HELP Maple Cream grainy

[PFHII]

We have tried unsuccessfully to make maple cream ( without a cream machine) taste is awesome nice and creamy when we put it in containers but after settling a couple days turns to grainy separated goop Please any advise is greatly excepted .

[GeneralStark]

You are going to have to describe your exact method for us to help, but grainy cream is often the result of not effectively cooling the syrup (taffy) after boiling to 232 - 234F.

[PFHII]

We have done it many ways , cooling naturally ( outside in 30 degree weather ) ice bath , freezer to speed up the process until syrup is around 100 degrees . then we have stirred by hand with a wooden spoon, paddle on a drill, and a stand up mixer with a rubber paddle and we have failed with all of these methods usually when we are ready to pour into containers it is already grainy but this last time ( letting it cool down outside) it was nice a creamy when we finished but after letting it sit it got grainy.

[Moser's Maple]

100 is too hot. Needs to be room temp or lower.

[jmayerl]

Best to cool as quickly as possible In an ice water bath. Best results are generally when cooled to 60F

[Jim Brown]

ditto to the two guys who posted above .Cool to 60-70 degrees and during cooling process Don't keep moving the pan around keep it as still as possible

Jim

[PFHII]

Perfect thanks so much that could be it have to try again

[markcasper]

using "seed" in the batch you are stirring has always caused the cream to get grainier for me. Even though all of the publications, books, videos say to use seed to shorten the stirring time, it messes it up. the larger the batch, the greater the chance of failure, at least that is what I have experienced. And then there are some people who think they have wonderful cream, but it isn't because they have never been able to know any different. It is downright velvety and heavenly when it is made perfect, you will want to consume it all, not true if its the least bit grainy.

[maple2]

As the syrup cools,crystals tend to form on top. Stirring these crystals into the batch will act like "seed",making the batch grainy. We use a spray bottle of warm water to melt the crystals while cooling

[SeanD]

I've had good results going down to 70 deg. with the thermometer in the middle of the pig. I've switched to boiling and cooling in the pig itself to cut down on trying to move all that taffy. The outside and bottom are the coolest spots for me bc that's where the ice bath touches it. So, I'll sometimes get pretty big chunks of crystal there. Those are a bit of a pain. I haven't noticed a difference in the cream texture between batches I've used seed and those that I have not, though.

How often do you spritz the top with warm water?

Sean