How to choose a pan for making caramel?
Is there any noticeable difference in taste and texture when making caramel on a non-stick pan versus a normal pan? I have seen a few cooks making caramel on a stainless steel saucepan and others on black frying pans most probably non-stick. But, is there a difference?
Surely, the most annoying thing is cleaning up the mess of caramel afterwards, any fast tips?
Best Answer
You ask about coating, but it is actually not very important. There are other criteria with much higher priority when you are making caramel or other types of candy. The important thing about pan when making caramel is even heating. Especially when making your caramel dry, you cannot afford hot spots, because you cannot stir. But if you are taking the candy into the later caramel stages, even heating becomes important for syrup-started candy too.
You need a responsive pan if you are making caramel. Sadly, the most evenly heating pans are also the least responsive and vice versa. I would never make caramel on a resistive stove in iron, but I use a small enamelled Dutch oven for caramel on my induction plate. A good sandwiched steel with an aluminum core should offer a decent tradeoff between evenness and responsiveness on most stove types.
You also need the correct size pan. If your caramel is less than 1 cm deep, it is very hard to handle without burning it. If it is deeper than 5 cm, there is too much of a heat gradient in the depth. Choose the pan diameter such that your caramel depth will be between 1 and 5 cm roughly.
If you are going to add any kind of liquid to the caramel (or butter), you'll experience lots of foam. You need a deep walled vessel to catch this foam. Use a deep sauce pan or a small pot instead of a frying pan. You want 10 cm wall above the caramel level.
Aside from a seasoned cast iron pan, I haven't experienced a coating adsorbing flavors. PTFE, ceramic, enamel, anodized alu or no coating - none of them matters. Use whatever you have handy. For cleaning, follow Elendil's advice for dissolving the smears in hot water.
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Quick Answer about "How to choose a pan for making caramel?"
I would advise you to choose a saucepan that holds and conducts heat evenly through the ingredients for better results. Consider a pan made of stainless steel since it's a good conductor of heat. Also, go for non-stick pan because it's easy to drizzle out the caramel out of the pan when you're done with the cooking.What type of pan is best for making caramel?
I chose to use my enamel-coated cast-iron pot, but any kind of stainless steel or light-colored pan will work. If you plan to add cream of milk to the caramel after it's done (as you would with an ice cream or caramel sauce), you'll need to be sure to use a large pan as liquid added to caramel will bubble up fiercely.Can I make caramel in a normal pan?
Molten sugar is seriously hot, so have all your equipment to hand with no distractions. I like to use a large, deep nonstick frying pan for dry caramel, but a normal, deep, heavy-based pan is fine.Can you make caramel in non-stick pan?
Use a good quality, heavy-bottomed saucepan when making a caramel. Thin, cheaper cookware heats unevenly and will make your caramel process very difficult. Also, do not use a non-stick pan as it is not ideal for this job. Make sure it's a medium size pan too, as your caramel will likely bubble up during cooking.Can I use a Dutch oven to make caramel?
Step 2: How to make caramel sauce Begin by adding the water and the white granulated sugar to a heavy bottom pot, such as an enameled dutch oven. These kinds of dutch ovens are fantastic you can use them for a variety of tasks.How to Make Caramel (Troubleshooting Guide)
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Answer 2
The only difference I can think of this that some non-stick pans can absorb flavours from whatever you've previously cooked, so you'd need to be careful those didn't affect the flavour of the caramel.
The best way to clean a pot used for making caramel is to fill it with water and put it on the stove to simmer - this will melt and dissolve the sugar allowing easy cleaning.
Answer 3
I wouldn't make caramel in a non-stick pan because the high temperatures ruin the non-stick coating and can release toxins into the food. For the same reason, I never sear anything in a non-stick pan or cook anything above medium-high heat.
I do all my candy-making in stainless steel pots and have never had any issues. Cleaning up caramel is easy. You just run hot water into the pan and it dissolves.
Answer 4
I just tried to make a carmel sauce for my cheese cake and it did not colour, it just went back to lumps of sugar.This is a recipe I have made lots of times and only had problems when using a non stick pan. So I would say that you should not use nonstick pans for caramel.
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