Some recipes, particularly ones that call for melting chocolate (which can tend to scorch easily), will call for a double boiler. Many of us don’t have one — or even know what it is! But you can easily make your own homemade double boiler with the bowls and pots you already have. All you have to do is nestle a bowl in a pot of simmering water, suspending the bottom over the water.

Once you’ve made your homemade double boiler, you’re ready to make all kinds of recipes. Double boilers are the easiest way to melt chocolate. You’ll use one to make desserts like Fudgy Chocolate Cake, Haystack Cookies, S’Mores Haystack Cookies, and Caramel Apples.

What Is a Double Boiler?

A traditional double boiler is a set of two nesting pots, one on top of the other. The bottom pot is filled with a few inches of water, the top pan is placed over the bottom pot, and the water is brought to a simmer. This indirect heat from the steam warms or melts whatever is in the top pot without the chance of it burning. 

How to Make a Double Boiler: Use a bowl and a pot to make a perfect double boiler for melting chocolate and any recipe that calls for one!

How to Make an Easy Homemade Double Boiler

You can DIY a double boiler in the following way.

1. Find a pot that is wide enough to hold a metal or glass bowl nesting in the opening, with the bottom suspended a few inches above the bottom of the pan. You want the bowl to be large enough to rise up and beyond the top of the pot so you can place and remove it easily. 

2. Fill the pan with water, but not high enough to touch the bottom of the bowl. Rest the bowl with the ingredients (chopped chocolate, egg yolks, whatever you are cooking) in the top of the pan, making sure the bottom does not touch the water.
3. Bring the water to a simmer (not really a boil, which is usually too hot for this method). Stir until whatever you are cooking has melted or reached the desired consistency. Remove the bowl from the double boiler, watching that the steam doesn’t billow out and burn you. Remove the pot from the heat.

Tips for Making a DIY Double Boiler

• Make sure to use a heatproof bowl: metal or glass are good choices.
• You want the bowl to be large enough to extend up and beyond the top of the pot so you can move it easily.
• Don’t let the bottom of the bowl touch the water in the pot below.
• When removing the bowl from the pot, pay attention to the steam that will be released, which can burn.

Recipes That Use a Double Boiler

• Chocolate Ganache
• No-Bake Buckeye Balls
• Fudgy Chocolate Cake
• S’Mores Haystack Cookies
• Caramel Apples