Some books and magazines about candy making will say that you need to have a lot of special equipment in order to make chocolate at home but that’s not necessarily true. There are really only five tools that you have to have in order to make great chocolate at home and you probably already have at least some of them in your kitchen. They are:
1. Candy thermometer – Some chocolate candy does need to be heated to a certain temperature in order to be safe to eat, and some types of chocolate need to be heated to a certain temperature in order to be liquid enough to pour and set properly in a mold so it’s a good idea to have at least one candy themometer on hand.
2. Mixing bowls – You will go through mixing bowls like crazy when you are making chocolate, especially if you are mixing other ingredients into a chocolate base. To save money on mixing bowls go to your local Goodwill or Salvation Army store. Charity shops like that usually have kitchen and house wares sections where you can find great deals on glass and stainless steel mixing bowls. You can also look for mixing bowls at garage and yard sales.
3. Pots and pans -If you are using pre-made chocolate base you can heat that base in a microwave until it’s liquid enough to work with but you will need saucepans to mix in other ingredients and bring the chocolate to the correct temperature. Just like mixing bowls you can often find mismatched pots and pans at charity stores and garage sales. You can also use two pans to make your own double boiler when a chocolate recipe calls for you to use a double boiler.
4. Molds – Once you have your chocolate blended just the way you want it and have added any extras that you want to add into the chocolate you’re going to need something to pour that chocolate into so that you can make chocolate candies. It’s always good idea to have a wide variety of chocolate molds that are clean and ready to go.
5. Candy Coloring – If you want to really decorate your handmade chocolates and make them fun shapes and colors you will need to use special candy coloring. Normal food coloring won’t color chocolate. To get the colors to show on the chocolate it’s necessary to have special food coloring that is made for candy and chocolate.
These are just a few of the supplies that you might need to make chocolate but if you have these supplies always on hand then you shouldn’t have any trouble making delicious homemade chocolates at any time. If you are going to make a special type of chocolate or you want to use a special recipe then you might need specialized equipment but in general you can get by just using these pieces of equipment and what you already have in your kitchen.
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