caramel making help

[disneymom3]

I made caramel earlier today but my recipe does not say how long it should take to set up. I am thinking I may not have had it hot enough afterall and it should be more firm by now. I poured it in the pan 3 hours ago and it is thick but if not what I would call the consistency or firmness I need.

Will it take more time or do I just have some really thick caramel sauce?

 

[Imzadi]

Did you cook it till it got to the "soft ball stage"? I seem to remember on the Food network that various chefs say you have to let chocolate & caramel reach certain stages for each of them to set up.

 

[SwedishMeatball]

Want me to test it for you??

 

[disneymom3]

The cookbook said to heat it to 248 degrees which I did. Even using my candy thermometer. It is still not set but I have figured out that it is a bit warm still. Contemplating putting it in the garage.

Swedish Meatball--thanks for the offer. I know it tastes good I would just like to be able to wrap it in pieces!

Somebody out there must know how to make caramels!?

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

I've made caramels every Christmas - one of my favorite treats!

Without looking at the caramels, I'd guess that they didn't get hot enough for long enough. I've sometimes had that happen to mine, and occasionally I've been able to fix it by heating them up again and letting them get about 5 degrees warmer than the recipe calls for. Sometimes the candy thermometers can be off by a few degrees and that makes a huge difference.

Sometimes that doesn't work, so I either use it as caramel sauce (I thin it out a little with some heavy whipping cream or sweetened condensed milk and heat it up just a little in the thining process), or I stir in some nuts and heat it up warmer and let it turn into a harder candy like peanut brittle. And sometimes I just hand everyone spoons and we dig in to the pan and eat it as caramel on a spoon! It's always yummy, no matter what we do with it.

So I'd say leave the pan overnight and check it again in the morning. If it still hasn't set up, you can then decide what to do with it. You never know, it might just be taking forever to cool off.

Have fun with it!

 

[Imzadi]

I also think you didn't heat it up long enough at 248 degrees. According to the food Network chefs, it's got to heat long enough to form crystals which clump together into a ball called the 'soft ball' stage. As you let the caramel dribble from the spoon during cooking, you can literally see the caramel go first from runny, to gooey, then to a thickish mass that starts to pull away from the sides of the pot and stick to itself.

Haven't done it myself with caramel, but I have with fudge.

 

[EthansMom]

If it's any consolation, I was making peppermint bark and overcooked the white chocolate (it goes from liquid to yuck pretty quickly). So, I took the semi-sweet chocolate I had melted for peppermint bark and threw in some peanuts and raisins for peanut-raisin clusters.

Now, I have to decide if I feel like buying more white chocolate and making peppermint bark tomorrow.

 

[disneymom3]

Yep, I think it didn't get hot for long enough. I poured it in the dish as soon as it hit 248. I have been looking online and a lot of recipes also say NOT to stir whereas the good ole red and white book told me to stir the whole time. I don't know. I have put it into pretty jars which I am tying with ribbon and giving to neighbors as caramel sauce. They were going to get caramels but this is going to have to do. It is darn yummy whatever consistency it is!