[felixe the dog]

I keep finding your posts, so here are some more answers.

Firstly I am answering all your questions in degrees celcius - You can do the conversions yourself. I have an aversion to imperial measurements (see below!)

Ok, here we go.

Your 3:1 ratio of isomalt/decomalt (from here on in referred to as isomalt) to water is sufficient, however it is not a mandatory rule. You only need enough water to "wet" the isomalt to the consistency of wet sand. If you add too much water and the batch takes too long to cook, the isomalt will release its water and become brittle to use. In humid locations you should cook the isomalt from a dry state without using water. Remember - it caramelises at over 200 degrees celcius so if you are diligent you are not going to burn it.

Next - add your colour - whatever it may be at around 140 degrees celcius. You add colour at this stage so there is sufficient time in the cooking process to drive off the moisture from the colour.

Finally - cook the isomalt to 170 degrees celcius, then plunge the pan into cold water to stop the cooking, let it "stand" on a cloth for a few minutes to settle so you don't pour in bubbles from the cooking process into your casting.

It sounds to me that because you are adding the colour at the final stage of the cooking process that the moisture from the white gel is not being "driven off" evaporated. If this is the case the moisture will make the sugar sticky even though it sets.

Store all your pieces in airtight containers with a de-humidifying agent.

Isomalt will harden as soon as it goes cold and is usually warmed to around 80-90 degrees celcius to work with it - make it pliable to manipulate.

P.S My experience is I have been using it for 9 years, my last batch I used for sugarwork was 40kg (no typo!)