Discolored Maple Candy

[Weekend Mapler]

I made up some maple candy yesterday to give to family and relatives, but it came out with a lot of white discoloration as shown in the picture attached. Does anyone have any ideas what may have caused this? Just mixing by hand after removing the syrup from heat.

[nas]

Water in the molds?

Nick

[ToadHill]

We have had this problem many times in the past. I have asked everyone that I know or have met that makes candy. I have yet to get a definitive answer. I attended both of Steve Childs confections classes and discussed it with him. I have heard a lot of speculation, but nobody seems to know for sure. We are using a candy machine. I have had people tell me we are running it to deep, stirring it to long, cooling it to much, not cooling it enough, yadda, yadda, yadda. We have tried all of the suggestions and experimented with a lot more. I would love to get the answer to this one as it would save me a lot of time and effort. Thanks in advance to anyone who can shed some light on this.

Randy

[3rdgen.maple]

When I first started making candy I had the same problem until someone told me I was not letting it cool long enough before stirring. He said wait till it hits 180 before stirring. Since doing this I have had little problems since with the whitening.

[ToadHill]

3rdgen,

Are you using a candy machine? When I let it cool down that much it tends to set up in the snout of the pig.

Thanks for your help,

Randy

[red maples]

I think its from the amount of invert sugars present in the syrup. this does happen from time to time. I think the sugar crystals are bigger...thus the white color and they are a bit dryer and crunchier as well. It also has somethign to do with the heating cooling process. A few degrees can mean all the diffrernce. There are alot of things that effect candy making in general no mater what type of medium (sugar) you use. Pressure and humidity play a roll as well. I usually keep 1 batch of syrup that I use for candy all year. then again I don't make that much, but I will tweek the recipe until it works with that batch.

[3rdgen.maple]

ToadHill no pig all by hand. One thing for you hand guys as well I dont know what this matters I just listened to the way gramps told me years ago and he said never ever use anything but a wooden spoon and never use that spoon for anything else. Also not to use any soap when you wash it.

[Maple Ridge]

I also made my first ever batch yesterday. I have read up on it and studyed it. I had the wife ready with the mold (I need more molds) and a pan to pour the extra in. I brought it to 32deg. above water boiling temp, and let it cool to 180. I started to mix it by hand. I didn't get 1 min into the mixing, and we were in trouble. I didn't get to the mold. I had to hurry up and put it in the pan. I have never seen anything setup so quick. I am thinking there was too much invert sugars in the syrup. It was good, but just a little to hard. I will try 190 next time.

[3rdgen.maple]

I never check water boiling temps and always stop at 240*. When I am stirring it I put the pot back on the turned off but still very warm burner. Yes it sets up pretty fast but once you been doing it awhile and get the quickness down it makes it in the molds. I think the easiest way to do it by hand is several small batches at a time instead of a large batch. I do just enough at a time to fill 24 molds after that it hardens to fast to pour. I put that pan right back on the burner add more syrup to it and start the next batch. When Im all done I crystal coat them all and put them on a rack to drip dry. Crystal coating is the best and wont do candy anymore without that last step. It seems to soften and seal the candy up and last longer on the shelf.

[Father & Son]

I make all small batches by hand. Heat 25-28 degrees above water boil. Take the pan off the burner without taking the thermometer out and let cool to 160. I have ready a warmed pyrex measuring cup and pour the cooled syrup into that. I stir with a nylon mixing spoon until you start to see white streaks behind the spoon and then pour into molds. If the batch sets up before all is in the molds I put the measuring cup into the microwave for 15-20 seconds, and then take it out and stir to check consistancy. That will re-liquify the mixture and you can finish pouring into the molds. Sometimes the time in the microwave needs to be alittle longer but you will be able to tell when you take it out and stir it. The freshest syrup makes the best candy. When you use a candy pig I have been told you don't let the syrup cool as much. When making by hand the lower the temperature is when you start stiring the finer the granulation is. Syrup that is now almost a year old is still OK to use but can lead to more frequent batch failure. There have been many times that I have had batches not turn out, so I just put it all back in the pan add alittle more syrup and start again.

Jim

[Maple Ridge]

What is crystal coating?

[red maples]

my customers are not a fan of the coating so I don't do it. but I do use the microwave trick it works good sometimes. I mix at 180* I tried different temps and you get different sized crystals 180* seems to work for me. I try to pour it as soon as I see that white opaque swirl and I can usually get it all poured before it sets up completely. One other trick is to have a little more warm ready to go syrup and add it to the one your working with this way it will rewarm the syrup because when you microwave it it can have spots that get too hot.

[maple flats]

When we make molded sugar, we heat to 242-243F, let cool about 30 minutes, beat with mixer and pour. If it cools too much we put it in the micro wave 30 seconds or til pourable and resume pouring. This method give us a very fine grain and no white spots. We do not check boiling point of water. It always comes out very yummy.

[3rdgen.maple]

Red why in the world dont they like them coated? If done right other than they look better and dont harden like a rock there is really no difference than eating a fresh peice just after making them.
Maple Ridge crystal coating is dipping your cooled candy into syrup heated to a certain temp. I personally heat the syrup to 235, I put the candy peices into a stainless steel basket like the ones grandma sifted flower in and dip them into the syrup. Pull them out quick and sit on a cookie cooling rack. Within a few hours the candy coating has been absorbed and dried on the candy. It gives them that shiny luster just like they did when you pulled them out of the mold still warm and helps preserve them longer. It is like putting a clear coat on a paint job.

[ToadHill]

3rdgen,

Do you mean to say that you dip the candies in hot syrup? The process I was taught says to cool the hot syrup to room temp and then submerg the candies for 6 hours.

[3rdgen.maple]

Not hot right off the stove hot. I let it cool to about 185 the same temp we all bottle at and then dip them just long enough to coat them and quick enough so it doesnt melt the candy. That is how I was taught and it seems to work very well for me. I tried the cold dip process in the past and it seems to me that the end results are the same it just takes longer to get there cold dipping them. This is however one of the great things about maple, theres more than one way to do things and we all seem to have that special knack for how we do them. Oh and hot dipping them seems to get rid of small spots of the white candy as well, atleast it does for me.

[ToadHill]

Thanks. Learn something new everyday.

[Maple Ridge]

3RDGEN. Thanks for the info. I am going to give it another shot soon.

[red maples]

I don't know 3rdgen, I did it once and I thought it was fine!!! but they didn't like it. I don't know? It sells so fast I don't have a problem with it getting stale anyway, So what ever???!!!!