| A friend is renting a chocolate fondue | | | | special chocolate fondue fountain chocolate. |
| fountain for her wedding, the news of which | | | | We had armed ourselves with 900g just to get |
| sparked off my new born interest in the | | | | started, although we got so stuck in that |
| phenomena that is the 'chocolate fondue | | | | this did not last long and someone had to be |
| fountain'. I was told that a chocolate fondue | | | | requisitioned to the all night garage for |
| fountain can be an eye catching, mouth | | | | more just after 1.00am. Our experience has |
| watering central feature for all sorts of | | | | confirmed the universal truth amongst |
| social occasions, parties and events. This | | | | chocolate fondue fountain aficionados that |
| got me thinking, 'Why wait for the wedding?' | | | | when it comes to chocolate, the more the |
| So I hired a chocolate fondue fountain for a | | | | merrier, since you need a fair amount to get |
| night and invited a few friends around to | | | | a good flow and a respectable looking |
| test it and see what all the fuss was | | | | fountain. We were having a party after |
| about.We got the chocolate fondue fountain | | | | all.Some bright spark suggested adding a dash |
| out of the box easy enough and it revealed | | | | of vegetable oil to the mix to make the |
| itself to be a stainless steel structure with | | | | chocolate flow easier, and the tests were |
| three tiers, with an overall height of about | | | | conclusive that this did work to loosen up |
| 15 inches top to bottom. It looked harmless | | | | the flow. A party being a party, someone |
| enough, and was easy to set up so we | | | | usually gets carried away and our someone |
| proceeded to plug it in. Power was provided | | | | decided to add alcohol. Bad move. And things |
| by the usual three-pin socket.So now the | | | | had been going so smoothly. Our river of |
| science: the chocolate gets plonked into the | | | | running chocolate turned into clotted lump of |
| basin, gets heated there and then carried to | | | | muck faster than a round of tequila slammers. |
| the top of the fountain via a rotating | | | | You live and learn.Final verdictVisual |
| internal shaft. My internet research later | | | | impact: 10/10Popularity: 10/10Ease of set up |
| revealed the shaft to be a form of Archimedes | | | | and operation: 9/10Versatility: 9/10 |
| screw. However, there are other ways of | | | | |
| getting the chocolate to the top of the | | | | We tried putting various things into the |
| fountain, namely a pump (the most common | | | | falling curtain of chocolate, including |
| method). The box for our chocolate fondue | | | | marshmallows, pineapple, strawberries, and |
| fountain said that a screw had been chosen | | | | cake and all of them tasted wonderful. Shame |
| over a pump because the screw eliminates the | | | | about the alchohol.So go hire a chocolate |
| possibility of blockages associated with some | | | | fondue fountain, or better still go right in |
| pumps, so the fountain will always flow | | | | to a shop and buy one. There are bargains to |
| smoothly. My research did reveal, however, a | | | | be had out there, and it is the opinion of |
| general preference for auger-style pumps | | | | this reviewer that if a chocolate fondue |
| amongst the more pricey chocolate fondue | | | | fountain comes to dinner, you won't be |
| fountains.A big surprise was that any melting | | | | disappointed. |
| chocolate will do; you don't have to use | | | | |