Science of Cooking: Candy-making Stages | Exploratorium (2024)

FAQs

What are the stages in candy making? ›

There are seven stages of candy making: thread, soft-ball, firm-ball, hard-ball, soft-crack, hard-crack, and caramel. Different types of candy, from fudge to lollipops, need to be cooked to different stages to get the desired results.

In general, candy is made by dissolving sugar into water to create a solution. Granulated sugar, the most common type used in candy-making, is sucrose, a disaccharide molecule made up of glucose and fructose. When you force these two molecules to break apart, a very tasty reaction occurs: caramelization.

There are currently 12,320 total levels in 822 episodes on the HTML5 (mobile) version of Candy Crush Saga, with 90 additional levels on the Windows 10 App. Some players have even more levels they can try out though, due to the constant play-testing Candy Crush periodically does in the game.

Sucrose is a very unique molecule. It is the key to making candy of all different types. Soft, hard, brittle, chewy. The interaction of sucrose with water is key for all of them!

When making glass candy, gummies, or marshmallows, the syrup is cooled down so quickly that no crystals can form at all. Making candies is actually chemistry in action. You manipulate the size of sugar crystals—even if you cannot see them—to produce an array of textures.

In fact, candy might dissolve more slowly in vinegar, since the acetic acid molecules don't dissolve sugar as well as water does. Although your stomach does contain acid, it plays less of a role in digestion than you might think. Acids don't break up components in your food like carbohydrates (such as sugar) or fats.

The aim is to make the 5 steps of cooking – preserving, preparing, cooking, dishing up and washing up – straightforward and consequential.

What are the 5 functions of sugar in baking? ›

Sugar functions in baking as:

Creaming & tenderizing agent: works as an aerator in batter systems. Shelf-life improver: by binding free water and reducing water activity (natural preservative) Freeze-point depression. Texturizer: as a mouthfeel improver.

The hard-crack stage is the highest temperature you are likely to see specified in a candy recipe. At these temperatures, there is almost no water left in the syrup. Drop a little of the molten syrup in cold water and it will form hard, brittle threads that break when bent.

Caramelization is what happens to pure sugar when it reaches 338° F. A few tablespoons of sugar put in a pan and heated will eventually melt and, at 338° F, start to turn brown. At this temperature, the sugar compounds begin to break down and new compounds form.

The last step produces a small stream of remaining syrup called cane mill molasses containing up to 55% (wt.) sucrose and substantial amounts of invert sugar (glucose/fructose mixture) impurities.

Candy Crush is a game of skill. The specific skills required of the user are relatively straightforward in principle, but difficult to implement in practice.

There are 12,500 levels, on Android, iOS, Amazon devices and Facebook versions of the game. You can keep up to date with the number of levels there are, through King's forums. Note that the Windows 10 version has additional 90 levels for a while now.

As a rule of thumb, only make candy when the weather is cool and dry, as the candy will cool faster and reduce the likelihood of crystal formation. Remember, high-humidity days can occur during the winter as well as summer.

temperature that the sugar syrup reaches tells you what the syrup will be like when it cools.

Cooking Sugar

Boiling a mixture of sugar and water does more than simply allow larger volumes of sucrose to dissolve in water. As the temperature of the sugar solution rises, water evaporates and leaves behind the sugar in its molten form. This creates a very concentrated sugar solution.

Is melting candy physical or chemical change? ›

Melting of chocolate: While eating chocolate, the chocolate melts in the mouth. The reason for this is that the chocolate melts from a solid to a liquid state without undergoing any change in its chemical composition. There is no formation of a new chemical substance which makes it a physical change.

That's part of the reason why candy making is so popular in winter; the best climate for making candy has a relative humidity of less than 35%, and cold air usually has less moisture than hot air.

Add a little acid (such as a touch of lemon juice) or corn syrup to the sugar-water mixture before cooking; they help interfere with crystallization.

Supersaturation between 70° and 90°C is the most favorable for crystal formation in a sucrose solution cooked to 112°C. When the syrup is swirled at these temperatures, crystallization takes place in a relatively short period, but the crystals generated are bigger than when the syrup is cooled to a lower temperature.

As you will see, the candy canes in the hot water will dissolve the fastest. The reason hot water dissolves more is due to the fact that it has faster molecules which are spread further apart than the molecules in cold water, oil, or vinegar.

Why do you think sugar dissolves better in hot water than in cold water? The reason why sugar dissolves at a faster rate in hot water has to do with increased molecular motion. The added energy in the hot water causes water molecules to move faster and sucrose molecules to vibrate faster.

To determine whether your sugar syrup has reached the hard-ball stage, drop a spoonful of syrup into very cold water. Reach into the water to form the syrup into a ball. If it forms and holds its shape as a ball, retaining most of its shape as you press it, you've reached the hard-ball stage.

Hard-Ball Stage

At this stage, the syrup will form thick, "ropy" threads as it drips from the spoon. The sugar concentration is rather high now, which means there's less and less moisture in the sugar syrup. A little of this syrup dropped into cold water will form a hard ball.

What is crack stage for candy? ›

Finally, if the candy forms hard, brittle strands that easily break, the candy is at the hard crack stage, between 300°F-310°F. Butter toffee and peanut brittle are examples of candies cooked to this temperature.

Thread Stage (223 to 235 F)

The earliest candy temperature stage is the thread stage. At this temperature, the syrup drips from a spoon and forms thin threads in cold water. Syrup at the thread stage is perfect for candied fruits.