So, today I decided I would make fudge for the first time. I used the recipe from Good Eats and followed all of the instructions almost exactly. The difference was that I melted the mixture in a double boiler before transferring it to direct heat (had to take care of something else while it was melting and didn’t want to have to keep an eagle eye on the candy) and I used a bulb thermometer.
When I went to stir the fudge when it hit 115, it was hard, about the consistency of caramel. It tasted great, but it was like a gourmet Tootsie Roll- no crystallization at all. Now, I don’t like fudge and I really liked the Tootsie Roll texture, but I set out to make fudge, damnit!
I mention the bulb thermometer because I then went and checked if maybe it was mis-calibrated but it was measuring at most five degrees below what it should.
It would help if you posted a link to the recipe, or copied it. I’ve been making fudge all my life, all kinds, so it would help to know what ingredients you used.
BTW. for most fudge recipes, you really have to give your full attention to the cooking.
It didn’t turn out right…in what way? It’s been a long time and IANA chemist but:
Fudge is like a supersaturated solution. At room temp, the other ingredients can dissolve X amount of sugar. When you heat the ingredients to a certain temperature, they can dissolve much more. The trick is to cool it slowly and not create any vibrations around it. If you bump it, the sugar can come out of solution and then you have an uber grainy fudge-like product. My mom used to put a little cool water in the kitchen sink and set the pan of fudge in it.
I’m guessing that your previous fudge experiences were with the products of those easy, no-bake recipes that use a lot of powdered sugar. IMHO, this isn’t fudge at all. It has a grainy, sugary texture that I’m just not fond of. When these are deposited as gifts at my house, they promptly go into the trash.
Fudge is supposed to be creamy and smooth-- like a very soft caramel in texture, but a little bit squishy and spreadable. I’m guessing that at one point or another your temp got too high-- even 5 degrees can make a big difference in candy-making. That would result in more liquid evaporating and a chewier texture like the one you described. And I agree with the other posters-- you really need to keep a good eye on fudge when you cook it. It’s more like making candy than baking as far as technique goes. Lots of chemistry.
But, if you like the results, go with it! Home-made tootsie rolls sound YUMMY!
Here’s a recipe that I used and it turned out well. Super easy. Wow, I haven’t made it in a looooong time.
2c sugar
1 stick butter
6 oz chocolate chips
sm can Carnation milk
1 tsp vanilla
Put sugar, milk, and butter in a pan on low heat till butter melts. Bring to a boil 8 minutes, remove from heat. Add vanilla, chocolate chips, stir till thick.
With candy making the moment the candy thermometer says the correct temperature you have to cool it immediately. The highest temperature directly reflects how much water remains in the product. The candy thermometer indicates the candy is getting hotter after you remove the pan from the flame. Use a non breakable pan to make the candy and set it in cold water immediately. Once the temperature reading on the candy thermometer shows the candy is cooling you can stop cooling it in the water. Allowing the temperature to raise any amount beyond the correct stage will make it harder than you wanted it.
Always keep a large bowl of cold water handy to cool off the candy encase of accidental contact with your skin.
Okay, from what everyone’s said, this is what I did wrong:
Used a thermometer that was mis-calibrated.
Didn’t write down the recipe, necessitating my running back and forth from the stove to the laptop to check to see if I was doing it right.
Kept the candy on the stove (recipe said something about carryover) to cool down instead of yanking it and plunging it into cold water.
I’ll remember that tip about having a bowl of cold water nearby. I normally manage to splash something on me every time I cook something new so it’s some kind of miracle I didn’t burn the hell out of my hand.
Thanks, everyone. I’ll try to make the fudge again and I’ll let you know how it turned out.
It sounds to me like the candy got to hard ball stage, instead of soft ball stage. Soft ball is about 234 -238 degrees. You test it by putting a bit in cool water and it should form a single soft mass, not fall to pieces or be too firm. Too firm is the hard ball stage.
You don’t need to quench the pan in water, but you do need to actually remove from a heat source and place it somewhere it will start cooling. I use my empty steel kitchen sink. A cool enamel counter also has worked well for me. The key is that both are metal and draw the heat out.
After placing the pan where it can begin to cool, put any butter and flavoring, like vanilla into the pan, but don’t stir until the butter melts. You don’t have to cool it fully to 130, but once you start beating, you can’t stop, so if it is too warm to handle, don’t start beating. I beat mine in a stand mixer as soon as the butter melts and I can pour the mass into the mixer without the heat coming off it burning me.
Once the gloss is gone, immediately turn out onto a buttered surface and press flat. My guide to the gloss being gone is the mixture looks like chocolate butter cream frosting and not a thick syrup.
Oh, and using sweetened condensed milk is cheating, unless it is garlic fudge.
All the recipes I found (that were in straightforward, easy-to-read format - ie, not the Good Eats-style) involved condensed milk. What’s a good recipe for someone who wants to do home-made, ‘real’ fudge, then?
2 C sugar
dash of salt
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar (optional, I never have this)
1 tsp vanilla
Mix cocoa, salt, and cream of tartar, and sugar in a bowl, this helps the cocoa not to clump.
Butter pan bottom and sides to discourage large crystals.
Add milk and sugar-cocoa mixture in pan over low heat until sugar and cocoa are dissolved.
Cook and stir over medium
Heat till soft ball stage. Remove from heat.
Add 2-3 Tbls butter. Let cool till butter is melted
(or a little longer if you want). Add vanilla. Beat until it loses its gloss and is ready to set up. Pour onto buttered pan and let
cool.
Maple Fudge
2 cups maple syrup
3/4 cup 10 per cent cream (half and half)
2 tablespoons butter
Boil uncovered, until a drop in cold water forms a soft ball (236
to 238 degrees F). Cool to lukewarm without stirring. (110 degrees
F). Beat until creamy. Turn into buttered 8-inch square pan.
Cut into squares.
GARLIC FUDGE!
4 Tbls. butter
6 cloves garlic, peeled and blanched.
2 cups sugar
1 cup evaporated milk
a pinch of salt
Cook all ingredients together until sugar dissolves. Remove garlic and bring to a rolling boil until soft ball stage. Remove from heat. Stand 5 minutes. Beat until stiff and pour onto greased cookie sheet. Cut into squares. Store in air tight container.
Oh, and since Google has failed to give me a consistent answer (there are answers that suggest it’s anywhere from 2 days to 6 months - I kid you not), I put it to the SDMB chefs: how long can you keep this stuff in the fridge for?
grin Well, I suppose that’s true. I was mainly thinking in terms of pre-making for gifts - do I need to do it a couple of days out, or can I start, say, next weekend and just store it 'till it’s needed?
Fortunately we had a major run on (purchased) fudge just recently, so now’s the time to make it - while we still can’t look sideways at the stuff without thinking ‘Oh, god, no.’ It’ll last just fine for a few weeks, from that point of view.
Since the sugar content is so high, it does keep for a very long time, as in I have never seen fudge go moldy or otherwise biologically bad when kept in a sealed container at room temperature. But, fudge does go stale. It is best when it has some moisture left in it. I like to wrap it in plastic cling wrap as soon as it is room temperature, either a bunch of pieces wrapped together, or each piece wrapped individually.
If you are making it for a gift, I would try not to make it too far ahead, wrap it tightly and give promptly, and don’t mark it “Do not open until Christmas.” If they don’t get around to eating it for quite a while, it will not make them sick, and it will probably still taste yummy, but it won’t have that creamy mouth feel that really good, fresh fudge has.
