When melting chocolate with a high cocoa content, why does it sometimes separate?
Chocolate separating has nothing to do with the percentage of cocoa solids it contains – in fact, the purer the chocolate, the harder it is to split as there is no less or no additional fat beyond the existing cocoa butter specified in the cocoa solid volume. Most chocolate contains 35–75% cocoa solids. The two things that cause chocolate to separate are when water gets in to the chocolate being melted, which is why you have to be careful when melting chocolate over a pan of simmering water. However, butter, cream alcohol etc all contain water, so must be added with caution too when melting. Separation can also be caused by overheating when melting any chocolate containing additional fat to the cocoa butter. This means that plain chocolate with no additional fat is difficult to split, while milk and white chocolate are easy to split as they contain milk and other vegetable fat. To melt chocolate, fill a saucepan with about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of water and sit a heatproof bowl (preferably P
