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Hints & Testing for the Best Homemade Candy

Source of Recipe

Internet


Recipe Introduction

Candy is so much fun to make at home, and for some reason tastes so much better then store bought. Before you start I just want to leave a few tips to make it easier and a lot more fun.

Recipe Link: www.123easyaspie.com

List of Ingredients

Tip 1: Prevent crystals from forming by buttering the sides of the saucepan before adding ingredients. When mixture bubbles up, grains of sugar can't cling.

Tip 2: Select a heavy saucepan that has high sides and inside is smooth.

Tip 3: Always stir until sugar is dissolved. One sugar crystal can cause whole mixture to be grainy.

Tip 4: Beating can be made easier by first cooling cooked mixture without stirring to lukewarm (110 F). Use buttered pan or platter. Always have pan ready before making candy.




Recipe

To Test Candy :

There are two ways the cold water or the candy thermometer.

Cold Water Test: Drop a few drops of syrup into a small bowl of very cold water (not ice cold). Form drops into a ball. The firmness indicates temperature of syrup.

Thermometer Test: Clip candy thermometer to pan after syrup boils. The bulb of the thermometer must be covered with boiling liquid. Read thermometer at eye level. Check accuracy of thermometer by placing it in hot water. When water boils, thermometer should register 212 F. If it is above or below, add or subtract degrees to make allowances in recipes.


---Test Temperature Cold Water Test ---

Thread 230 F. - 234 F. Syrup forms 2" thread when dropped from spoon.

Soft Ball 234 F. - 240 F. Syrup forms a soft ball which flattens on removal.

Firm Ball 244 F. - 248 F. Syrup forms a firm ball which does not flatten on removal.

Hard Ball 250 F. - 266 F. Syrup forms a ball, hard enough to hold its own shape, yet plastic.

Soft Crack 270 F. - 290 F. Syrup separates into threads which are hard but not brittle.

Hard Crack 300 F. - 310 F Syrup separates into threads which are hard and brittle.