Double boiler substitutes

A bowl resting on the rim of a pot of simmering water heats food with steam alone, the same way a double boiler does.

Best for

melting chocolate, hollandaise, sabayon and lemon curd, Swiss meringue and custards

Prep

Put about 1 inch of water in a saucepan and bring it to a bare simmer, then turn the heat to low. Set a stainless steel or tempered glass bowl on top. It should be wider than the pot so it sits on the rim, with at least 1 inch of space between its base and the water. Stir often and lift the bowl off with a dry towel or oven mitt.

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Steam escapes around the rim and burns hands, and the bowl gets as hot as the pot, so do not grab it bare-handed. Wipe the base of the bowl dry when you lift it, so no water drips into the food. Stainless steel heats and cools quickly. Glass holds heat and keeps cooking the food after it comes off, so take it off a little early.

Short bursts at reduced power melt chocolate and butter gently, with no water or steam nearby to make chocolate seize.

Best for

melting chocolate and chocolate chips, melting butter, warming ganache and candy coating

Prep

Chop the chocolate into small, even pieces and put it in a dry microwave-safe bowl. Heat at 50 percent power for 30 seconds, stir, and repeat. When most of it has melted, switch to 15-second bursts, and stop while a few lumps remain. Stir until they melt from the heat of the rest.

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Chocolate keeps its shape in the microwave even when it is melted inside, so it must be stirred each time or it scorches in the center. It only melts. It cannot cook hollandaise, curd, custard or meringue, which need constant whisking over steady heat. No metal bowls in the microwave.

A small saucepan set inside a larger one holding simmering water is the same idea with two pots.

Best for

melting chocolate with butter or cream, custard sauces, keeping a sauce warm

Prep

Put 1 inch of water in the larger pan and bring it to a bare simmer. Rest the smaller pan inside so its handle or rim sits on the edge of the larger one, or set it on a ring of crumpled foil or a canning-jar band so it does not touch the bottom. Keep the heat low.

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The small pan often sits in the water instead of above it, which heats faster than steam, so stir constantly and lift it out as soon as the food is ready. The straight sides and corners of a saucepan are harder to whisk than a rounded bowl, so egg sauces can catch in the corners. Water can splash in if it boils.

A bowl standing in a shallow pan of hot water with the burner off melts chocolate slowly with little risk of overheating.

Best for

melting chocolate, softening butter or honey, holding melted chocolate or a sauce warm

Prep

Bring about 1 inch of water to a simmer in a skillet, then turn the burner off. Set a heatproof bowl of chopped chocolate in the water and stir until it melts. If it stalls, take the bowl out, reheat the water, turn the burner off again and put the bowl back.

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The water sits right beside the rim of the bowl, so a splash or a wet spoon can get in, and a few drops of water make chocolate seize into a stiff paste. It is not hot enough to cook egg sauces or custards.

With a thick-bottomed pan, the lowest burner setting and constant stirring, some double-boiler jobs can be done over direct heat.

Best for

chocolate melted together with cream or butter, custard sauces and curds, cheese sauces

Texture

risk of graininess or curdling

Prep

Use the heaviest saucepan you have on the lowest heat. Stir or whisk constantly, reaching the corners, and lift the pan off the burner for a few seconds whenever the food steams or thickens fast. Strain egg sauces and curds through a fine sieve at the end.

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There is very little margin. Chocolate on its own scorches on the pan bottom, so melt it this way only with a liquid or fat, such as cream or butter. Eggs go from thick to scrambled within seconds. A thin pan makes both worse.

A slow cooker on its low or warm setting melts a large amount of chocolate or candy coating and holds it liquid for dipping.

Best for

melting large batches of chocolate for dipping, candy coating and almond bark, keeping fondue or a sauce warm

Prep

Put the chopped chocolate in the dry crock, set it to low with the lid off, and stir every 10 to 15 minutes until smooth. Switch to warm to hold it.

It is slow, and it suits only large amounts. The chocolate at the edge of the crock can overheat on some models, so stir from the edge inward and turn it to warm as soon as it has melted. Keep the lid off, because condensation drips from the lid into the chocolate.

Any bowl that fits the pot can look like it will do.

Best for

cold preparation only

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Plastic softens and melts over steam. Glass that is not tempered and marked heatproof, such as a thin serving bowl or a drinking glass, can crack or shatter from the heat. Use stainless steel or glass marked oven-safe.

Melting chocolate or cooking an egg sauce straight on a normal burner setting to save time.

Best for

nothing a double boiler is used for

Texture

grainy or curdled

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Chocolate burns at low temperatures: keep dark chocolate below about 120°F and milk and white chocolate below about 110°F. A pan bottom on a medium burner is far hotter than that, and burned chocolate is grainy and bitter and cannot be rescued. Egg yolks scramble.