Equipment and terminology

A double boiler or bain-marie is simply a pan with a few inches of water in the bottom, simmering to create steam and a heat resistant glass bowl sat on top. This is used for melting beeswax, shea butter, coconut oil and any other ingredients that are solid at room temperature when making balms and salves. It is important that we do not burn our ingredients and using a double boiler like this helps us to achieve this without damaging our ingredients.