Why did my caramel come out grainy?
I made caramel on my induction cooktop. The temperature was correct, but the caramel texture is grainy, like all of the sugar didn't dissolve properly. Do I need a different thermometer? I used a Wilton clip-on stainless steel mercury thermometer. Or does the cooking time need to be adjusted?
The recipe I am using is: 1cup butter,2 1/4cup brown sugar, dash salt,1cup light corn syrup,1can sweetened condensed milk,1teaspoon vanilla. Melt butter in heavy 3 qt. saucepan. Add brown sugar and salt. Stir until thoroughly combined. Stir in corn syrup and mix well. Gradually add milk stirring constantly. Cook and stir over med. heat until candy reaches 245F remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour into 9x9 pan. Let set 24 hours. Cut into squares, wrap in wax paper.
I am close to sea-level.
Best Answer
I noticed that you're stirring constantly. Generally with candy you want to stir as little as possible, since it causes sugar crystals to form in the syrup. In addition to making the candy grainier, they reduce the overall lifespan- even after the candy has cooled the (larger) crystals will continue to grow, causing the candy to slowly revert back into flavoured sugar.
Once the sugar is fully dissolved, you want to disturb it as little as possible. You will still have to do some stirring, otherwise the milk solids will burn. It'll help a bit to mix in the corn syrup at the same time as the sugar. Corn syrup is an invert sugar, meaning it gets in the way of crystallization and slows it down. If your caramel is still coming out grainy, try adding half a teaspoon of lemon juice. Your candy will be slightly gummier, but the acid in the lemon will inhibit crystallization and reduce the graininess.
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Quick Answer about "Why did my caramel come out grainy?"
Grainy caramel is caused by crystallization, which is easy to avoid (and can also be fixed). Caramel becomes grainy when the sugars crystallize, a process that happens when the melted sugar splashes up onto the cold sides of the pan. It loses its moisture and turns back into a sugar crystal.Can I fix grainy caramel?
Adding a couple tablespoons of water to grainy caramel sauce is the easiest way to make it smooth! Start by adding up to 1/4 cup in a sauce pan along with the sauce and bring to medium-low heat. Stir constantly using a silicone or rubber spoon until the crystals have dissolved and the mixture is smooth.How do you make caramel not grainy?
How do you prevent caramel from turning grainy?Can you fix crystallized caramel?
A "wet" caramel uses water and sugar; it cooks more slowly, but is prone to crystallising. Sometimes, as syrup boils, sugar starts to form back into crystals, which turn hard and cloudy. Crystallisation can be caused by stirring, or a grain of something other than sugar getting into the pan, or often just bad luck.What To Do When Your Caramel Crystallizes | Teaching Cooking Online
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Answer 2
Your thermometer should be fine, the graininess probably has more to do with technique than temperature. There's quite a bit of controversy as to when and how to stir and what to do about sugar crystals that form along the sides of the pan.
Just to be sure about your thermometer, test it with boiling water. If you're at or near sea-level the thermometer should read 100C or 212F. If your thermometer is fine, then we need to take a harder look at technique.
Edit: Looking at your recipe and considering your change in cooktop, I can only see a possible problem if the candy reaches 245F more quickly than you are used to. Try lowering the temp a bit at that stage so that it takes longer for the candy to reach 245F. It may take some getting used to, but induction should perfect for candy making.
It pretty much goes without saying, so I am assuming no considerable change in your ingredients.
Answer 3
I solved the problem of grainy caramel made with condensed milk by: taking the grainy caramel off the cooktop and decanting the entire batch into my high power blender (2200w) for 3 minutes on the highest setting. Not only did the graininess disappear completely but the heat generated by my amazing blender continued to cook my caramel. Now the caramel filling for my banoffee pie is PERFECT and ready for the bananas and whipped cream! I've never before made caramel with condensed milk. Next time I'm just going to use my blender from the beginning.
Answer 4
I own a bakery and made Caramel weekly. I finally purchased an induction burner for the back of the bakery so as to not have to carry boiling sugar down a long corridor. First my staff and then myself experienced repeated failures, i.e. graininess every time we used the induction burner. We finally went back to the gas range and everything went perfectly well. Not once was it possible to reproduce the smooth dark, rich caramel we used at the bakery when using the induction burner. I wish I knew why, I used the same pot, the same technique, same temperature, and ingredients. A mystery till this day but also a very dependable result- unusable grainy mess. I hope you find your answer. If you had previous success making caramel, and changed nothing other than the induction burner it may well be something with the way an induction burning heats the sugar crystals not anything you did incorrectly. I can only speak to my own experience but I will never attempt caramel with an induction burner again. I hope this helps.
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