# Calling all cooks! HELP! Caramel Hell! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 22, 2000, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-cooks-help-caramel-hell/23245 "2000-06-22T22:15:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2000, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-cooks-help-caramel-hell/23245/1 "2000-06-22T22:15:35Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![jamshid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecd19e/32.png) [@jamshid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jamshid)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2000, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-cooks-help-caramel-hell/23245/2 "2000-06-22T22:24:34Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![light\_strand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@light\_strand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/light_strand)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2000, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-cooks-help-caramel-hell/23245/3 "2000-06-22T22:28:26Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![SoMoMom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@SoMoMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoMoMom)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2000, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-cooks-help-caramel-hell/23245/4 "2000-06-22T22:31:28Z")
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? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SoMoMom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@SoMoMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoMoMom)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2000, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-cooks-help-caramel-hell/23245/5 "2000-06-22T22:33:12Z")
Did I have a brain spasm? That was supposed to say “like described above”. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2000, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-cooks-help-caramel-hell/23245/6 "2000-06-22T22:36:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*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 ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2000, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-cooks-help-caramel-hell/23245/7 "2000-06-23T00:00:27Z")
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.” ---
**Author:** ![Mazey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@Mazey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mazey)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2000, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-cooks-help-caramel-hell/23245/8 "2000-06-23T02:42:01Z")
Forget everything else. I want bio-brat’s famous “knock-you-naked” bars recipe. After that, if necessary, I’ll throw away the pan. \ ---
**Author:** ![light\_strand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@light\_strand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/light_strand)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2000, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-cooks-help-caramel-hell/23245/9 "2000-06-23T03:41:00Z")
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!!! ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2000, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-cooks-help-caramel-hell/23245/10 "2000-06-23T07:16:22Z")
Dammit…what happened to my clothes?? ---
**Author:** ![jesuslynch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e99b99/32.png) [@jesuslynch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesuslynch)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2000, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calling-all-cooks-help-caramel-hell/23245/11 "2000-06-23T17:51:06Z")
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!