Science of Candymaking

Candymaking Party

My wife and I ordered Loran Oils off of Amazon to flavor fondant and had a taste testing party to see which flavor of dipped chocolates we should make for Christmas this year.
Loran Oils 
While I was making the fondant, I was curious why my mother's recipe strictly calls out to turn off the heat and pour the mixture at 238 degrees. I did some research to better understand the Science of Candymaking.



The Science:






The basics:
To make candy: you simply add sugar and water, heat it up, and cool it down. This is the basic process to make lollipops, fudges, or even English Toffee. The difference is the temperature the mixture reaches, how fast it is cooled down, and how much you mix/stir it.


Adding sugar until it is saturated. Heating up the mixture allows more sugar to be in solution. When it cooks, crystals start to form. By stirring and cooling it down quickly the crystals aren't allowed to grow very large.


Heat up to:


Stage-1 230 and 235. When quickly cooled, it forms a liquid syrup that is good for pouring over ice cream or decorating pastries.

Stage-2 235 and 240. When quickly cooled, the mixture transforms into a soft ball. This stage is good for making fondants and fudge.


Stage-3 245 and 250. When quickly cooled, the mixture transforms into a firm mass, This is the stage that is good for making caramels.


Stage-4 250 and 265. When quickly cooled, the mixture forms into a hard elastic mass. This stage is for making marshmallows, gummies, and rock candy.


Stage-5 270 and 290. When quickly cooled, this stage forms hard flexible strings. Think of pulling saltwater taffy and butterscotch.


Stage-6 300 and 310. When quickly cooled, this stage forms into a hard brittle mass. This stage is for making peanut brittle, English toffee, or lollipops.