Candy with white holes

[Amber Gold]

I've noticed our candy will develop white spots and sometimes the white spots have divits in them. We package our candy in candy boxes or cellophane candy packages. The cellophane is sealed. This also happens whether we coat the candy or not, although we seem to get a longer shelf life with coated candy. What creates this phenomenom and how can I prevent it from happening? We've made candy for two years and have only started to experiance it this year.

Thanks for the help.

[red maples]

I get this too. I have a few theories, overly dry, in some spots, breakdown of the sugars, possibly a spot of moisture before they are packaged? but would like to hear what others have to say. these usually become my eating ones. can't rally sell 'em or I just give 'em away.

[unclebuck]

I've been making candy for years and have the same problems upon occations. Not sure what causes it But thought it may be caused by a air bubble and the white coloring is due to the candy being thin in this spot and cooling faster than the rest ????????????? Would be interested in other therories

[unclebuck]

I was reading the maple digest this morning and found that the white spots in the candy is being overly dry (not enough moisture)

[danno]

I was reading the maple digest this morning and found that the white spots in the candy is being overly dry (not enough moisture)

It's kind of peculiar that there are so many seasoned sugarmakers on this site, but nobody has much info on this phenomenon. There are previous threads on this issue but not a whole lot of answers. I've had the white dot issue before as well, so I'll bite. So, how do we make our candy "less dry" so it doesn't spot? Mine will develop spots either right out of the molds or within a couple minutes of coming out. I seem to get less spots if I pour the molds a little earlier before the syrup begins to set up and then taking them out of the molds pretty quickly.

[Amber Gold]

This is different than the candy drying out. That I've gotten before and understand. The spots where these spots are forming, the candy's moist, but I'm packaging in the special candy packaging (poly something) that we're supposed to use. The molds are washed the day prior and are dry before use. The candy looks perfect coming out of the molds.

I do think one of my mistakes was letting it mix in the trough too long. I made a batch Sunday night and let it stir just enough to start forming a few crystals before I poured it in. Only problem I had with this, is the candy was kind of soft coming out of the molds and broke more than a few pieces...not sure why.

BTW. I cook to 242F. Based on another's recommendation, my next batch will be to 239F and letting it cool to ~190F. Problem w/ this time of year is we'll be making a bunch of candy to prep. for maple season, so until we figure out what's going on, all candy's going in the freezer until we need it.

[ToadHill]

We have had this problem for some time now. I have discussed this with quite a few producers (large and small) who I know to make good candy. They have all experienced it and none of them has an explanation. I've heard all of the theories, but we have tried just about everything and to no avail. I have also discussed this with Steve Childs who teaches the confections workshops for Cornell. Maybe if enough of us expressed an interest he could do some research into the issue. I know that it would help us and save a lot of work. How do we start an online petition?

[SSFLLC]

Hi Josh , Sounds like your taped in already? If so how are the runs on vac? Keith

[Dill]

Josh isn't tapped in yet Keith. Both of us are just driving the wives nuts with constant weather reports and moaning.

[SSFLLC]

Hi Dill, Just got the up date from Josh. Pearl and sons maple (9000 + taps). Just started taping in yesterday. Says holes are still dry. Where colder here than you guys I think. Me and Michelle are still looking to tap in on Valentines day. Good luck Keith & Michelle

[Dill]

When are you guys tapping? I want to come up and see your pans in action. I came close to buying a set this year.

[SSFLLC]

Looks like valentines day. Michelle will be doing the boiling on the weekends monday we both work and I will do the rest of the boiling tuesday thru friday. Your welcome to stop by any time. Keith

[ToadHill]

Hey guys, I don't mean to rain on your parade, but you are hijacking a thread that is supposed to be about candy with white holes.

[OneLegJohn]

A year later. Still no answers. Any luck on the white candy face dilemma?

[ToadHill]

Still same problem and no answers

[upsmapleman]

I'm not sure I can help but maybe give you a couple of things to consider. We make a fair amount of candy and have had the same trouble on occasion. My wife and I are in disagreement on what causes it. I say syrup was cooked to high my wife says it stirred in the trough to long. I take my candy to 29 degrees above boiling point of water and my wife doesn't keep much syrup in the trough running it thru fairly quickly. Not sure what caused the problem but we no longer have a issue with white spots.

[ToadHill]

upsmapleman,

By only going to 29 degrees is your candy very soft? I have always understood that you should run the minimum amount of syrup in the trough. Should be just enough to cover the auger. Does that sound right?

Thanks,

[upsmapleman]

Our candy is soft but it pops right out of the mold. Its to soft if it does not pop out of the mold. We try to just keep the bottom covered and when it sheets it will pull up on the auger and then we pour it. We do 12 to 15 # to a batch.

[Moser's Maple]

White spots you say.... there are a number of variables that can cause this phenomenom. The first is your invert sugar could be a little off for candy making. Also each batch of syrup will have a different invert sugar level. Why is this important? Invert sugar directly effects how much you have to boil the syrup for your candy. The higher the invert sugar the higher you must boil your syrup. Second is the candy is boiled too hard. Have you noticed that your white candy is harder than the rest of your candy???? If so then this candy has been boiled hard than other batches. Over boiling can go right back to invert sugar, but barometric pressure outside and relative humidity in the house also play a significant role in the end boiling point. A third reason for the white is that the candy may not have been mixed evenly or different sections of the candy cooled at different rates. This would cause light and dark spots in the candy. Actually if you enter any candy competitions they should have a section that the judges assess the color of your candy, and if there are light spots in the candy. How do you prevent this from happening???? Well I wish I could tell you an easy fix, but there isn't one. But good for you there is a fix if you are willing to put in the time and dedication. I too had this problenm at one time and now I have pretty much eliminated it. This is what I do. Each batch of syrup from the sugar shanty I test the invert sugar level and mark it right on the drum of syrup so I know what it is just at a glance. This can be done gallon by gallon also. Then I started a chart. I noted the barometric pressure, if it was rising or falling, the invert of the syrup, the grade of syrup, the temp I boiled the syrup too, the temp I started mixing, and the time I took to mix a batch. Now this does take time and dedication, but if you can stick to this routine you'll start noticing a pattern. So I know if the barometiric pressure is 29.5 and rising, my syrup invert is 20, and it's sunny outside I'm boiling to 241.5 letting cool to 171 then stirring for my candy. Now I don't use a machine so it may different for you if you use a machine.....mainly the cooling. I hoping this helps you out.
Jake Moser
Moser's Maple
758 lbs of Molded maple candy last year all done by hand
over 400 lbs sold on ebay (mosersmaple1904)
Award winning Maple Confections
2012 World Maple Festival Grand Champion Maple Syrup

[ToadHill]

Jake,

You say that the invert level and a bunch of other factors influence the formation of the white spots. We have always used low invert syrup that is well within the ranges specified in the maple confections manual put out by Cornell. What invert levels have you found to be a problem? Other than boiling point, what effect have you found from the changing barometric pressures? We are using a candy machine with an auger so I'm pretty confident that mixing isn't the problem, although at times we are guilty of letting the trough run out of syrup and other times we may flood it to deep. I like your suggestions about keeping track of all of the details of each batch to look for common threads that create a problem. I may take it a step further and number our molds so that as we make a batch we can record which molds came out when the trough was flooded or when it ran dry. We will start recording things this year.

Thanks for your help,

[Moser's Maple]

Randy,
You are correct about the barometric pressure. It directly relates to the boiling point of water. What I have for example..... my water boiling point is 210.7 My invert is say...50 off the glucose meter or 1% then I know I can make candy at 242.7, but if I take note that the barometric pressure is 30.0 and rising I know that it going to be a nice day and I can lower my boil temp by 1-1.5 degrees for a softer candy.....the opposite goes for if the pressure is lowering..... i'll have to boil a little harder to maintain the consistancy I'm looking for. You can make candy anytime by just boiling your syup at 242 (unless your invert is completely off the chart), but I've included the rising or falling of barometric pressure to be able to maintain the same consistancy, and quality of candy that is coming out of our molds. Our family is best know for melt in your mouth candy.....(best example I could give would be like a peanut butter cup....has that little snap on the outside, but is really creamy and smooth once it's in your mouth) To get this feature it only takes a small amount if variance to either have a batch that is too hard for our liking, or the opposite and it become too soft where you can smoosh it with your finger.
The syrup I have the most difficulty with is my lower invert sugar syrup.... .4-.6% What I have found is that I boil the syrup too hard and when make the candy it wants to set way too quick or after i take it out of the molds it has a light haze and begins to whiten. This is a tell sign to me that the candyhas been boiled too long for the level of invert sugar. See the lower the invert sugar the larger the crystals and this is what your seeing in the little haze on the candy or the light spots. Syrup I make my best candy with hovers around 1.4%....at times I believe I may slightly under boil because remember as your invert goes up your boiling temp should go up, but many times I'll finish at the same as lower invert and end up with a softer candy.
The last thing I have noticed is that (can't prove by scientific facts)but when the syrup is cooling before stirring if there is a be difference of temps through out the pan (infared therometer) I'll end of with white spots everytime. I can only guess that this is because the cooler syrup is crystallized more than the warmer syrup and during stirring you can't blend the different temps thus creating the spots. I'm no scientist but I have noticed this so take it as fact or crap just my opinion
I hope you find this somewhat helpful, but if you keep track of boiling point, barometric pressure, invert sugars, and pan cooling you find a direct corrolation between them to create a quality candy out of every batch. Some spots may still appear, but that's just the maple candy gods not letting us get to cocky!
Jake Moser
Moser's Maple
758 lbs molded maple candy last year (all by hand)
over 400 lbs sold on ebay (mosersmaple 1904)
Award Winning Maple Confections
2012 World Maple Festival Grand Champion Maple Syrup

[ToadHill]

Jake, Thanks for all the help. I'm sure it will make a difference.

[upsmapleman]

What do you guys use to check invert sugar/

[Moser's Maple]

We use simple glucose meter (diabetic meter) to check the invert. Cornell has put out a table of what the glusose reading is converted to percent of invert in sugar.....eg.... a 50 reading on the meter is 1% invert sugar. All you do is mix the syrup with water at a 1:10, stick your test strip in and get your glucose reading. Cornell has created a chart for acceptable ranges of invert for candy, cream, granular, and coating. Not sure if Cornell.edu website has the chart. I obtained my with the purchase of the New York Maple Confections Notebbok. I can give Steve Childs a call to see if he minds that I post a copy of the chart for all to see. After all it's their research and I'm not sure if he wants the chart only seen by those who purchase the book, or if this is info to share with all. Just trying not to affend anybody.
Jake Moser
Moser's Maple
758 lbs of molded maple candy last year (all by hand)
over 400 lbs sold on ebay (mosersmaple1904)
Award Winning maple confections
2012 World Maple Festival Grand Champion Maple Syrup

[Amber Gold]

Update on our candy this year. I don't think we got any candy with the white holes in it this year. We did coat our candy as usual, and we did keep our candy in the freezer for longterm storage and pretty sure we did last year as well. We are using new syrup this year, so maybe that's why we didn't have any problems?? Not positive, but I think all of the candy made last year was made from the same drum. This year when making candy, we changed our method. Before we used to let a lot of crystals form in the trough before pouring into molds, but this year, as soon as it starts to cloud, we pour it in...maybe this helped?? We haven't checked invert sugar before, but maybe we will.

I do have issues with candy getting white areas on the back side...think this is due to differential cooling maybe??

During the summer, we have virtually no candy sales, so I think moving forward, we will no longer be stocking candy then.

Moser. Thanks for the info.

[DiamondGal]

I didn't read all the replies, but I have had the same thing happen to the candy I made after a while. My question is, is the candy still okay to eat with the white spots on it?

[DocsMapleSyrup]

yes it's ok to eat. Just doesn't look nice.