In article >,
jmcquown > wrote:

> On 10/15/2013 10:25 PM, Nancy2 wrote:
> > Get a reasonably good quality candy thermometer. It's required, especially
> > for a novice candy maker.
> >
> > My toffee recipe says to cook to soft crack stage which off hand I don't
> > know what that is without checking the
> > recipe, but my thermometer is marked "soft crack," hard crack," etc.
> >
> > N.
> >
> Crack stages are typically gauged by drizzling a little of the cooked
> sugar mixture into cold water. You know you've hit hard crack if it
> separates into threads you can "crack". The cold water test also works
> for things like fudge for the gauging soft or hard ball stage - does it
> flatten slightly or hold it's shape? I'm not astute enough to gauge
> things that way. Grandma knew all about it.
>
> I am not my grandmother. For a long time I made batches of candy
> every year. Peanut brittle, almond toffee, fudge. I invested in a
> candy thermometer.
>
> Jill

I am my grandfather, but unfortunately it was my grandmother who did the
cooking. Rather than spend the money, cheap as they may be, on a candy
thermometer that will spend its life in a drawer until something falls
on it and breaks it, I just used my digital probe thermometer, the same
one I use for roasts and everything else, the two or three times I've
ever made candy. It seemed to work just fine.

--
Mark