Calling all cooks! HELP! Caramel Hell!

[Fenris]

Ok, so I decided to make a fancy desert as a surprise for a special friend. It involved making a caramel sauce which came out great...but....

Somehow the recipe left out the most important part:

How the HELL do I clean this mess up?!

I've got a pot that has caramel goo welded to the bottom (no big deal, some scrubbing should remove it), but above that layer, I've got a beautiful, frictionless, glasslike, golden layer of hard sugar candy welded to the pan (also the spoon and the candy thermometer.) Do I just soak the stuff and wait for the sugar to dissolve? Will it dissolve? If not, how do I clean the pot/spoon/thermometer? I can't imagine that every time someone makes candy, they throw the pot/spoons/thermometers away and start again.

Help!

Fenris

[jamshid]

Between a rock and some hard candy?

Sorry. Yeah, that lovely glassy sheen is oh so much fun to get rid of. Put some hot water in the pan (it IS a saucepan, right?), as though you were going to cook spaghetti. Bring it to a boil, and let it continue to boil for a few minutes.

The sugary coating should become caramel-like sludge again; a little detergent (once the water has cooled enough to stick your hand into) and a Dobie pad will take it right off.

[light strand]

I have this same problem whenever I make my famous "knock-you-naked" bars. My only solulion is to heat the pan (I use a double boiler) and add water until it becomes a primarily watery gooey mess. Soak the spoon and the thermometer (you actually use one of those? hmmmmm) in the hot carmel/water mixture until it all dissolves.

[SoMoMom]

Put anything that is dishwasher-safe in the dishwasher and let the near boiling water blasts take care of what it will. Everything else, you'll have to soak like .

Oh, geez, you DO have a dishwasher right? You're not one of those crazy people that doesn't believe in dishwashers are you? ;)

[SoMoMom]

Did I have a brain spasm? That was supposed to say "like described above".

[Fenris]

I've got a pot that has caramel goo welded to the bottom (no big deal, some scrubbing should remove it), but above that layer, I've got a beautiful, frictionless, glasslike, golden layer of hard sugar candy welded to the pan (also the spoon and the candy thermometer.) Do I just soak the stuff and wait for the sugar to dissolve? Will it dissolve? If not, how do I clean the pot/spoon/thermometer? I can't imagine that every time someone makes candy, they throw the pot/spoons/thermometers away and start again.


Responding to myself, but I have made a DISCOVERY!

I licked the hard candy covered spoon (hey, it looked like a lollipop). Anyway, I discovered that this stuff'll melt in my mouth!. Now all I need to do is figure out how to fit my face in the pot!

...ahem...

Seriously, thanks for the suggestions about reheating the pot with water in it.

BTW: SoMoMom, Of course I have a dishwasher. :) I'd rather scrub toilets than do dishes. (I hate doing dishes).

Fenris

[Unauthorized Cinnamon]

Good advice, y'all. I just had to comment on the subject - LOL - I think Caramel Hell is where you might encounter Tom Servo's "Honey Bunches of DEATH."

[Mazey]

Forget everything else. I want bio-brat's famous "knock-you-naked" bars recipe. After that, if necessary, I'll throw away the pan. <G>

[light strand]

As per request,


Mix:
1 German chocolate cake mix
3/4 cup butter
1/3 cup evaporated milk

Spread 1/2 mixture in a greased 9x13-inch cake pan and bake at 350F for six minutes.

Melt:
1 14-oz bag c bag caramels
1/3 cup evaporated milk

Sprinkle:
1 six oz bag chocolate chips over hot cake mixture.

Pour: Melted caramel mixture over the chocolate chip later.
Crumble remaining cake mixture over the caramel layer and bake at 350F for 20 minutes. Do not overbake.

-------------------
this is the best food known to mankind!!!

[ricepad]

Dammit...what happened to my clothes??

[jesuslynch]

I use the same receipe to make "Gooies". You can use a little extra milk in the caramel mixture to give it a silker texture. Sometimes the caramel will set-up and make them a little hard to bite through. It also makes the pan a little easier to clean.

A pan of warm Gooies, a gallon of ice-cold milk (I prefer whole milk), and a big fat one...

Use to actually put a little shake in the batter. Talk about getting the munchies!