Why does chocolate only melt smoothly in a pot inside hot water, but not in a pot that is directly heated?

Question

Why does chocolate only melt smoothly in a pot inside hot water, but not in a pot that is directly heated?

In: 479

Answer 1

Liquid water is never over 100C at standard pressure. You could think of this like the water is ablatively insulating the chocolate from any higher temperature, preventing it from burning.