Caramelizing sugar -- can it be done without a fire extinguisher/chisel?

Karen MacInerney said:

First, happy holidays, everyone! Thanks for all the recipes, tips, and
-- most of all -- the extra helpings of humor on the side. Whenever I
feel the need to snort some coffee (or whatever it is I'm drinking)
through my nose, I know right where to go.

Now, for the problem at hand...

For years, all of my attempts to caramelize sugar have ended up in a
sticky, granular mess, often accompanied by a piquant scorched aroma.
The last time I tried it was about two years ago; my husband came
rushing into the kitchen with a fire extinguisher, and I won't tell you
how long it took to scrape/sand it all out of the pot.

I've learned a quick and easy 'cheat' with flan that I love -- I press
brown sugar into the bottoms of the ramekins before pouring in the
custard -- but I've got another recipe I'm planning to try where that
just won't work.

Any tips? I'm not too excited at the prospect of another bout with the
steel wool. Or the fire department, for that matter.

Thanks! And remember... the key to holiday survival is to breathe...
and eat lots and lots of fudge.

I have never had any problem with it. I put white sugar in a (stainless)
sauce pan, heat it over medium heat stirring constantly. The sugar starts
to melt slowly and unevenly, and then all of a sudden it's almost
completely melted but a little lumpy and darkens a little.. Keep stirring
and it begins to darken very quickly. When it gets to be straw coloured add
a little water....carefully and stir. It bubbles up. Pour into ramekins and
then dump as much of the excess as possible before it hardens in the pan.
Add hot water to the pan or immerse it in hot water to dissolve any residue
or else you have a hard mess to clean up.

"Karen MacInerney" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

First, happy holidays, everyone! Thanks for all the recipes, tips, and
-- most of all -- the extra helpings of humor on the side. Whenever I
feel the need to snort some coffee (or whatever it is I'm drinking)
through my nose, I know right where to go.

Now, for the problem at hand...

For years, all of my attempts to caramelize sugar have ended up in a
sticky, granular mess, often accompanied by a piquant scorched aroma.
The last time I tried it was about two years ago; my husband came
rushing into the kitchen with a fire extinguisher, and I won't tell you
how long it took to scrape/sand it all out of the pot.

I've learned a quick and easy 'cheat' with flan that I love -- I press
brown sugar into the bottoms of the ramekins before pouring in the
custard -- but I've got another recipe I'm planning to try where that
just won't work.

Any tips? I'm not too excited at the prospect of another bout with the
steel wool. Or the fire department, for that matter.

Thanks! And remember... the key to holiday survival is to breathe...
and eat lots and lots of fudge.

Karen MacInerney
Kitchen experimenter, family chauffeur, and culinary mystery author
www.karenmacinerney.com

i have seen tiny home blow torches sold in cheffy type shops for this
purpose.....

yum

c

Mamma Mia said:

"Karen MacInerney" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

First, happy holidays, everyone! Thanks for all the recipes, tips, and
-- most of all -- the extra helpings of humor on the side. Whenever I
feel the need to snort some coffee (or whatever it is I'm drinking)
through my nose, I know right where to go.

Now, for the problem at hand...

For years, all of my attempts to caramelize sugar have ended up in a
sticky, granular mess, often accompanied by a piquant scorched aroma.
The last time I tried it was about two years ago; my husband came
rushing into the kitchen with a fire extinguisher, and I won't tell you
how long it took to scrape/sand it all out of the pot.

I've learned a quick and easy 'cheat' with flan that I love -- I press
brown sugar into the bottoms of the ramekins before pouring in the
custard -- but I've got another recipe I'm planning to try where that
just won't work.

Any tips? I'm not too excited at the prospect of another bout with the
steel wool. Or the fire department, for that matter.

Thanks! And remember... the key to holiday survival is to breathe...
and eat lots and lots of fudge.

Karen MacInerney
Kitchen experimenter, family chauffeur, and culinary mystery author
www.karenmacinerney.com

i have seen tiny home blow torches sold in cheffy type shops for this
purpose.....

Well sheeeyit you can go to any friggin' hardware store and buy a
little Bernz-O-Matic blowtorch. Probably cheaper than in those faggy
"cheffy type shops" of which you write.

Mamma, the problem is, I'm not trying to caramelize it on top of a
creme brulee -- I'm trying to do it as a liquid in a pan. On a
recalcitrant stove.

Although the blow torch sounds kind of fun, now that I think of it...
😉

Karen MacInerney
Kitchen experimenter, family chauffeur, and culinary mystery author
www.karenmacinerney.com

Karen MacInerney said:

Mamma, the problem is, I'm not trying to caramelize it on top of a
creme brulee -- I'm trying to do it as a liquid in a pan. On a
recalcitrant stove.

Yep. The torch is fun, but it has limited application.

Here are some steps that will make it easier.

Add the sugar to the pan with about 1/4-1/2 water by volume
and stir a little to combine. The amount doesn't have to be
exact. The water will slow down the process but it will make
things easier. Caramel training wheels, so to speak.

Turn up the heat to full. When it begins to boil, cover it.
Don't stir, and wait about 3 minutes. The cover will
hold in steam and prevent crystallization of the sugar.

Take the lid off and watch it. In a few minutes turn
the heat down to medium. The higher the heat the
quicker it will go from light amber to burnt, so
dropping the heat will help avoid burning.

When it gets a bit darker, turn the heat off. There will
be some carry over heat but the darkening will slow
down. The key is to stop in time.

What you do with it depends on what your making. Add
some cream and you get caramel sauce (watch the
spatter). Leave it as is and it will harden to a
glasslike texture. Perfect for making windows for
your gingerbread house.

To clean up, put some water back in your now empty
pan along with the utensils you used. Bring it to
a boil and stir a bit and the sugar will eventually
dissolve away.

Practice makes perfect so get right in there. Sugar
is cheap.

--
Reg email: RegForte (at) (that free MS email service) (dot) com

"Reg" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Here are some steps that will make it easier.

Add the sugar to the pan with about 1/4-1/2 water by volume
and stir a little to combine. The amount doesn't have to be
exact. The water will slow down the process but it will make
things easier. Caramel training wheels, so to speak.

I was going to suggest the same thing - I woldn't ever try to caramalise dry
sugar in a pan. Even just a little water, just enough to wet all the grains
will make the job much easier, and won't slow it down much at all - helps
everything work evenly.

Quoted message said:

To clean up, put some water back in your now empty
pan along with the utensils you used. Bring it to
a boil and stir a bit and the sugar will eventually
dissolve away.

Exactly! A great way to clean pans in lost of situations. Just dumping how
water into the pan immediately after pouring out the caramel sugar will get
most of the remainder into solution very quickly. Leaving the pan on the
side with this water in there while you finish what you are doing should
have near all of it dissolved anyway.

Shaun aRe

Karen MacInerney said:

First, happy holidays, everyone! Thanks for all the recipes, tips, and
-- most of all -- the extra helpings of humor on the side. Whenever I
feel the need to snort some coffee (or whatever it is I'm drinking)
through my nose, I know right where to go.

Now, for the problem at hand...

For years, all of my attempts to caramelize sugar have ended up in a
sticky, granular mess, often accompanied by a piquant scorched aroma.
The last time I tried it was about two years ago; my husband came
rushing into the kitchen with a fire extinguisher, and I won't tell you
how long it took to scrape/sand it all out of the pot.

I've learned a quick and easy 'cheat' with flan that I love -- I press
brown sugar into the bottoms of the ramekins before pouring in the
custard -- but I've got another recipe I'm planning to try where that
just won't work.

Any tips? I'm not too excited at the prospect of another bout with the
steel wool. Or the fire department, for that matter.

Thanks! And remember... the key to holiday survival is to breathe...
and eat lots and lots of fudge.

Karen MacInerney
Kitchen experimenter, family chauffeur, and culinary mystery author
www.karenmacinerney.com

I put my white sugar in a saucepan. I turn the stove on to around medium
or low-medium, and place the pan on the burner. Some folk recommend
adding water at the start, but I don't do that. Sugar is a good
indicator of the heat transfer of your pan and whether you need a new
one or not.

The sugar will start to melt, first in the pattern of the burner (if
stove is electric).

So your difficulties are either you are using too high a heat or your
pan has hot spots. Or maybe it's the brown sugar, I have no exprience
melting brown sugar so I can't be sure about it. But any white granular
sugar melts almost as easily as butter (it just takes longer and
requires more heat to reach a melting temp), and requires little or no
effort.

I suggest you use a lower heat and stir frequently (that should solve
the problem of too much heat or hot spots).

I just put the sugar in a pot, make sure it is kinda level (not in a
pile, kinda spread out) and apply medium-low to medium heat, I stir in
other stuff after the sugar melts. Mostly stuff like Irish Whiskey to
make a hard sauce for desserts.

Thanks for all the tips. I have hope!

Maybe I have been using too high a heat. I saw somewhere a
recommendation that you shake the pan instead of stirring it... anyone
tried this?

Karen MacInerney
Kitchen experimenter, family chauffeur, and culinary mystery author
www.karenmacinerney.com

Dave Smith said:

I have never had any problem with it. I put white sugar in a (stainless)
sauce pan, heat it over medium heat stirring constantly. The sugar starts
to melt slowly and unevenly, and then all of a sudden it's almost
completely melted but a little lumpy and darkens a little.. Keep stirring
and it begins to darken very quickly. When it gets to be straw coloured add
a little water....carefully and stir. It bubbles up. Pour into ramekins and
then dump as much of the excess as possible before it hardens in the pan.
Add hot water to the pan or immerse it in hot water to dissolve any residue
or else you have a hard mess to clean up.

I'm with you, Dave, on this one. The MIL is the expert in this house, I
have watched her do it often 😉 - and she does it pretty much as you
describe. One extra thing though, she adds a few tablespoons of butter
after she adds the water.... We usually use it for caramelizing baby
potatoes - very yum. As for the pan - I just soak it in water for a few
hours - all the stuff melts off and it's easy to clean.

--
Cheers
Cathy(xyz)

On Wed 21 Dec 2005 09:22:00a, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it cathyxyz?

Quoted message said:

Dave Smith said:

I have never had any problem with it. I put white sugar in a
(stainless) sauce pan, heat it over medium heat stirring constantly.
The sugar starts to melt slowly and unevenly, and then all of a sudden
it's almost completely melted but a little lumpy and darkens a little..
Keep stirring and it begins to darken very quickly. When it gets to be
straw coloured add a little water....carefully and stir. It bubbles up.
Pour into ramekins and then dump as much of the excess as possible
before it hardens in the pan. Add hot water to the pan or immerse it in
hot water to dissolve any residue or else you have a hard mess to clean
up.

I'm with you, Dave, on this one. The MIL is the expert in this house, I
have watched her do it often 😉 - and she does it pretty much as you
describe. One extra thing though, she adds a few tablespoons of butter
after she adds the water.... We usually use it for caramelizing baby
potatoes - very yum. As for the pan - I just soak it in water for a few
hours - all the stuff melts off and it's easy to clean.

Cathy, how do you make the caramelized baby potatoes?

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
_____________________________________________

A chicken in every pot is a *LOT* of chicken!

Karen MacInerney said:

Mamma, the problem is, I'm not trying to caramelize it on top of a
creme brulee -- I'm trying to do it as a liquid in a pan. On a
recalcitrant stove.

Although the blow torch sounds kind of fun, now that I think of it...

Also handy for Baked Alaska for 500. Just put the baker and a
blowtorch in the freezer and away you go 🙂

John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

projectile vomit chick said:

Mamma Mia said:

i have seen tiny home blow torches sold in cheffy type shops for this
purpose.....

Well sheeeyit you can go to any friggin' hardware store and buy a
little Bernz-O-Matic blowtorch. Probably cheaper than in those faggy
"cheffy type shops" of which you write.

Excellent, money-saving tip! But it's much more lady-like to say
"fecal matter" than "sheeeyit." Just a thought. ;-)

Carol

Karen MacInerney said:

Thanks for all the tips. I have hope!

Maybe I have been using too high a heat. I saw somewhere a
recommendation that you shake the pan instead of stirring it... anyone
tried this?

I can't see shaking the pan working to caramelize sugar because as the
sugar begins to melt it tends to stick to the pan, so what you have is the
wet, sticky stuff adhering to the bottom and the loose sugar on top. The
only sugar that is going to move about is the loose stuff. Besides, we are
talking hot sugar, and you can get nasty burns from that stuff.

What you need to do is to get the sticky stuff off the bottom and the
loose granules down to the heat. I find that it tends to glob to the spoon
in the early stages of melting, but when it is more completely melted it
becomes much more viscous. From that point it begins to change colour. It
goes from clear to faint yellow and then quickly gets very dark. You need
to take it off the heat and add a little water when it gets to be straw
coloured.

This caramel is a strange process. It starts off a white crystal. It
melts into a clear liquid. Then it turns yellow and then a deeper brownish
colour. It froths up into a tan coloured foam when water is added. Then it
goes back to an deep amber liquid. When you pour it into the ramekins it
maintains that same dark colour, like light maple syrup, but it turns rock
hard. Add the creme caramel to it and when it comes out of the oven and
sets you have a wonderful dark syrup. It always mazes me that it turns out
like that.

Wayne Boatwright said:

Quoted message said:

Cathy, how do you make the caramelized baby potatoes?

Very easy, actually.... I par-boil the spuds, then peel them (easier to
get the skins off)... MIL makes the caramel and then, once it's golden
brown, we turn the heat right down to "1" on an electric stove. We then
add the peeled spuds and turn them, until well coated in the caramel....
we keep turning them, every 5 or 10 mins, until well coated, and the
caramel has had a chance to "sink" into the spuds - this can take up to
45 mins. Yummy with ostrich steaks (or beef steaks). We also make
home-made apple sauce to go with it.

--
Cheers
Cathy(xyz)

"Karen MacInerney" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

First, happy holidays, everyone! Thanks for all the recipes, tips, and
-- most of all -- the extra helpings of humor on the side. Whenever I
feel the need to snort some coffee (or whatever it is I'm drinking)
through my nose, I know right where to go.

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Thanks! And remember... the key to holiday survival is to breathe...
and eat lots and lots of fudge.

Karen MacInerney
Kitchen experimenter, family chauffeur, and culinary mystery author
www.karenmacinerney.com

Over you years I have had the same problem. There seem to be 2 tricks that seem
to wrok at least for me.

1. As you are evaporating the water and raising the temperature of the sugar
you need to scrape down the sides - it seems to be the crystallized sugar on the
sides that burns first.

2. As the sugar begins turning color reduce the heat on the stove this will
tend to slow the process slightly.

3. Remember the sugar will continue to brown, cook, caramelize for several
moments after you remove the pan from the heat - so take it off early.

4. Unless you can work very quickly you'll have a solid mess in a very short
period of time as thed pan/pot loses heat. Use a heavy pot. To counter act
this I keep a pot (Dutch oven) of simmering water on the stove for the process.
As the pan cools and the sugar sets putting the bottom of the pot into the hot
water seem to keep the sugar from setting completely.

Try it - with 2 cups of sugar - the most you can waste is a few cents.

Dimitri

I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of
natural causes.

On Wed 21 Dec 2005 10:15:24a, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it cathyxyz?

Quoted message said:

Wayne Boatwright said:

Quoted message said:

Cathy, how do you make the caramelized baby potatoes?

Very easy, actually.... I par-boil the spuds, then peel them (easier to
get the skins off)... MIL makes the caramel and then, once it's golden
brown, we turn the heat right down to "1" on an electric stove. We then
add the peeled spuds and turn them, until well coated in the caramel....
we keep turning them, every 5 or 10 mins, until well coated, and the
caramel has had a chance to "sink" into the spuds - this can take up to
45 mins. Yummy with ostrich steaks (or beef steaks). We also make
home-made apple sauce to go with it.

Sounds delicious, Cathy. I will give this a try soon.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
_____________________________________________

A chicken in every pot is a *LOT* of chicken!

I do it pretty much as Dave does, in a saucepan over medium high heat.
I follow Julia Child's directions, which dictates 2/3 cup sugar and 1/3
cup water. You'll stir and stir that syrup, until you think your arm
will fall off, but have faith, it WILL caramelize. ANd when it turns
golden, it happens quickly. You have to act quickly when it does, but
make haste with care. I can speak from experience when I tell you that
molten caramel burns HURT. It takes a minute or two to set up, so
pour the syrup either into one big dish, or into ramekins, then quickly
swirl the caramel around to coat the bottom of the dish.

I do identify with the problem. Once, I tried to caramelize sugar in a
big skillet, but all the water evaporated. I was left with this lunar
landscape of hard white, uncaramelized sugar crust and had to start all
over. =o) For cleaning up, all you have to do is run VERY hot tapwater
into the sauce pan and let it soak, for a while. The hot water softens
the caramel, and it makes cleanup easier.

Melissa

Quoted message said:

I do it pretty much as Dave does, in a saucepan over medium high heat.
I follow Julia Child's directions, which dictates 2/3 cup sugar and 1/3
cup water. You'll stir and stir that syrup, until you think your arm
will fall off, but have faith, it WILL caramelize. ANd when it turns
golden, it happens quickly.

It does eventually caramelize? I tried it that way once. Actually, it was
my wife that tried it and I ended up taking over for her when it appeared
not to be working. I went back to my old method ( From Joy of Cooking) ,
melt the sugar and add water after it develops the straw colour. It is a
snap.

Quoted message said:

You have to act quickly when it does, but
make haste with care.

That's an important point. When I do it things happened very slowly at
first. The sugar gets gooey in places and then more of it gets gooey and
then it starts to become a clear liquid, develops a bit of colour and then
suddenly starts to darken very quickly. h.

Quoted message said:

Also handy for Baked Alaska for 500. Just put the baker and a
blowtorch in the freezer and away you go 🙂
John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

LOL

But where you live, couldn't you just use the back yard instead? 😉

Karen MacInerney (from balmy -- too balmy -- Texas)
Kitchen experimenter, family chauffeur, and culinary mystery author
www.karenmacinerney.com