How in the world do you melt chocolate for dipping?

[FindingMyWay]

Ok so I made cake balls.. (they actually "balls" are yummy!! ) but I couldn't get the chocolate smooth and I wasn't able to dip them it wasn't runny enough I had to spread it on them.. It's looks gross and it's too much chocolate..

So can someone PLEASE give me a step by step on how to melt chocolate..and what exactly am I supposed to buy? I had bought milk chocolate chips tollhouse brand.

In the past I have used the "candiquik" but it hardens to hard for me so I didn't want to use it for these.

TIA!~

[mellymommy]

You'll need to heat the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over a pot of simmering water. You'll want to fill the pot 1/3 of the way and heat to a simmer, place the bowl over the pot (so that the bowl sits on the top of the pot, but doesn't touch the water), and stir constantly until the chocolate is melted, shiney, smooth, and yummy. :kiss

[puah]

or you can microwave them. i start with 60 seconds, then stir, then go for about 20 seconds and then stirring till it's smooth. i also add about 1T shortening if it's too thick. during the dipping process i remicrowave when it starts getting sticky

[swimming with sharks]

you've gotten good advice. I melted mine in a double boiler (pot on top of boiling water) and added some crisco to smooth it out. Also I found using two forks to roll the cake ball around in the melted chocolate chips and then to pick it up worked better than a spoon. :yes

[HummusDip]

I do mine in a doubler boiler too, but I use household parafin wax to make it more runny. I use about 1/3-1/2 of a stick per bag of chips.