Maple Cream - FAIL ???

[wmick]

Hi Folks -
My first attempt at maple cream failed.. and I need some advice.....
First thing I did was google some instructions from some cooking site.. (which may have been my biggest mistake) Should have come here first.
At the end, I do have a product that is Creamy in Colour,.... Quite smooth and tasty, but did not "Set up"... it is more pourable than spreadable...

This is what I did.... Please tell me what I should have done... Thanks

1. Put an empty pot in an ice bath.
2. Heated 1.5 qts of medium syrup up to 235 F without stirring.
3. Poured the 235 deg syrup into the empty pot in the ice bath.
4. Waited, without stirring, for the syrup to go down to 100 F
5. Removed pot from ice bath and began stirring...
5B - I actually used a small paint mixer like the image, in my dewalt drill, at very low speed, as to not whip too much air into the product.
6. Product went creamy coloured at about 45 minutes, but never set up... and never went from shiny to dull. (as the instructions said should happen in about 1/2hr) I gave up after about 1.5 hours...

mixer.jpg

[ecolbeck]

I have found these factsheets from Cornell very helpful. I believe that the invert sugar levels are important. I would avoid pouring the product into a different pan to cool. I would cool it closer to 70 degrees or so (factsheet will say).

https://www.nnyagdev.org/maplefactsh...e%20Cream1.pdf

[wmick]

Thank You !
That is some detailed instruction...
I did pretty much everything wrong.... Didn't measure invert sugar... Didn't calibrate thermometer. etc etc...

But the biggest variance, I believe, is that I started stirring at 100 deg... Cornell is suggesting 45-75....

I wonder if that was my problem??

[ToadHill]

Most likely it was due to invert sugar levels being to high. A little bit of invert helps to make the cream smooth, but to much and it won't set up. You should calibrate your thermometer and then boil to 22-24 above the boiling point of water. 22 for softer cream and 24 for stiffer cream. Early season lighter syrups tend to be lower in invert and later season darker syrups tend to be higher. Also, while cooling to lower temps is good, it isn't an absolute requirement. That being said, the faster you cool it and the lower you go the smoother the cream will be. Just don't agitate it or let any kind of breeze blow over it while cooling. And best to cool it in the same container you boiled it in. The minute you stop cooking it anything you do can induce crystal growth and if done before you begin stirring will cause the cream to be grainy. Good luck.

[wmick]

Most likely it was due to invert sugar levels being to high. A little bit of invert helps to make the cream smooth, but to much and it won't set up. You should calibrate your thermometer and then boil to 22-24 above the boiling point of water. 22 for softer cream and 24 for stiffer cream. Early season lighter syrups tend to be lower in invert and later season darker syrups tend to be higher. Also, while cooling to lower temps is good, it isn't an absolute requirement. That being said, the faster you cool it and the lower you go the smoother the cream will be. Just don't agitate it or let any kind of breeze blow over it while cooling. And best to cool it in the same container you boiled it in. The minute you stop cooking it anything you do can induce crystal growth and if done before you begin stirring will cause the cream to be grainy. Good luck.

I've seen this "invert sugar" thing popping up anytime I see something posted about candy making, etc.. but never looked into it.. till now..
Just assumed it was some hi-tech testing equipment that I wouldn't want to get into at my level of experience...

Just learning now, I can use a cheap diabetes tester, and my coworker said he'd give me one of his spares..

Looks like my wife's kitchen may be come a laboratory... till I get this right...

Thanks a bunch.

[ToadHill]

Just a word of caution. Not all glucometers are the same. Steve Childs did some research and found that some were prone to large errors. He recommended a specific make and model. I don't recall what it was. Maybe someone else can chime in.

[wmick]

Not good to hear, if you have diabetes... I will do some googling...

[Bruce L]

Another thought is your thermometer,do you have another one to compare it with,or at least should boil water to set a point for reference where your butter would be the right consistency.My temperature is always 231.7 ,sometimes will need thinning down as it is going through the butter machine.