Help with Toffee

[Monami]

HELP! I once made toffee in a City that had an altitude of 2500, now i'm at 7200 above sea level and I can no longer get my toffee to turn out. After research I adjusted the "hard crack" to 298, as opposed to 310 degrees, but no luck. I 've made it the same way for YEARS and the only difference I could think of was the altitude, but that doesn't seem to be the problem. Bought fresh butter and sugar, no luck. When the ingredients get to approx. 240 degrees it "separates" into half a caramel mass and the other half a buttery water liquid. HELP! Is there anyone that can help me with this problem?? Do I need to cut down on the amount of water or butter I use due to the altitude?? Any help would be greatly appreciated. You may email me (Nance) at quasi3@cableone.net

[kuan]

It happens. It will come back together. Turn the heat down and stir gently and often.

[phatch]

Check your thermometer's reading for water boiling point for your current elevation. Compare that to the theoretical boiling point for your elevation (http://www.fetco.com/boilingpoint.htm). This will tell you how accurate your thermometer is at your altitude. Armed with this knowledge, you can make some more tweaks up or down as necessary with the recipe.

Another theoryfor adapting candy recipes is to subtract your thermometer's boiling reading from the standard 212 at sea level. This difference indicates how much to subtract from the recipe's target temperature. This accounts for both elevation and thermometer variation. I haven't personally tried this one yet but have heard it works.

Good luck.

Phil

[Monami]

Originally Posted by kuan

It happens. It will come back together. Turn the heat down and stir gently and often.

Appreciate your reply and help. The ingredients does not come back together, it just gets darker and burns. I have tried turning down the heat and I stir it constantly from the time I start cooking. I've also done the boiling test for my thermometer and adjusted for high altitude. Since so much liquid accumulates, could I just omit the water in the receipe? Thank you again, Nance - quasi3@cableone.net