# Caramel Making Help **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 8, 2005, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caramel-making-help/334764 "2005-12-08T22:06:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caramel-making-help/334764/1 "2005-12-08T22:06:49Z")
Well, another Christmas season is upon us, and it’s Caramel 2, Hello Again 0. Last year’s batch was undercooked; too runny to serve alone. I tried freezing it and coating it in chocolate, but it oozed out of tiny crevices in the chocolate; a total wash. This year I overcooked it and it is just plain too hard. ☹ You simply can’t bite into it. I’ve used recipes from both _The Joy of Cooking_ and _The Settlement Cookbook_, but I don’t believe the recipe is the problem – I’m pretty sure I lack technique. I’m using a candy themometer already … and anyway in the time it takes to test the mix in water it goes from 242 (undercooked) to 244 (perfect) to 246 (overcooked). Is there any special trick to this or should I stick to my never-fail toffee recipe and chocolate truffles? PS - what can I do with 1/2 lb of too-hard caramel, which is not quite hard enough to be toffee? ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caramel-making-help/334764/2 "2005-12-08T22:16:04Z")
> [@Hello Again](#): > > and anyway in the time it takes to test the mix in water it goes from 242 (undercooked) to 244 (perfect) to 246 (overcooked). > > Is there any special trick to this or should I stick to my never-fail toffee recipe and chocolate truffles? > > PS - what can I do with 1/2 lb of too-hard caramel, which is not quite hard enough to be toffee? My guess is that you have too hot a burner. You might try turning it down low when the temperature is getting close. Also – are you sure your thermometer is calibrated properly? I had one that had a metal sleeve that would let the glass tube slide up and down enough to be off by as much as 20 degrees. See what it reads when dunked in boiling water. As for your too-hard caramel: smash it up/chop coarsely, put it in a small pan with a couple ounces of cream and heat in a double boiler. You may have to add more cream, but you’ll end up with yummy caramel sauce for ice cream. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caramel-making-help/334764/3 "2005-12-09T01:01:15Z")
Melt in the microwave on partial power. Add milk to caramel. It’s hit or miss on how much to runny and it’s ice cream topping. To hard and you break a tooth. ---
**Author:** ![Euthanasiast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Euthanasiast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euthanasiast)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caramel-making-help/334764/4 "2005-12-09T01:08:19Z")
What’s your altitude? Also, **Jaade** was saying that you can just punch a hole in the top of a can of condensed milk and just boil it. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caramel-making-help/334764/5 "2005-12-09T02:28:14Z")
I posted a candy primer thread for anyone interested. I started to write you a reply, and ended up deciding to write a Candy Basics thread. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6880735#post6880735](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6880735#post6880735) ---
**Author:** ![Waterman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Waterman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waterman)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caramel-making-help/334764/6 "2005-12-09T07:34:22Z")
> [@Hello Again](#): > > Well, another Christmas season is upon us, and it’s Caramel 2, Hello Again 0. > > Last year’s batch was undercooked; too runny to serve alone. I tried freezing it and coating it in chocolate, but it oozed out of tiny crevices in the chocolate; a total wash. > > This year I overcooked it and it is just plain too hard. ☹ You simply can’t bite into it. > > I’ve used recipes from both _The Joy of Cooking_ and _The Settlement Cookbook_, but I don’t believe the recipe is the problem – I’m pretty sure I lack technique. I’m using a candy themometer already … and anyway in the time it takes to test the mix in water it goes from 242 (undercooked) to 244 (perfect) to 246 (overcooked). > > Is there any special trick to this or should I stick to my never-fail toffee recipe and chocolate truffles? > > PS - what can I do with 1/2 lb of too-hard caramel, which is not quite hard enough to be toffee? I do believe that your temperatures you are heating too are incorrect and way too low. According to Sherry Yard in her book _The Secrets of Baking_: \*" To carmelize sugar, you combine sugar, water and corn syrup in a saucepan, cover it, and set it over high heat. As the mixture heats it releases steam, which the lid traps. Condensation forms and runs down the inside of the pot, washingh away any stray sugar crystals. After 4 minutes you can remove the lid. The sugar will be boiling and noticably thicker. Set a thermometer in the pot to monitor the temperature which at this point should read between 230 and 240 degrees F. As the water heats up, it evaporates. The sugar begins to thicken and the bubbles get bigger. As the temperature increases, the color deepens and the flavor intensifies… These changes occur more quickly as the temperature rises. At 310-degrees F, the sugar begins to turn a pale golden color and the caramel should be watched closely. At 310 to 325 the color is golden brown. Above 375 the, the caramel becomes quite bitter and as the process is irreversible, it is too late. In a heavy pot on high heat the entire process should take about 10 minutes… I advise you to take it off the burner at 325-degrees if you like golden brown or at 350-degrees for dark caramel." \* Hopefully this will help your further endeavors. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caramel-making-help/334764/7 "2005-12-10T19:57:14Z")
The tempertures I am going by are the same in all of my cookbooks for “soft-ball” stage candy. I am talking about chewy caramels, the ones you buy in squares, not crispy brittle caramel. The instructions above would make a syrup which would crisp on cooling, for decorations or spun sugar or whatnot. That is the “hard crack” stage of candymaking. The window for soft-ball stage (it forms a ball which can be squished when dropped in water) is very narrow. Hard-crack is infititely more forgiving. Thanks everyone. I took part of the batch and smashed it into flakes, I’m going to make “caramel-apple cookies.” The rest I will try to rescesitate using the microwave method. My altitude is just a bit above sea level (around 300ft). Its never affected any other form of cookery. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caramel-making-help/334764/8 "2005-12-10T20:01:32Z")
BTW, thanks for the primer info. Unfortunately it didn’t contain any info that was new to me. I have no trouble with anything in the hard-crack spectrum. Only chewy candy eludes me. ☹ Caramel is becoming my nemesis. I made a more forgiving recipe yesterday – a coconut candy which is something like the inside of a Mounds bar – intenetionally partially crystallized – covered in dark chocolate. NUMS! ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caramel-making-help/334764/9 "2005-12-10T20:12:27Z")
> [@Euthanasiast](#): > > Also, **Jaade** was saying that you can just punch a hole in the top of a can of condensed milk and just boil it. LOL, I’ve done that, except I left the can intact (which the label says NEVER EVER to do, but millions of Brazillians, can’t be wrong, right?) It takes about 4-6 hours of boiling, plus consistent topping up of the water (if the can isn’t fully covered you have problems) and the result is a viscous, delicious paste, more like Dulce de leche. Tasty, but not the thing I had in mind. It’s a pain, anyway (caramel’s a pain too, obvously, but it doesn’t take all afternoon) ---
**Author:** ![Waterman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Waterman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waterman)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caramel-making-help/334764/10 "2005-12-10T20:37:40Z")
> [@Hello Again](#): > > …Only chewy candy eludes me… You are correct regarding the temperature for “soft ball” but I would once again remind you of **StarvingButStrong’s** suggestion of calibrating your thermometer. If the problem is sugar cystallization then the same reference (Sherry Yard’s _Secrets of Baking_) suggests that you make sure to use new sugar, keep everything spotlessly clean, and don’t add anything that could act as a seed for crystallization to start. Use a metal spoon and, if necessary, the addition of a small amount of acidity (for example, in the form of lemon juice) can also prevent crystallization. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2005, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caramel-making-help/334764/11 "2005-12-11T03:00:17Z")
Remember, caramel continues cooking off heat so you need to dunk it into a pan of ice water.