[Fluens]

Hi all, I have been recently playing around with making hard candy. Unfortunately I have no been successful with getting the handy to actually become hard.
I am using a candy thermometer and it is accurate. I've even tried cooking the candy to past the hard ball stage (it caramelised) and still it will not set.
I am not overly sure why it is not working and am hoping that someone could post some suggestions.
The only issues I could find might be that recently we have been having fairly high humidity where I live.

The recipe is 1 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 tsp cream of tartar. Then dissolve it all, boil it slowly to 150�� degrees. Take off the heat and work in flavours/colours and work as normal. Then dust in a fine sugar.

If anyone has nay idea of what i can change or what could be going wrong, it would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers, Rob.

 

[dcompton]

I haven't made candy for years, but when I read your post my first thought was that it had to get to hard crack stage. I found this site, and was amazed that my aging brain cells could recall that bit of no longer useful information.

If it still won't harden, I would guess your syrup proportions are wrong, and would suggest trying another recipe.

The humidity might be the problem, but I would think that would cause surface stickiness more than total failure to harden. However, that could be wrong. My grandmother always said that divinity would not cook properly if the humidity was too high, so it might be a factor in all candy making.

We surely have much more accomplished cooks on here than I am who will know the answer to that.

Candy Temperature Guide - Stages of Cooked Sugar Syrups for Candymaking

 

[JKuhns7448]

The recipe proportions are off. Try 1/3 cup of water and 1/8 tsp cream of tartar. Too much water will make the candy soft no matter the temperature, and you don't need a lot of cream of tartar...it's really just to keep the candy clear. Also check your flavoring amounts. It shouldn't be more than a teaspoon for this recipe. Do try to make it when the humidity levels are lower. I'd say no higher than 40%.

Good luck!

Jen

 

[JKuhns7448]

The recipe proportions are off. Try 1/3 cup of water and 1/8 tsp cream of tartar. Too much water will make the candy soft no matter the temperature, and you don't need a lot of cream of tartar...it's really just to keep the candy clear. Also check your flavoring amounts. It shouldn't be more than a teaspoon for this recipe. Do try to make it when the humidity levels are lower. I'd say no higher than 40%.

Good luck!

Jen