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Step 2Candy Making Time!
~ Prepare all items before you start. Dust the cookie sheet with the powdered sugar, and sprinkle a generous amount of the Citric Acid on the sugar.
~Combine Sugar, Water, and Corn Syrup, in the saucepan. Place pan over Medium heat. Stir gently and well to prevent splashing on the sides. Sugar crystals might form on the sides of the pan. If so, wipe down the sides of the pan with a damp pastry brush. Even one crystal can encourage growth of more. As soon as the syrup starts to boil, STOP stirring. At this point, you have dissolved the crystal structure of the sugar. Stirring or other agitation is one of the many factors that can encourage the fructose and glucose molecules in your syrup to rejoin and form sucrose—crystals of sugar. It needs to be smooth. That's also why it's important to use the Corn Syrup. Corn Syrup acts as an "interfering agent" in this and many other candy recipes. It contains long chains of glucose molecules that tend to keep the sucrose molecules in the syrup from crystallizing.
~Here comes the hard part. This is a SLOW process. Be patient and whatever you do, DO NOT turn the heat up. Medium is perfect for this. You might be tempted to, but trust me. It'll get there. This is a good time to tell the kids to go play.
~ Place the candy thermometer in the pan, being careful not to let it touch the bottom or sides, and let the syrup boil without stirring .
~ While the syrup is happily bubbling away, prepare the Baking Soda. Measure out your flavoring. (We're making Orange flavored Pop Rocks.)
~ Remove from heat when it gets to about 305°F. By now, there is almost no water left in the syrup. Let the syrup cool to about 275°F and add your flavoring, Baking Soda, and food coloring. Stir quickly and make sure it's as mixed in as you can get it. If you add it as soon as you take it off the heat, most of the flavor will just cook off.
~ Pour out onto your cookie sheet. It can be any shape. Try to get globs and dollops of the candy. Once it's poured, sprinkle more Citric Acid on the top of the candy.
~ Allow to cool completely.
TIP: Candy can be a fickle master. It's best to not make candy on a rainy or humid day. Cooking candy syrup to the desired temperature means achieving a certain ratio of sugar to moisture in the candy. On a humid day, once the candy has cooled to the point where it is no longer evaporating moisture into the air, it can actually start reabsorbing moisture from the air. This can make the resulting candy softer than it is supposed to be. That’s why dry days are recommended for candy making, although the effects of humidity can be somewhat counterbalanced by cooking the candy to the upper end of the appropriate temperature stage. (i.e. hard-crack stage is 300°F-310°F)
NOTE: WORKING WITH CANDY LIKE THIS IS ESSENTIALLY WORKING WITH NAPALM. BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN HEATING AND HANDLING IT. MOLTEN SUGAR WILL CONTINUE TO BURN YOU! IF YOU GET SOME ON YOU, RUN COLD WATER OVER IT FOR SEVERAL MINUTES.
~Combine Sugar, Water, and Corn Syrup, in the saucepan. Place pan over Medium heat. Stir gently and well to prevent splashing on the sides. Sugar crystals might form on the sides of the pan. If so, wipe down the sides of the pan with a damp pastry brush. Even one crystal can encourage growth of more. As soon as the syrup starts to boil, STOP stirring. At this point, you have dissolved the crystal structure of the sugar. Stirring or other agitation is one of the many factors that can encourage the fructose and glucose molecules in your syrup to rejoin and form sucrose—crystals of sugar. It needs to be smooth. That's also why it's important to use the Corn Syrup. Corn Syrup acts as an "interfering agent" in this and many other candy recipes. It contains long chains of glucose molecules that tend to keep the sucrose molecules in the syrup from crystallizing.
~Here comes the hard part. This is a SLOW process. Be patient and whatever you do, DO NOT turn the heat up. Medium is perfect for this. You might be tempted to, but trust me. It'll get there. This is a good time to tell the kids to go play.
~ Place the candy thermometer in the pan, being careful not to let it touch the bottom or sides, and let the syrup boil without stirring .
~ While the syrup is happily bubbling away, prepare the Baking Soda. Measure out your flavoring. (We're making Orange flavored Pop Rocks.)
~ Remove from heat when it gets to about 305°F. By now, there is almost no water left in the syrup. Let the syrup cool to about 275°F and add your flavoring, Baking Soda, and food coloring. Stir quickly and make sure it's as mixed in as you can get it. If you add it as soon as you take it off the heat, most of the flavor will just cook off.
~ Pour out onto your cookie sheet. It can be any shape. Try to get globs and dollops of the candy. Once it's poured, sprinkle more Citric Acid on the top of the candy.
~ Allow to cool completely.
TIP: Candy can be a fickle master. It's best to not make candy on a rainy or humid day. Cooking candy syrup to the desired temperature means achieving a certain ratio of sugar to moisture in the candy. On a humid day, once the candy has cooled to the point where it is no longer evaporating moisture into the air, it can actually start reabsorbing moisture from the air. This can make the resulting candy softer than it is supposed to be. That’s why dry days are recommended for candy making, although the effects of humidity can be somewhat counterbalanced by cooking the candy to the upper end of the appropriate temperature stage. (i.e. hard-crack stage is 300°F-310°F)
NOTE: WORKING WITH CANDY LIKE THIS IS ESSENTIALLY WORKING WITH NAPALM. BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN HEATING AND HANDLING IT. MOLTEN SUGAR WILL CONTINUE TO BURN YOU! IF YOU GET SOME ON YOU, RUN COLD WATER OVER IT FOR SEVERAL MINUTES.
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