If you own a set of nesting glass bowls - which at only about $20 I'd consider a necessity more than an indulgance - one of them ought to fit nicely into one of your sauce pans. And to me that's better than a special pan that does little more other than to, well, fit into another.

Yep...I use a stainless bowl in a stainless sauce pan..
But more often I just use a Le Cruset sauce pan on low. It diffuses the heat so well that it works perfectly for things like lemon curd, custards and bechamel.
Linda C

I wouldn't have bought it for myself but I received one as a Christmas present. It's from Williams Sonoma and it works nicely. You put 1 1/2 cups of water in the receptical on the handle then put the pot on the stove.

Here is a link that might be useful: Double Boiler

I'm one of the few people, apparently, who own a double boiler. However, I only have it because Readinglady sent it to me, she was getting rid of a nearly new RevereWare double boiler and asked me if I wanted it. DId I want it? Oh yeah, it's hard to find a double boiler...

Annie

I always have thought of double boilers as a pretty basic item in the kitchen. My DM had one and I have had a couple over the years. The one I use now is made by Calphalon, the original black anodized but I think it may be discontinued.
Anyway, a quick look on Amazon confirms the existence of quite a few by various mfg's...

Nancy

Here is a link that might be useful: Double Boilers- Amazon

So long as the steam can't get into the upper container (it can cause chocolate to seize) your method is fine.

On our induction cooktop, I can use the lowest setting and it is like steaming when it comes to melting chocolate or making a delicate sauce. Doesn't work for broccoli though ;->

Annie, I'm in that minority with you. It's one of those things I thought I'd never really use (came as a bonus with some pans we bought when we first got married), but turns out I've used it often.

The last time I was in the Mexican grocer in Reno, they had double broilers on the same aisle as the pressure cookers and tortilla presses. I thought it was an odd item for the store, but they sure were well stocked.

I was given a set of Farberware pots and pans as a wedding present 3 decades ago, and it came with a double boiler. I still use the set and the double boiler. I love it. But, I've seen Ina Garten and other t.v. chefs use the bowl on top of a pan method, too.

Sally

I noticed that TV chefs usually improvise by setting a stainless steel bowl on top of a pot. That leads me to think that chefs don't ordinarily have double boilers. As Linda says, it's an easy solution.

Jim

I've always had one and use it frequently, and I use it exclusively when melting chocolate. I like that mine has a lid, which you may not have if you use a bowl over a saucepan, but I would use that in a pinch.

Lars

The glass double broiler is the one thing I kept when I got rid of all the old glass Pyrex cooking pots I used for years. I have only used it maybe 3 or 4 times in the last 40 years but when you need one it comes in handy. I always think about Lindac when I look at it because of something funny she said a few years ago that happened when she was using a bowl over a pot or something. If I ever decide to get rid of it I going to send it to Lindac.

Claudia

Thanks for all the answers. I probably will go with the glass bowl thing over the boiling water. I looked up the one listed by Sonoma and at $50.00 or whatever and something I probably wouldn't use very often, I'll pass. I'm trying to work out a budget since Dale's passing, and that item isn't in it. - Everybody has good ideas though, and I thank you. - Barb

Check out estate sales and garage sales. I've gotten quite a few dishes and tools that way. You just never know what might be available.

Sally

Bed Bath and Beyond - $20

I have one that belonged to my mother, Revere Ware (about 1950, I think). It gets alot of use here.

The inserts are exactly like these on Ebay.

Here is a link that might be useful: Double boiler/Steamer inserts

Amazon is my favorite Internet place to shop. Most anything I can't find is found there. My last thingy I had to have was a mortar and pestle set. Shipping charges have not been bad... cheaper then time and gas to drive to the city. I love coming home from work and seeing a big brown box on my porch!

: )
lyra

I use my double boiler a lot. It was pretty cheap on amazon.com

I've always thought of a double boiler as a "nice to have" item... that I've never had!! One of these days I'll get one... maybe. I should check out the bb&b one because for $20, with their coupon, it would be really cheap.

I actually DID buy one at a garage sale once, but I used it for melting wax to make candles on the very day I bought it. It was one of those serendipitous things, I was getting together with friends to make candles that afternoon and just happened to find this old DB at a garage sale that morning. What luck! I still have it, but I won't use it for food.

I have my double boiler set for many years. Checked the bottom and it said IKEA. I don't believe they make the double boiler set any more but they do have a double boiler insert for less than $8.

Can be used with most 1 quart, or larger pots and saucepans. Can also be placed in a vessel filled with ice to chill food.

Here is a link that might be useful: IKEA double boiler insert

I used a Pyrex bowl over a boiling pot of water for years -- worked great. Then one day, DH dropped the bowl, and that was that. It was a very large bowl, and I couldn't find another one which was big enough. :-(

I tried using a stainless steel bowl the same way, to make 7-minute frosting. Yikes! The egg whites cooked before I could even start beating them! My homemade coconut cake was a disaster.

So, I went on a double-boiler hunt, never dreaming they'd be hard to find. After all, my mom, grandma, and aunts all had them when I was growing up.

After much looking, and not wanting to pay the prices I saw online plus shipping, I went to an outlet mall where there is a Corning/RevereWare store. (I did call first to make sure they had them.)

DH and love to eat at a nice restaurant near there once in a blue moon, so we went then, LOL. I bought the double boiler pictured below for $10! It works great -- is exactly what I needed.

Here is a link that might be useful: my RevereWare double boiler