Melting chocolate when making candy is not difficult, but there are easier and even wrong ways to do it, so best if you start by reading this short article.
When you melt chocolate, you are applying indirect heat to change the chocolate from a solid to a liquid. You melt chocolate when you are making recipes with just a couple of ounces of chocolate (in squares such as you buy at a grocery store) or when working with one pound or so for tempering.
If you are using this melted chocolate in baking recipes, you cool it to a tepid temperature and then blend it in with the other ingredients, or cool it slightly in order to use it in something such as chocolate decorations. If you are using the melted chocolate for making candy, it will need to be tempered as well.
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Whatever you make with melted chocolate should be kept at room temperature if possible. If the storage area is warmer than 70 degrees F, the freezer is a better place to store them. If stored in the refrigerator, they will pick up too much moisture.
There are two ways to melt chocolate when making candy, in your oven or in a double boiler. Do not try to use your microwave, it is too easy to burn the chocolate.
The easiest way is to put the chocolate in a baking dish and set your oven to between 130-160 degrees F. Stir it often with a spoon and don't allow it to get too hot or it will scorch. Since your oven temperature will fluctuate, why not set it between 130 and 145 degrees, that way you can be sure it won't get too hot.
Using a double boiler is not as easy because you run the risk of allowing moisture to contact the chocolate, which will ruin it for making chocolate candy.
Maybe you're like me, wondering how can chocolate be 'ruined'? Chocolate is made up of both dry particles (cocoa, sugar) and fat (cocoa butter). If even just a few drops of water touch your chocolate, it will bind with the dry ingredients, forming granular clumps, which does indeed ruin the chocolate for your candy making. If this does happen, you can save the chocolate for baking.
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When you melt chocolate, you are applying indirect heat to change the chocolate from a solid to a liquid. You melt chocolate when you are making recipes with just a couple of ounces of chocolate (in squares such as you buy at a grocery store) or when working with one pound or so for tempering. 
