Why does chocolate only melt smoothly in a pot inside hot water, but not in a pot that is directly heated?
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For the same reason that analogue Rice Cookers work.
Water evaporates at 100degC (at Sea level) so the temperature of water never gets above 100c and thus neither does the Chocolate. However the metal pot can get above 100c and if the chocolate is in direct contact with it so too will the chocolate and thus burn.
Analogue Rice cookers are genius in their simplicity. A bi-Metalic switch in contact with the metal Rice bowl will disengage the power when its temperature goes above about 100degC. As long as there is water in the Rice bowl, it evaporates and takes away excess heat and the bowl stays at about 100c and so the switch stays engaged keeping the power flowing. However when all the water in the metal rice bowl is both absorbed by the rice and evaporated (ie. The rice is done), now there is nothing to take away excess heat from the metal bowl and its temperature rises above the trigger temperature of the bi-metalic switch which then disengages the power.
Many Modern Rice Cookers now use thermostats and Fuzzy Logic and are much more functional too and you can cook more things in them but you can still buy the old simple analogue style with the bimatalic switches too.
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