How to Make a Double Boiler
on Feb 01, 2023, Updated Jun 17, 2025
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Use a bowl and a pot to make a perfect double boiler for melting chocolate, or any recipe that calls for cooking over indirect heat.
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. Simply nestle a bowl in a pot of simmering water, suspending the bottom over the water. This allows you to melt or heat temperamental ingredients gently, without anything seizing up, clumping, or burning.
Double boilers are great for making sauces (think Hollandaise and other egg-based sauces), meringues, and custards, as well as chocolate desserts. Once you’ve made your double boiler setup, you’re ready to make all kinds of dessert recipes. Try Fudgy Chocolate Cake, Haystack Cookies, S’Mores Haystack Cookies, and Caramel Apples.
By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy.
What's In This Post?
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 Homemade Double Boiler
- 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.
- Fill the pan with an inch or two of water. Rest the bowl with the ingredients (chopped chocolate, egg yolks, whatever you are cooking) on top of the saucepan, suspending it over the water.
- Bring the water to a simmer. Stir until whatever you are cooking has melted or reached the desired consistency. Remove the bowl from the pot, watching that the steam doesn’t billow out and burn you. Remove the pot from the heat.
Tips for Making a DIY Double Boiler
- When removing the bowl from the pot, pay attention to the steam that will be released, which can burn.
- 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.
- Let the water simmer, but not come to a full boil, as the point is to slowly and gently heat or melt the ingredients.
Recipes That Use a Double Boiler
- Chocolate Ganache
- No-Bake Buckeye Balls
- Fudgy Chocolate Cake
- S’Mores Haystack Cookies
- Caramel Apples
Pin this now to find it later
Pin It
How to Make a Double Boiler
Equipment
- 1 pot
- 1 heatproof bowl
Ingredients
- Water (as needed)
- Food to be melted
Instructions
- 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.
- 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, again making sure the bottom does not touch the water.
- 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.
Notes
- Make sure to use a heatproof bowl: metal or glass are good choices.
- 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.
★★★★★
Works perfect every time and one less thing to have in my small kitchen. Thanks!