The Heating Pad Hack That Makes Chocolate Coating Way Easier
TikTok is known for being a go-to source for interesting and useful cooking hacks. It's no surprise that a creator on the platform is teaching users an ingenious use for the common heating pad. While a heating pad isn't normally the sort of thing that belongs in the kitchen, this idea might just blow your mind. If you've ever struggled to keep chocolate soft long enough to coat your pretzels, strawberries, or other goodies, well listen up because this hack is for you!
All you'll need is a heating pad, some wax paper or parchment paper, melted chocolate, and whatever treats you want to dip in that chocolate. It's super simple from there. Place the heating pad on a counter with an electrical outlet nearby and warm it up. Form a barrier to protect the heating pad with parchment paper or wax paper. Then pour the chocolate directly onto the paper. The heating pad will keep the chocolate soft and provide a flat surface for coating those treats. Now you can perfectly cover those pineapple chunks, apple slices, strawberries, gummy worms, pretzels, and even raisins — whatever your heart (or tastebuds) desire — in chocolate.
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Why This Hack Is Better Than The Usual Method
Generally, chocolate-dipped snacks are made using a double boiler for both melting and dipping. While the double boiler is great for softening chocolate and preventing it from burning or sticking to the bottom of a pan that is on direct heat, the pot's sides can get in the way if you want to roll your goody around a bit. If you're dipping pretzel rods? Well, it's going to take a lot of chocolate to reach the depth necessary to coat a decent length of that rod. You'll also have a hard time coating smaller goodies since there's the risk of them falling in and getting lost in a pot full of chocolate.
By using a heating pad to keep the chocolate soft instead of a double boiler, it's possible to roll the treat around and actually cover the entire item. You'll also be able to coat entire pretzel rods this way without using an enormous amount of chocolate. In fact, this is a great hack for making a small number of chocolate-dipped snacks when you don't want to commit to using up the bigger batch that it will take to fill the double boiler to a dippable depth. Additionally, since the heating pad does a great job of keeping an even temperature, you won't have to worry about any bubbling or cooling either.
This Hack Is Also Great For Variety
Another benefit of not having to commit to a large batch of chocolate is that the heating pad hack also allows for more variety. Instead of melting a whole pot of milk chocolate, for example, you can melt smaller batches of different kinds of chocolate. This will allow you to vary your treats with dark chocolate, white chocolate, and even gourmet-flavored chocolate. If you'd rather use caramel or butterscotch the heating pad is great for keeping those ingredients warm and pliable as well.
Although you can always use your double boiler for the initial melting if you like, you can also skip it altogether with this method. You can use the microwave or even the air fryer to melt that chocolate down instead. Either of these methods will be easier than cleaning out the double boiler between different types of chocolate. So whether you're making a big batch of chocolate-covered treats or just a few, putting your heating pad to use in the kitchen is a resourceful way to make the whole process easier.
Read the original article on Daily Meal.
