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I am planning my daughter's graduation party to be held at the end of the month. I was thinking a chocolate fountain might be a fun, inter-active desert in addition to the cake. I looked at renting one and they are quite pricey--I found one that got good reviews at Target that I can buy for $70 and then buy the chocolate separately--which would save me about $150.

Anyone out there ever use one? Are they easy to operate or a complete pain?

I've never used one, but we did hire one for our 30th class reunion - it was a total waste of $$. No one at ate of it - Ok maybe a few, but we won't get one again.

That said, if there are a lot of younger people at the party, I would bet they would have fun with it.

I bought one a few years back, think I used it twice.

Worth while baring in mind that you will need ALOT of chocolate, and then there is the part that makes the whole chocolate fountain less appealing, you will need to add quite a bit of vegatable oil in order to get the chocolate flowing.

Also worth noting if someone suggests adding milk to it to make it flow (after all it was milk chocolate) don't let them near your fountain as the milk curdles and the chocolate solidifies.

Bit of a pain to clean though...

I shop at a thrift store here, and they almost always have a chocolate fountain or two there for under ten bucks. I'd check that out as an option since you probably won't be using it much, if at all, again. Good luck!

I have a small chocolate fountain someone gave me as a gift, I've used it a handful of times. Buy the chocolate designed for fountains. The amount of oil you have to add to chips is insane, and the fountain always quits working. No matter how fancy the chocolate, people deem it repellent as soon as the spinner stops. No one knows or cares what brand of chocolate you use, as long as it works, people will be all over it.

I have a friend who has one. She brings it out for all her holiday parties and such.

I'm personally not a big fan, because the chocolate you use in it is weird tasting (You can't just put chocolate chips in, as others said you have to add oil to keep it liquid). A lot of our friends love it though.

[This message edited by Amazonia at 11:08 AM, May 1st (Wednesday)]

I have a small one as well, bought it for an SI g2g a couple years ago. I didn't use it again until SO's daughter had her 13th bday party sleepover, it was a huge success. We made rice crispy treats and cut them into small cubes, they dipped marshmallows, strawberries and pretzels as well. I love my little fountain and will use it as often as I have occasion to!
Yes, it's a pain in the ass to clean but imho well worth it for the enjoyment it brings.

They had one at a function they held in my building last year. Unfortunately, there were plenty of "double dippers" running amuck and most of us wouldn't go near it after that.

What about chocolate fondue in a crock pot and have small, individual serving bowls to spoon the chocolate into?

If you just want a good chocolate sauce for dipping, I suggest using sweetened condensed milk + chocolate chips. It's how we used to make the hot fudge sauce when I worked in a gourmet chocolate shop (except with our own chocolate, not chocolate chips).

If it's going to be an outdoors event, I would stick with a pot of chocolate vs a fountain (wind+flowing chocolate=HUGE mess) If it's going to be an indoor event, you should be safe...like others have said, just make sure you have plenty of chocolate and oil. If you have a Gordman's nearby, check there for the fountain and chocolate...they have that kind of thing near the back of the store.

Thanks everyone good info! I'm kinda leaning towards going in another direction--sounds like it could be good or a complete disaster--so why risk it. I don't want to fuss over something the whole time since I will have 50 to 75 people to host. LOL the thought of the double dipping thing made me feel sick too. Maybe I'll just get a karaoke machine instead!