A Brief Discussion of Principles of Candy Making

ing a string in a concentrated cane sugar solution, in which case the sugar is deposited upon the string in crystals gradually increasing in size. In making candy in the home we aim to keep our candy from crystallizing (graining we sometimes call it), else aim to obtain very small crystals, crystals too small to be separately felt. Except in the case of a few simple candies made from confec- tioners' sugar, all candies are cooked. In cooking sugar we may use moist or dry heat. In order to understand thoroughly the principles involved in candy' making, it will be necessary to know the effect of these two forms of heat upon the sugar ordinarily used in candy making, or cane sugar. In order to determine the effect of dry heat upon this sugar the following experiment is rec- ommended. Brittle Candies. Take one-half cup sugar and melt over the fire in a sauce pan, stirring constantly to prevent burning. This should melt completely and be left over the fire with constant stirring until the color just changes, but the material is not burned. This can be poured over whole or crushed peanuts to form peanut brittle. Cocoanut or any other nuts may be substituted, or hot water may be added in sufficient quantities to dissolve this melted sugar and the whole kept for flavoring as caramel. It must be remembered in adding any liquid to the hot melted sugar that the temperature of the melted mass is very high and any cold liquid suddenly intro- duced will tend to harden the mass and make it quite difficult to remove. If the melted material is poured out without dilution it should form a hard, clear cake. This melted sugar is the basis of a group of candies called brittles. In these candies the sugar is melted, preferably in a granite pan, flavored and poured, usually over nuts. While melt- ing, a metal spoon must be used to stir the mass, as the temperature reached is sufficiently high to burn a wooden one. If the back of the spoon is used for the stirring the half-melted sugar does not cake in the bowl and cause trouble. When is the Candy suficiently cooked? By far the greater number of our candies are prepared by means of the action of moist heat on sugar. They are simply so- lutions of sugar and water with various forms of flavoring added, boiled until this solution reaches a definite concentration or consistency. This consistency may be determined in various ways, 2 , by (1) the length of time of cooking, (2) the way in which the syrup drops from the spoon, (3) the consistency of the mass it forms when. cooled in cold water. These tests as generally used are most inaccurate. Providing we start with the same proportions of sugar and water, the concentration of our solution must depend upon the amount of evaporation. This is not dependent solely upon the length of time of cooking, but is influenced by S such factors as the amount of surface exposed and the intensity of the heat applied; therefore the first test above is most inaccurate. The tests depending upon the way the syrup drops from the spoon and the consistency of the mass when cooled in water, while more accurate than the above, still vary considerably in the hands of different experimenters, and in the latter case especially are de- r pendent upon the temperature of the water. Far more important than this, however, is the loose way in which these tests are ordinarily stated. Looking over the recipes listed in two columns of a popular magazine it was quite interesting to note the directions for determining when the candy was done. Nine of the candies were practically the same, cream candies, with flavors of different kinds added. From the nine in these two columns the directions were to cook in one case until it clung when dropped into cold water, in two cases to soft ball, in one case to bubble, in three cases until it threaded, and in two cases which were cooked according to time, the one with the larger proportion of water was to be cooked five minutes and the one with the less water, therefore theoretically needing less cooking, was to be cooked for ten minutes. This is a fair example of the usual accuracy of recipes. We need a greater degree of standardization which we can get only by the development of general principles. Each kind of candy is not a law unto itself but is one of a few general groups. In each group the proportions within limits are the same, and each should be cooked to approximately the same concentration. Much the simplest and most accurate method for testing candy or any syrup is to use an ordinary chemical thermometer. If the bulb of the thermometer is immersed in the boiling solution it will indicate the temperature at which that solution boils. Now we know that as the concentration of the sugar in the solution in- creases, the temperature at which that solution boils is raised. There- fore reading the temperature gives us a definite measure of the concentration of the solution. The advantages of the use of the thermometer are that it is easier, more accurate, and none of the material needs to be lost. Thermometers-Where to get them and how to use them. Regular candy thermometers or an ordinary chemical thermometer can usually be purchased, or ordered for you by any hardware or drug store. These come graduated either in Faren- heit or Centigrade scale. Those graduated to 500 F or 300 C will be found most useful for general household purposes, though the graduations need not extend so high for candy work. In using the thermometer, the bulb must be completely immersed in the boiling solution, but should not touch the bottom of the vessel. The thermometers with milk glass rather than the paper scale are to be preferred. This is a delicate instrument, so should be handled carefully. If held wrong end up there is danger of hav- ing the mercury separate, in which case the thermometer will register inaccurately. The ordinary household tests for candy with the corresponding temperatures are given below: F C Small thread .......................... 215 ° 102° Large thread .......................... 2170 1030 Pearl ............................... 220 ° 105 ° Large pearl .......................... 2220 1060 The blow ............................. 230 ° 110 ° The feather ........................... 232 ° 111 ° Soft ball.............................. 2380 1130 Hard ball.......... .................. 248 ° 120 ° Small crack............................ 290 ° 143 ° Crack.............................. 3160 1550 Caramel............................ 3600 1750 Candies made from sugar with addition of water. The obtaining of candy without crystals, or with very small crystals, is a problem of sugar chemistry, and if this subject is thoroughly understood the whole question of candy making is simplified. When we want to make candy which will not crystallize we, in the home, use cane sugar and add vinegar. If enough vinegar is added it will never grain or crystallize, and furthermore, if the usual amount for pull candy is added it will not cream. Effect of moist heat on sugar. This brings us to a consideration of our second topic or the effect of moist heat on sugar. We find that moist heat splits up cane sugar, forming from it two simpler sugars, glucose and fruc- 4 tose. The relation between these three sugars is that cane sugar with the aid of heat and water splits up into fructose and glucose. Mixtures of equal amounts of glucose and fructose, such as are formed from cane sugar, are called invert sugar. Invert sugar crystallizes with great difficulty and if at all, in very small crystals. It has been found by experiment that if acid is added to the boiling sugar solution it hastens the change from cane into invert sugar. We make use of this principle in the making of cream candies, candies with very small imperceptible crystals, and those candies which contain no crystals at all, as taffys, caramels, etc. The acids ordinarily used in the household are vinegar and cream of tartar. Vinegar is usually used in making taffy because we like the flavor, and also the danger of too much acid is not so great here. The per cent of acid in our vinegars varies so much that we cannot use it with any certainty of getting a definite quan- tity of acid. With cream of tartar it is different. It is a solid and the per cent of acid present is fairly constant. So in all candies where a definite proportion of acid is important, cream of tartar should be used. As the whole point in adding acid is to obtain a certain proportion of invert sugar in your solution, it is possible to omit the acid if you substitute the requisite amount of invert sugar or glucose which behaves in the same way. We do this in those candies to which we add glucose, corn syrup, molasses, honey, and even brown sugar has a certain small per cent of invert sugar left in. This is the plan followed almost entirely by the manufacturer, as in this way he can control his result more accurately, and also because glucose is cheaper than cane sugar. This is perfectly justifiable in case the glucose used is of pure quality, and would be more used in the home if it were possible to get a form of glucose or invert sugar which would not affect the flavor of the product.

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