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Best Chocolates For Chocolate Fountains [2024] – Tested & Reviewed

Norah Clark
Best Chocolates For Chocolate Fountains [2024] – Tested & Reviewed

Norah Clark

Norah Clark, Editor of Boyd Hampers! Norah is a food writer with over a decade of experience in hospitality as a pastry chef, sous chef, and barista; former chef at the Savoy Hotel, Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons and Plaza Hotel.

The best chocolate for chocolate fountains is extremely high in fat percentage, ensuring the chocolate stays soft and not set at temperatures below room temperature. It also creates an exquisite texture that’s ideal for dips.

Who doesn’t love chocolate fountains? They’re absolutely captivating and extremely enjoyable, and it’s a liquid chocolate dispenser your guests can enjoy at an event. You can make flavorful and colored chocolates to create themed celebrations and important events.

However, it’s not as simple as it might appear. Sure, add the chocolate and let it melt! However, selecting the correct type of chocolate is essential to ensure a smooth and consistent flow.

This covers how they work, the chocolate you need to work with, and how to prepare it. Of course, we’ve included our top choices of melting chocolates that are simple to make and inexpensive!

The Best Chocolates For Chocolate Fountains

If you’re looking for the best chocolates for a chocolate fountain, here are the best melting chocolates to use with great flavors and quality.

They’ll provide an amazingly smooth drip and a creamy and rich texture.

Chocolate Brand

Best Features

Sephra Belgian Semi-Sweet Dark Chocolate for Chocolate Fountain

Best overall chocolate for chocolate fountains.

ChocoMaker Milk Chocolate Fountain Dipping Candy

Able to be microwaved!

Wilton Chocolate Pro Fountain Fondue Chocolate

High-fat content.

Sephra Belgian White Chocolate for Fountains

Best white chocolate option.

Sarah’s Candy Factory Melting Milk Chocolate Wafers

Sold in 3-pound bags.

Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Flavored Melting Wafers

Super versatile.

ChocoMaker Dark Chocolate Dipping Candy

Won’t set at room temperature.

1. Sephra Belgian Semi-Sweet Dark Chocolate for Chocolate Fountain

Sephra Belgian Dark Chocolate
Sephra Belgian Dark Chocolate

This list will start with an explosion! Sephra is among the most well-known dip chocolate makers.

These dark chocolate bittersweet chips are made up of 61.9% cocoa. This gives the perfect balance of sweet and bitter.

They come in 2-pound bags. This is the amount of chocolate you will need for a fountain of chocolate.

The chocolate melts quickly, and the texture is fluid. This is not just perfect for chocolate fountains but also for dipping and coating confections and baked items.

Additionally, Sephra chocolate is certified as gluten-free, kosher, and free of trans-fats. This confirms that you’re using a high-quality product.

2. ChocoMaker Milk Chocolate Fountain Dipping Candy

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Chocomaker Milk Chocolate
ChocoMaker Milk Chocolate

Also, as previously stated, some chocolates are made from fats, so adding them later is unnecessary.

This is among these products, and they frequently use the term melting candy.

These chips are very stable to heat and are microwaveable, thus reducing your preparation time. When melted, they are incredibly smooth and have a soft texture that effortlessly coats any surface.

It’s important to remember the product is made of soy and is gluten-free.

3. Wilton Chocolate Pro Fountain Fondue Chocolate

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Wilton Chocolate Pro
Wilton Chocolate Pro

It would be shocking to discover that Wilton did not have melting chocolate!

The chocolate chips have a fat content that makes a delicious, melty chocolate.

Naturally, you do not need to add oil to make the chocolate flow more smoothly.

It’s no wonder that this item is popular. If you find some, purchase one and a couple (or 3) and take a few bags. They sell out fast!

It can also be used as a product to make glazes (especially mirror glazes) and frostings made of ganache and coating candies, pastries, and confections.

4. Sephra Belgian White Chocolate for Fountains

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Sephra Belgian White Chocolate
Sephra Belgian White Chocolate

This white melting chocolate is my favorite. Sephra is amazing!

There aren’t many white ready-mixed chocolate products available.

Finding an item, much less one that is this top-quality, isn’t easy.

It is Belgian white chocolate that may easily be colored and flavored. This makes it ideal for themed celebrations.

As with the melting chocolates, the two-pound bags make it simple to keep and portion.

5. Sarah’s Candy Factory Melting Milk Chocolate Wafers

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Sarah's Candy Factory
Sarah’s Candy Factory

Suppose you’re searching for an affordable, high-quality, and budget-friendly melting chocolate. This is the one!

While we don’t look at each individually, there is the choice of white and dark chocolate!

This item is sold in 3-pound bags, perfect for large parties and larger chocolate fountains.

The chocolate wafers are straightforward to use, and you won’t have to add oil or fat.

Like most melting chocolate, it is possible to use them to cover other chocolates and in molds for chocolate glazes and other decorations!

6. Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Flavored Melting Wafers

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Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate
Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate

Technically, it’s not genuine chocolate. It’s a mix of various ingredients, including corn syrup and sugar, with some chocolate components.

This mixture makes an amazingly smooth and creamy chocolate mix ideal for fountains.

You’ll not be able to tell the difference.

It can be used in its entirety or as a melting substance for baking to create chocolate ornaments, molds, coatings, and glazes.

7. ChocoMaker Dark Chocolate Dipping Candy

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ChocoMaker Dark Chocolate
ChocoMaker Dark Chocolate

And last but certainly not least, we offer exquisitely dense and sweet dark chocolate.

This has also been mixed with fat so they don’t set when temperatures are at room temperature.

It’s straightforward to use, and you could even set it on the stove to melt! This cuts down on cooking time and means much fewer dishes to clean!

Chocolate Fountains And How They Work

Today, I’ll start with the chocolatier machine. If you know how it operates, it is possible to prevent any issues from developing and solve them.

Chocolate fountains function in a particular way and require specific chocolate (or, at the minimum, chocolate-based consistency) for proper operation.

All chocolate fountains feature an Archimedes screw. This relic of the past is designed to resemble an enormous screw-like blade. This mechanism helps push the melting chocolate upwards before pushing it off the top of the bowl to flow down.

The screw of Archimedes is slowly turned by an electric motor located at the base.

Typically, chocolate fountains don’t come with adjustable speeds, and the screw is only moved according to the setting programmed.

A blade (or screw) is protected by a cylinder to move the chocolate upwards and to make the appearance more magical than mechanical.

Chocolate fountains also come with dome-like levels, which aid in creating that “fountain” effect. This also slows the drip to capture the chocolate better using the dipping object.

Then, you’ll have a fantastic chocolate pond located on the bottom of your screw. This chamber will keep the chocolate melting at the right consistency, smooth and flowy.

FAQs

What Chocolate Works Best For Chocolate Fountains?

If you’ve ever experienced a close encounter with a fountain of chocolate, you’ve probably noticed the consistency of the melted chocolate is quite different from what you use at home for pouring over ice cream, for example.

The first reason is that the chocolate used is a special fountain chocolate. The chocolate has a significantly higher fat content, which makes it more runny and smoother when it melts.

The other reason for this chocolate’s thin consistency is the oil added to the chocolate.

Similar to the pre-mixes for chocolate fountains, the fat content is high. The mixture makes it more moist and smooth, preventing it from setting and slowing the machine.

How To Use Chocolate Fountains?

The most mistaken notion concerning chocolate fountains is they melt chocolate pieces or chips inside the machine. They don’t! First, you must melt the chocolate before placing it in the machine.

As you can find from the products we’ve chosen for this time, some can be used to melt in the microwave. However, not all items are as easy to use. In this case, you must consider other options.

The other method to melt chocolate is using a double boiler. This technique gradually but evenly melts the chocolate, ensuring it is not overheated and clumping.

For this method, put your chocolate into a big, heat-proof bowl. Then, you can fill a small saucepan with boiling water and set it to low or medium temperatures.

After that, place the chocolate-filled bowl on top of the pot and continue stirring. The chocolate will heat slowly and melt.

If you’re using chocolate that is low in fat, at this point, you may add oil to help ensure the highest quality for the fountain.

It is possible to melt chocolate in the microwave, but you must use the lowest setting only for short periods.

After every 15 to 20-second interval, take the chocolate out of the microwave and stir for around one minute. This helps evenly disperse the heat and allows the chocolate to cool before reheating.

When you are considering which chocolate to purchase you must first decide which one you’d like to follow. This means whether you’d like to add oil by yourself or purchase ready-made chocolate for use to make chocolate fountains?

Buyer’s Guide

When considering which chocolate to purchase, you must first decide which one you’d like to follow. This means whether you’d like to add oil or buy ready-made chocolate to make chocolate fountains.

Buy Chocolate with a High-Fat Percentage

Chocolate fountains that are dipped in chocolate should have a substantial fat content. Sorry, but there’s no way around it!

Regular chocolate won’t be thin, smooth, or soft enough to make it suitable for dipping in a fountain of chocolate. Therefore, it is important to take a look at couverture chocolates. These chocolates contain around 36-39 percent chocolate butter (fat).

It is enough to make a smooth and flowing consistency when melted. The higher the percentage of cocoa butter in the chocolate, the less likely it will be set below room temperature.

As a note, the percentage of chocolate on the front typically shows how much percentage is in chocolate solids and not the levels of cocoa butter. The product identifies specifically what amount of cocoa butter the product has in a separate section.

Choosing A Chocolate Flavor

There is no limit to the chocolate flavor you would like to choose. So long as it contains an excessive fat percentage, you can use it! The thing that is even more appealing is that you can buy chocolate with flavor or make it flavor your own.

Let’s begin with the basics of flavor. Three types of chocolate are available: milk, white, chocolate, or dark chocolate.

White Chocolate

It is the sweetest and possibly creamiest chocolate you can purchase. However, its overwhelming sweetness could make it challenging to be a good match for any other ingredient.

White chocolate works well with similarly sweet ingredients, cheese, and fruits such as strawberries or oranges.

It also isn’t a source of cacao solids (which causes the chocolate to turn brown). It is possible to dye this chocolate blue, red, yellow, and any other color you’d like.

Milk Chocolate

Technically speaking, milk chocolate is any chocolate that has less than 35 percent solids cocoa. If white chocolate has cocoa solids, it immediately transforms into milk chocolate.

This chocolate has a sweet taste that has a darker texture to it. It isn’t as sweet as white chocolate.

The milk chocolate can be the ideal chocolate to go well with all dip ingredients. However, indeed, it is not colorable.

You can, however, make it flavorful by adding flavoring extract or concentrates. This means that you can create mint or citrus-flavored milk chocolate.

Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Any chocolate with more than three percent cocoa solids can be considered dark chocolate. However, an array of different flavors ranges from 35 to 99 percent. Therefore, new categories are popping up, further separating chocolate varieties.

Semi-sweet chocolate has between 35 and 50 percent cocoa solids. It still has a sweet taste; however, it also has a distinct bitter taste. The intensity of bitter taste increases when the percentage of cacao increases.

So, 50% of chocolate will be more bitter than 35% of chocolate.

Bittersweet Chocolate

This dark chocolate has more than 50% solids of cocoa. Then, we get an extremely bitter chocolate taste.

The chocolate is still a great match with many dip items; however, we suggest avoiding other bitter ingredients, such as blue cheese or kumquats.

Unsweetened Chocolate

It isn’t commonly used to dip fountains. This is because it’s at least 95% solid cocoa and is essentially bitter. You can’t soak a lot of food items into it without being overwhelmed by the tart taste.

Cost Of Chocolate

Determining how much chocolate you’ll require for a celebration is often tricky, particularly when served in a chocolate fountain.

I can tell you that a 2-pound bag of chocolate should be sufficient for around 10 people. This means that you could take this as a reference for how much you can spend and what the cost will be.

If you are hosting a gathering with 100 guests (like at a wedding), you could buy around 10 boxes (2 kilograms per bag) and 20 pounds of chocolate.

The brand name will have a significant impact on the cost of chocolate. No, not every chocolate is made in the same way. When it comes to chocolate, there’s a huge difference between premium fountain melting chocolate and a less expensive one.

I suggest that you don't choose the most expensive alternative. The flavor won’t be as good, while the quality won’t appear as smooth.

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