If a receipe calls for Parrafin wax to be used in melting chocolate, Do you really need Parrafin or can I just?

You can't use oil instead of paraffin. The paraffin helps the chocolate to firm up and it will not melt as quickly in your hand. You can buy food grade paraffin in the super market in the aisle that has all the canning goods.

If you put oil in, your chocolate will not set up hard like it should because oil will always stay liquid.

If you have a quality chocolate and if you melt it very carefully and slowly making sure it does not get too hot and if you have tempered your chocolate.....then you do not need, or want, parrafin in your chocolate. Fine chocolates do not add wax. You can add coconut oil to thin it down, if necessary. Depending on what you are going to do with your chocolate....you could thin it with a little vegetable oil, if you just want to drizzle the chocolate over something. If you are coating something with chocolate then adding vegetable oil to it is not a good idea. If you have to thin it...your options are:

cocoa butter (best choice)

coconut oil (good choice)

parrafin (last choice)

There is no measurement for any of these. You add v e r y s l o w l y...until the chocolate is as thin as it has to be to work with and then you add no more.

Use the same amount of shortening as you would paraffin.