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Caramelizing Sugar

post #1 of 8
11/11/07 at 11:25am
Thread Starter 
There I was cooking the sugar over medium heat trying "until an amber caramel forms" and all was going well when all of a sudden it started to turn to granules again.

What happened? It was a liquid.
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post #2 of 8
11/11/07 at 11:36am
Most likely you stirred in a sugar grain from the pan wall which restarted crystalization. Many instructions will include brushing the walls of the pan with water to keep this from happening.

The sugar pros will be along shortly to supply a better answer.
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post #3 of 8
11/11/07 at 12:04pm
Bwaaaaaaahahah not a sugar pro but you are right in advising that you keep brushing the sides down with a wet pastry brush...unless you're lazy like me, and when I make flan I just cook my sugar til it turns amber, remove from the heat source (it continues to cook for a little) and then pour into my flan mold.

at home , we didn't know anything about brushing sides with with brushes...we were dessert comandos man! DO OR DIE MAVENS OF DESSERT!

Bwaaaaaaaaaaaahahaha

that was before I learned all about "STUFF" in school..lol
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post #4 of 8
11/11/07 at 12:50pm
if you're making a small amount you could try it this way. I make brittle all the time and when I make it I scale out the sugar and other things, warm up the nuts ,and use a heavy cooks skillet about 14 " and slowly add sugar until it gets liquid stiring with a spoon, add more when its liquidy until all the sugar is in. then when the sugar starts to smoke (you have to have good eyes) take it off the flame and put in your nuts. spread it on silpat of wax paper (if your makeing caramel for sauce. it's the time to add cream butter and flavors.
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post #5 of 8
11/11/07 at 2:17pm
Thread Starter 
It must have been the granules on the side of the pot. I did start with the brush but it looked like I wasn't actually doing anything except making my brush sticky with sugar. I figured I had enough in the recipe anyway and didn't need what was sticking to the side of the pan. OK. Live and learn, die and forget it all. Next time I'll brush to the bitter end!
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post #6 of 8
11/11/07 at 6:57pm
I'm no expert...but I use a teaspoon of white vinegar in the pan heated up before adding the sugar (and bit of water). The vinegar is supposed to keep the sugar from re-crystallizing. I also use a lid which aids in keeping those sides clean ;)




good luck,
dan
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post #7 of 8
11/11/07 at 7:01pm
A pasty chef friend of mine once recommended this when I was caramelizing sugar: instead of the brush method, just drop a lid over the pot, with a crack of space open. That way, steam could get out but also keep any sugar from crystallizing. Worked wonders....:roll:
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post #8 of 8
11/12/07 at 7:25am
Ditto that, dan .... have never had a problem with crystalization using the vinegar and lid method :)
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