What is the soft ball stage of making?
1. Soft-Ball Stage At this temperature, sugar syrup dropped into cold water will form a soft, flexible ball. If you remove the ball from water, it will flatten like a pancake after a few moments in your hand. Fudge, pralines, and fondant are made by cooking ingredients to the soft-ball stage.
What is soft ball stage in cooking sugar syrup?
Soft-Ball Stage. Soft-ball stage refers to a specific temperature range when cooking sugar syrups, occurring between 235 and 245 F. In addition to using a candy thermometer, this stage can be determined by dropping a spoonful of hot syrup into a bowl of very cold water.
What is the soft ball stage of Fudge?
The soft ball stage is the point when the melted sugar in the fudge reaches 236 degrees. Cooler than that, it remains grainy. Without a candy thermometer, you can test the cooked sugar with what is called a “cold water method”. Fill a small glass with ice and cover it with water until it is ice cold.
How can you tell soft ball stage without a thermometer?
How can you tell soft ball stage without a thermometer? To check your sugar syrup has reached the correct stage without using a sugar thermometer, place a bowl of very cold water next to the hob. Using a clean spoon, carefully take a little of the syrup and drop it into the bowl of cold water.
How do you determine soft ball stage?
Using a clean spoon, carefully take a little of the syrup and drop it into the bowl of cold water. Leave to cool for a moment then pick up the ball of syrup. If it's pliable, sticky and can be moulded in your fingers easily, it has reached the soft ball stage and the syrup can be used to make fudge and marzipan.
How long does it take to boil sugar to soft ball stage?
Allow the temperature to rise on the thermometer until it stops, approximately 10 to 12 minutes. If the thermometer is accurate it should read 212°F, at sea level.
How long does it take to get to soft ball stage in cooking?
You can also test for soft ball stage by using a glass of cold water. When the fudge has boiled for about 10 minutes start to test by dropping a little of the mixture into a glass of cold water. If the mixture forms a thread as it sinks into the water then it needs cooking for a little longer.
How long does it take to get fudge to soft ball stage?
Combine sugar and milk in a small pot and cook over medium high heat. Stir continuously while the mixture boils for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes of boiling, check to see if the 'soft ball stage' has occurred.
How can you tell if candy is at soft ball stage?
You test by drizzling a small amount of the sugar syrup from a spoon into a cup of cold water. If the stage has been reached, the syrup will come together and briefly form a soft ball (more accurately, a soft clump with a bit of height to it.)
Is 240 degrees soft ball stage?
Soft-ball stage (235–240 degrees Fahrenheit): When you transfer a small amount of syrup to cold water, it forms a soft, pliable ball. Firm-ball stage (245–250 degrees Fahrenheit): When syrup transfers to cold water, it forms a firm ball.
When should I start beating fudge?
Experience has shown that you should beat the mixture when its temperature ranges from 43 to 45 °C (110 to 113 °F), which normally occurs fifteen minutes after the pan is removed from heat. The fudge is warm, but not burning hot.
How long does it take candy to reach 300 degrees?
25-30 minutesI keep the burner on medium-high heat. The temperature needs to reach 300-degrees to become hard candy. It will take a good 25-30 minutes to reach the temperature.
How long does it take to get sugar to hard crack stage?
Continue boiling, uncovered, not stirring the mixture but shaking the saucepan occasionally to distribute the heat as the mixture turns amber in about 9 minutes, then darker amber as it registers 305 degrees on the thermometer (hard-crack stage ), about 3 minutes longer.
What happens if you boil fudge too long?
The amount of time you cook fudge directly affects its firmness. Too little time and the water won't evaporate, causing the fudge to be soft. Conversely, cook it too long and fudge won't contain enough water, making it hard with a dry, crumbly texture.
Should I stir fudge while boiling?
Don't stir the fudge Shaking or stirring the fudge mixture while it's boiling or cooling causes premature crystal growth. If the crystals form too early, they continue to grow and become too large. Let it cool Start beating the fudge only when it has cooled down to 110°F.
Should you make fudge on a rainy day?
Avoid making fudge on a humid or rainy day. This will make your fudge softer than you would like it to be. It's recommended that you make fudge on dry days when the humidity is low. Cool weather is also recommended for making perfect fudge, which is why so many fudge recipes are made in the colder months.
What is the soft ball stage of sugar?
The soft-ball stage of sugar is when a syrup of sugar. and water is boiled until it starts to change texture. It's commonly used for fondant, prawleens, and fudge. We'll show you what we've assembled for this. A candy thermometer warming up in some hot water, a heavy-bottom sauce pan, and an ice bath. to cool the sugar later on.
How to make sugar softball?
In order to bring the sugar to the soft-ball stage, start by putting the sugar into a heavy pan. Use two parts sugar to one part water. We'll add enough water to cover the sugar here. Stir over a low heat until the sugar completely dissolves. Now that the sugar is dissolved, turn up the heat and boil the sugar rapidly.
What temperature is hardball stage?
Hard-Ball Stage. Hardball stage occurs at 250 to 266 F and can be read by using a candy thermometer. At this point, the sugar concentration is very high--92 percent--which means the moisture has decreased. When the syrup is lifted with a spoon, it will form thick, rope-like threads.
How to know if you have reached the hard ball stage?
You can also determine if you've reached the hard-ball stage by using the cold water method . Drop a spoonful of hot syrup into a bowl of very cold water , then while it is in the water , use your fingers to gather the cooled syrup into a ball. If the hard-ball stage has been reached, the syrup will hold its ball shape and deform only slightly ...
What candy is hard ball?
Hard-Ball Stage Candies. Common candies that need to be cooked to the hard-ball stage are taffy, marshmallows, gummies, nougat, rock candy and divinity (white, fluffy-looking confections made with sugar, corn syrup, and egg white). Read More.
What are the stages of boiling candy?
During this boiling process, the candy goes through several different stages: thread, soft ball, firm ball, hard ball, soft crack, and hard crack. Each stage describes what the candy's consistency will be when dropped into cold water.
What stage of candy is fudge cooked to?
Different types of candy require a different stage--fudge needs to be cooked to the soft-ball stage while marshmallows are cooked to the hard-ball stage.