Candy question

[royalmaple]

I tried making candy for the first time today.

I read on here what people suggest and this is what I did.

Boiled water, roughly 209 degrees and it was boiling

took two cups of syrup, and boiled till 241 degrees, 209 +32.

removed from heat and stirred, and stirred. To the point that it cooled and while stirring it was basically making a ball on the end of the spoon.

It just kept looking like caramel or taffy actually. But still couldn't feel any sugar crystals in the bottom of pot as others have said. And when I tried to pour that stuff into molds it was just one big glob, of taffy.

Did I not boil long enough?

[Russell Lampron]

Matt,

After you shut off the heat you need to let the syrup cool to below 200 degrees before you stir. A temp around 170 or 180 works good for small batches. The lower the temp the smaller the sugar granuals. Stir until you see the color start to change and granuals start to appear on the spoon and pour into molds.

So that you don't waist it you can add water to that glob and heat it to turn it back into syrup and try again. The 240+/- temp is about right.

Russ

[royalmaple]

Just in case, I wanted to make sure I was talking about the right thing.

What I ended up making the second time, was more like a lolli-pop type of smooth candy, that is pretty soft, but holds shape. Still has a light tacky feel to it.

What I wanted to make was the maple sugar type candies, that are like eating sugar, that was pressed into molds.

Do I do something different to get this? Or did I do something wrong and that is what I should be making?

[mountainvan]

Matt, Russels right. I boil the syrup to 242, let it cool to 190 and start to stir with a spoon. As soon as I see white-tan crystals I start to pour it in the molds. If it sets up in the pot, put it on the stove over LOW heat and stir it till it's pourable and pour it in the molds or wax paper.

[royalmaple]

Van thanks,

Any thoughts about why I ended up with what I did?

I just tried some more, this time It went to about 248, it is cooling now off the heat. Gonna try stirring this more.

I don't think I am getting crystals to form. Smells good anyway. :D

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

With the syrup being several months old, the invert sugar may be too low for candy. :?

[royalmaple]

Brandon-

Could be I guess. Just a crappy day here so I was tired of being inside doing nothing.

Basically I took some of the last syrup I made, it certainly wasn't anything special and never got hot packed. Had a bit of mold on it when I started, skimmed that, and filtered.

So really it is no major loss if it does not work, but wanted to experiment with that stuff. May not have been the best choice of stuff to use if that is the case.

I could try using some good stuff that was canned, and see if it works any better. If it does then that could certainly be it.

I stirred and stirred until the stuff got cold enough to just glob up, and never once saw one crystal form. Only thing in the syrup was small air bubbles, but certainly not any crystals that I could see anyway. And best way to explain what I made was like taffy, set up enough to hold some sort of shape, but is still soft to the touch and slightly sticky. No where near what I was thinking I would be making.

The last batch I tried I heated till 248 degrees and still really nothing any better.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Matt,

I have tried that before with moldy and dark syrup and it didn't work too good. If you have a quart of sealed mold free lighter syrup, give it a try today and you will be in great shape. :D

[royalmaple]

Bingo-

Just beat me to it. I just finished and it was certainly the syrup.

Tried using a quart of med, and was simple. Did exactly as I did last night, but this time it worked for sure. There is no guess work when this stuff sets up.

What a difference. I was stirring that stuff last night till my arm hurt. Today, I stirred a bit too long and it set up in the pan, but reheated lightly as van said and poured into some molds.

Already eating them now.

That other stuff for whatever reason, just wouldn't do it. In case anyone else tries using that type of syrup.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Matt,

I think it may be something to do with the mold, I have tried moldy syrup with no luck, but have made it out of very dark syrup several times without any problem. The mold may eat up the invert sugar, just a theory. :?

[royalmaple]

May have something to do with it.

It was my first time trying candies, and figures it had to happen when I have zero experience.

[brookledge]

Matt
Your invert sugar was to high with the dark syrup.
The invert sugar is even more critical with cream.
Keith

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Keith,

I have made good candy several times with dark syrup without any problem. The only time I had a problem was with the old moldy dark syrup. :?

[Parker]

You gut inspired me to make my first candy yesterday morning befor work,,for everyone out there who has never done it,,learn from my mistake,,,dont put the syrup on the kitchen stove on "HI" then go down in the basement to stoke the woodstove,,when I got back upstairs the syrup was boiling over onto the stove and sending a thick white smoke throught the house,,was lucky I did not set the smoke detectors off at 4 AM and wake the wife and littel ones,,,WHAT A MESS!!! After I got that cleaned up and got the heat regulated so the syrup was boiling rapidly AND staying in the pot it was smooth sailing,,,,,Thanks for the information

[royalmaple]

Parker-

When I tried my first batch, I had it on Hi too, I guess thinking I was back on the evaporator and need it cranking, but soon realized having a small pinch of butter close by was a big help and I took the pot off the stove pretty quickly.

Then I tried it around 6-8 setting and worked much better. Those little bubbles have a mind of their own.

When I used actually hot packed med amber it worked very slick, and was simple to make.


Keith-

Is there a way to alter the invert sugar so it would work, or that is just the way it is?

[HanginAround]

Parker.... ah, that would have to ruin your day. Sorry you had to go through that.

Royal, there is information around on testing invert with a glucose testing kit, and the easiest way of fixing it is blending in more syrup that's higher or lower. Unfortunately, the NA Maple Producers Manual disappeared from it's normal location this week, so I don't have the info handly.

[mapleguy]

The less invert sugar the better, as syrup ages the invert sugar seems to increase, sometime you can get away with it if it's not too high by cooking to a couple degrees higher. The only other way that I know of is to add low invert sugar syrup.

[brookledge]

As far as raising or lowering invert sugar,
If you want to raise it add dark syrup
If you want to lower it add light syrup
If the invert sugar is too low it will cause the product to be too grainy
If the invert sugar is too high it may prevent it from crystalizing at all
As I said before it is more critical with cream than it is with candy
If you don't have the necessary grade of syrup there are other ways of changing the invert sugar, I don't know what they are but I do remember reading about it in the producers manual years ago.
I have clinitest tablets that I have used to test the invert sugar. Its simple to do but most of the time as long as you use light amber syrup you can make candy and cream with no problem
Keith

[HanginAround]

Anyone have a copy of the Ohio State U. North American Maple Producers Manual? It has disappeared from their website this week, and of course I don't have a copy on my PC.

It had the info on testing invert I think, and some obscure way to adjust it. Like Brook says, use good syrup, and it'll work almost all the time. Nobody I know has ever bothered testing, never needed to.

[brookledge]

The only time I would recomend testing the syrup first is if you are doing large batches of cream or open a large drum. It's dissapointing when you have a large batch that does not come out the way you would like.
For me when I'm doing 4 or 5 lbs of cream at once it's not a big deal but if I was doing 20-25 lbs at a time I would probably test the syrup
Keith