Double boilers ensure slow, even heating for foods like chocolate, custards or sauces that could easily be overcooked or burned when cooked in a saucepan over direct heat.
A double boiler consists of a lower saucepan filled with approximately an inch of boiling water. It has another pot which sits inside of it, over but not in direct contact with the boiling water. The steam from the simmering water heats the upper pan and indirectly warms the contents of the pan.
If you don’t have a double boiler, one can be improvised with a regular saucepan and a tempered glass or stainless steel bowl that sits only partially in the saucepan and has at least ¾ inch of air space between the water and the bowl.
Example of Double Boiler
To Use a Double boiler
Fill the bottom saucepan with approximately an inch of water. Place the top pan or bowl portion of your double boiler inside the pan to make sure it will not touch the water.
Remove the bowl, and heat the water to boiling. Lower the burner until the water is just barely simmering.
Add the bowl portion of the double boiler, and follow cooking instructions.
When using a double boiler to melt chocolate, it is a good idea to pay attention and watch to make sure that the chocolate is not overheated. Raw or minimally processed chocolates or cacao must not be heated above 118° F. or 48° C, to protect their nutritive value. Raw blue agave nectars, have extra nutritional benefits and they should also not be heated above 118° F. or 48° C. Agave nectar changes when heated above these temperatures. After that change, it is metabolized differently in the body
Note, that even though there is less danger of over-heating, over-cooking or scorching foods in a double boiler, it can be done. (And has been, by those of us who are tangentially inclined.) Remember to check your water level in the bottom pan if you are using the double boiler for longer heating periods, such as more than an hour.
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