some steam left in there, the chocolate will harden. It's called "seizing".

When melting chocolate, use a perfectly dry bowl, and make sure to stir the chocolate frequently after the 15 second intervals. If you're melting the chocolate in a double boiler, keep the heat low so that steam doesn't rise up and so that the boiling water won't splash into the chocolate.

Here's a great explanation: http://www.thekitchn.com/food-science-why-chocolate-sei-4...

So, yes, you can try salvaging it. You can actually add water, like about a teaspoon of warm water (maybe two), or a tiny bit of oil or cream.

Sounds like it got too hot. I don't own a real double boiler, but I have a glass mixing bowl that sits ok on top of my medium saucepan and it works just fine. Heat the water in the pan, and it heats the bowl and melts the chocolate. The water doesn't even have to boil - chocolate melts when it's warm, it doesn't need to be hot.

My mother made fudge every Christmas. She used a candy thermometer to judge when the chocolate was ready to pour in a pan. Sometimes the candy would get too hard to level out in the pan. She would put it back on the stove, add milk a bit at a time, once the chocolate softened, while she stirred. Sometimes that worked, tho the fudge was never creamy. Often it didn't. We ate hard misshapen ed fudge. It still tasted good. One time my brother let the candy get really hot, close to burning it. We threw that batch out.

Chocolate is touchy. Working with it requires low temperatures. I suggest the microwave temperature was too hot. I suggest trying lower temperature settings. I suggest that using a microwave lessons the amount of control one has. I suggest using a double boiler. I think one reason for mother's difficulties were caused by cooking the chocolate directly over the heat.

Hi E.,

Not sure if this is salvageable. what kind of bowl did you use in the microwave? I always melt my chocolate in a glass bowl over a pot of medium boiling water. white chocolate is much higher in fat percentage than other varieties. this may have interfered with your cooking. if it's in a glass bowl maybe you can try to remelt it over some boiling water/double boiler style. best to you and your efforts!! :-) S.