Short answer: the best chocolate for a chocolate fountain is real chocolate with plenty of cocoa butter, such as a couverture, melted before it goes into the fountain. The amount of cocoa butter largely decides how chocolate flows, so if your chocolate runs too thick, stir in a little melted cocoa butter rather than water or milk. How much you need depends on the size of the fountain: professional models from Chocolate World, for example, run on 1.5–3 kg (3.3–6.6 lb) for the small fountain and 8–15 kg (17.6–33 lb) for the large ones.
Quick answer: what you need for a chocolate fountain
| Need | Product | Price |
|---|---|---|
| A dark couverture that flows well | Bassan Sur del Lago 71% dark couverture, 5 kg bag | $273.00 |
| Thin chocolate that runs too thick | Natural cocoa butter 100%, Peruvian fine cacao, 8 kg box | $550.00 |
| Melt the chocolate before it goes into the fountain | Martellato Mini Meltinchoc, 1.8 L | $390.00 |
| Melt a full fountain load in one go | Martellato Meltinchoc analogue melter, 6 L | $925.00 |
| Check the chocolate temperature | Martellato digital thermometer 50T001 | $29.95 |
What kind of chocolate do you use in a chocolate fountain?
Use a real chocolate with a high cocoa butter content; couverture is the category made for that. The BC Cook Articulation Committee's textbook for Canadian bakers explains that the amount of cocoa butter is largely responsible for how chocolate flows, and that runny, less viscous chocolate is the one chosen for coating and moulding. A fountain needs exactly that: chocolate that runs in a smooth curtain without clogging.
The international Codex standard for chocolate shows how much more cocoa butter couverture must contain:
| Product (Codex Alimentarius CXS 87-1981) | Minimum cocoa butter (dry matter) |
|---|---|
| Chocolate | 18% cocoa butter, with at least 35% total cocoa solids |
| Couverture chocolate | 31% cocoa butter, with at least 35% total cocoa solids |
| Milk chocolate couverture | 31% total fat, with at least 25% cocoa solids |
| White chocolate | 20% cocoa butter |
These are minimums: two chocolates in the same category can flow very differently, so read the maker's sheet. Our Bassan Sur del Lago 71%, for example, lists a fluidity of 4 on a scale of 5, a target viscosity of about 5,000 mPa·s and a working temperature of 30–32°C (86–90°F).
View dark chocolate couverture →
Dark, milk or white?
Choose by taste and audience, then check the flow. For milk and white chocolate, compare the fat content on the maker's sheet with the Codex minimums above: the standard asks at least 20% cocoa butter of white chocolate against 31% for couverture. If a chocolate runs thick, thin it with cocoa butter as shown below. The couverture we stock in production sizes is dark: Bassan's ingredients are roasted cocoa beans, cocoa butter, cane sugar and organic sunflower lecithin, with no milk.
Why chocolate chips are a poor fit
Chips are made to stay whole in the oven. The same BC textbook notes that chips and chunks are developed to be more heat stable so they keep their shape in cookies, and that some have another fat in place of cocoa butter. That is the opposite of what a fountain needs. If chips are all you have, test a small batch first and expect to thin it.
How to make chocolate thinner for a fountain
Add fat, never water. Cocoa butter is the cleanest option because it is the fat already in the chocolate: our natural cocoa butter is used by chocolatiers to thin couverture for finer shells and easier dipping, and it melts at 34–38°C (93–101°F). Melt it first, then stir it into the melted chocolate a little at a time until the curtain runs smoothly.
- Cocoa butter: raises fluidity with the same fat that is already in the chocolate. Natural cocoa butter is not deodorised, so it carries a cocoa aroma.
- Vegetable oil: bakers sometimes use it to thin chocolate for coating; the BC textbook notes it makes the coating easier to cut afterwards.
- Lecithin: an emulsifier that helps melted chocolate flow evenly and costs less than cocoa butter for thinning.
- Never water, milk or steam: the Exploratorium's cooks explain that melting chocolate cannot tolerate even small drops of water; steam from a double boiler or condensation dripping from a lid is enough to make it seize into a grainy mass. Keep fruit and dippers dry.
For the science behind flow, read our guides to making melted chocolate thinner and chocolate viscosity.
What temperature should chocolate be in a fountain?
Melt the chocolate at the maker's melting temperature, then let the fountain hold it warm and fluid. Our dark couvertures list their melting limit on the sheet: 45–50°C (113–122°F) for the FCH 55% Venezuela and a maximum of 50°C (122°F) for Bassan Sur del Lago 71%. Our Martellato Meltinchoc melters heat up to 50°C (122°F), which covers that range.
Once it is flowing, the fountain keeps the chocolate warm. As one maker's figure, Martellato states that its small Chocofont keeps chocolate at 36–39°C (97–102°F). A fountain is not a tempering machine; Bilait makes the same point about its own professional fountain. The chocolate is held melted for dipping, so follow your fountain's manual for its working temperature and check it with a thermometer.
How much chocolate do you need for a chocolate fountain?
You need at least the amount your fountain is built to circulate, which depends on its size. These are the capacities the makers publish for some professional fountains:
| Fountain | Chocolate capacity | Height |
|---|---|---|
| Martellato Chocofont | About 1 L | 390 mm |
| Chocolate World Small (M1286) | 1.5–3 kg (3.3–6.6 lb) | 616 mm |
| Martellato Chocobig Evolution | 3.5–8 L | 800 mm |
| Chocolate World Medium (M1287) | 4–7 kg (8.8–15.4 lb) | 795 mm |
| Chocolate World Medium Cascade (M1287C) | 3–6 kg (6.6–13.2 lb) | 1,002 mm |
| Chocolate World Medium Duo Cascade (M1287DC) | 6–12 kg (13.2–26.5 lb) | 852 mm |
| Chocolate World Large 108 cm and 120 cm (M1288, M1289) | 8–15 kg (17.6–33 lb) | 1,073 and 1,197 mm |
| Chocolate World X-large Duo Cascade (M1289DC) | 8–14 kg (17.6–30.9 lb) | 1,403 mm |
Start with at least the lower figure for your model and keep a second batch melted for refills during a long service. For a home fountain, use the capacity printed in its manual. As a guide to buying, one 5 kg bag of couverture covers the top of the Chocolate World Small range (3 kg) and leaves 2 kg for a refill.
Running a fountain at an event or in a shop
Melt it, keep it dry, keep it warm. Check your fountain's manual first: some, like Martellato's Chocofont, are designed to melt the chocolate and keep it warm themselves. Otherwise melt it in a separate melter: fill the tank with couverture, set the thermostat, wait for it to reach temperature and stir to check the consistency before you pour.
For daily service, some professional fountains are built for continuous use. Bilait's Aya K6, built for gelaterias, hotels and venues, has a night mode that keeps the chocolate melted in the basin when the fountain is idle, using 300 W instead of 1 kW, so it restarts in the morning without blockages; its stainless auger lifts out to change the chocolate type or colour. Martellato's Chocobig Evolution has a removable bowl for emptying and cleaning, and an automatic switch-off against overheating.
For dipping by hand next to the fountain, see our guide to chocolate dipping tools.
How AI can help your production
Give an AI assistant your fountain's capacity, the number of events this month and the size of the bags you buy, and ask it to plan how much couverture and cocoa butter to order and when. Ask it to write a one-page set-up and shut-down checklist for your staff, with lines to record the melting temperature, the fountain temperature and each refill. A written routine keeps every event running the same way.
AI organises the information; tasting and the final decision stay with your chef.
Fountain chocolate at Zucchero Canada
We stock couverture, cocoa butter and the equipment to melt it in Calgary, and ship across Canada. Pick by job:
- The fountain chocolate: Bassan Sur del Lago 71% → made in Canada from Venezuelan Trinitario cacao with ancestral Criollo lineage, notes of fruit, wood and nuts; 5 kg bag $273.00, or a 20 kg case $880.00 for caterers.
- A 55% alternative: FCH 55% dark chocolate minibars, Venezuela, 10 kg → $299.00, recommended by its maker for coating, moulding and glazes.
- The thinner: Natural cocoa butter, 8 kg box → $550.00, a single ingredient, not deodorised.
- The melter: the Mini Meltinchoc 1.8 L → $390.00 for a small fountain, or the Meltinchoc 6 L → $925.00 for larger loads. Both are 110 V, and Martellato table-top melters come with a free spatula.
- The thermometers: the Martellato digital thermometer 50T001 → $29.95, and the Martellato infrared thermometer 50T002 → $76.50 as a second one for the bench.
- The buffet around it: Bachour Buffets by Antonio Bachour → $135.00, 512 pages and 74 recipes organised as five themed buffets, one of them chocolate.
Make your own chocolate from the bean? Bassan's Sur del Lago couverture is named for the same Venezuelan origin as our Sur del Lago cocoa beans, 1.5 kg bag $80.00.
Food products ship within Canada only, and chocolate is not part of the free-shipping offer. Orders over $500 CAD get 5% off automatically at checkout. Looking for a professional fountain from Chocolate World, Martellato or Bilait, or buying couverture in volume for a hotel or catering business? Contact our team or call 587-774-8873 (toll free 877-741-8251).
Dark couverture | Cocoa butter & cacao | Chocolate melters | How to make melted chocolate thinner | Best chocolate for melting
This article is for information only. Every business is different: draw your own conclusions based on your own expectations, budget and goals, and talk to qualified experts before you decide or invest.
Sources: Codex Alimentarius, CXS 87-1981 Standard for Chocolate and Chocolate Products; BC Cook Articulation Committee, Understanding Ingredients for the Canadian Baker (BCcampus), §7.7 "Viscosity"; Exploratorium, "Science of Cooking: Ask the Inquisitive Cooks"; Chocolate World equipment catalogue, "Chocolate fountains"; Martellato General Catalogue 2026, "Chocolate melters & fountains"; Bilait catalogue 2026, "Aya K6 professional chocolate fountain"; Bassan Chocolate, FCH Origins, Canada Cacao Co. and Martellato product data.
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