Boiling for candy

[Tube-tamer II]

I sometimes am experiencing a problem with scorching my candy syrup. I keep the flame as low as possible and it is taking about 3 hours worth of boiling to get to the right temperature. I attended the meeting in Verona, NY a couple of weeks ago. A speaker there said he makes a one gallon batch in 1.5 hours. I would like to know any tricks you guys may have to speed up this process and cut the time down. I have in the past boiled in the pig but have switched to a heavy duty aluminum pot for a one gallon batch. Should I be using a different type of pot? Any help would be apprciated.

[brookledge]

Sounds like the level in your pan is to low. With the pot you are using how deep is it? 1.5hrs. sounds averge. That is the only thing I can think of. Another thought is how accurate is your thermometer.
Keith

[Father & Son]

What I was doing wrong and scorching syrup was using too big of a pan for amount of syrup I was boiling. I was using a long stem round thermometer and the stem was not deep enough in the syrup to get an accurate reading. The syrup needs the cover 1 1/2 - 2 inches of the stem if not more depending on the thermometer. I just switched to a smaller pan and left the batch size the same.

Jim

[Tube-tamer II]

I appreciate the feedback. I am boiling one gallon at a time in a five gallon heavy duty aluminum stock pot. I don't dare go any smaller pot due to foam up. My thermometer is a Taylor syrup thermometer and is in contact with the bottom of the pot. The bulb is offset from the base of the thermometer so it does not contact the bottom. Once I have the syrup to the soft ball stage I almost think I could use a candle to heat it, that's almost how low I have the gas burner. If anyone else has any additional input I would appreciate it. It's a lot of work and effort only to scorch the syrup, not to mention the loss of the batch.

[ennismaple]

I'd go with a smaller pot. My mother makes all our candy in 1 gallon batches in a 1.5 gallon pot. She puts butter around the rim while it's warming and has a dollop of butter on a spoon ready to touch to the bubbles if they come up too hard when it boils. Once you're boiling the risk of boiling over is pretty much gone. You do still have to watch it closely just in case.

[brookledge]

It still sounds like your kettle is too small. As long as your depth of syrup when you start is around 2-2 1/2"deep you should be ok. If your depth is too shallow and it foams up you will scorch it every time because there is no syrup on the bottom of the pan in liquid form.
When you start rub some butter or margerine around the top of your kettle that will keep it from boiling over in most cases. Try a smaller pan.
I usually do three quarts of syrup in a 8 qt. pan and have never had a problem with scorching. Boiling over because I wasn't watching it closly is another matter.
Keith

[Sugarmaker]

Tube tamer II
Did you figure this out yet? Not good to be scorching syrup. Did you say that the thermometer was checking in boiling water for accuracy?
We mad some 1.5 gallons of syrup in a aluminum flat bottom caner. We boiled it over twice from not watching it close enough. I then cut the batch size back to 3/4 gallon and went back to a smaller sst copper bottom pot at about 2.5 gal capacity. I also smear some defomer around the inside rim of the pot so if the boil gets that high it drops. have had good luck so far.
Sugarmaker

[Tube-tamer II]

I'll try a smaller pot. We have one of those 8 qt. Calphone pots. I'll dob it up with defoamer or butter and give it a try next time. I appreciate the feedback and I'll let you know how it worked.

[hard maple]

I use a grimm adjustable candy thermometer. I try to keep the thermometer off the bottom of the pan when I'm taking a reading ( even though the bulb is elevated from the bottom of the thermometer) I sometimes do small batches, a quart or less and have never had a problem.

[mountainvan]

I tried making candy with my wifes circulon pots, teflon with ridges. Did not go well. I could not control the foaming. Think it was because of the ridges. Went back to my thick stainless steel pot. Works everytime. Also if you spray a little canola oil in the bottom of the pot before adding syrup, it controls the foaming for most of the boiling.

[Russell Lampron]

Can't beat stainless steel. Even heat, easy to clean and no harmful coatings to taint your syrup.

Russ