# sugar



## boomchakabowwow (Jun 13, 2016)

i've always been sorta scared with sugar. cooking with it.

i think i saw my parent's friend Mrs Thompson, burn herself making peanut brittle..and it scarred her literally, and me mentally. i think i was six. 

i watch my friend Tina make caramel sauce and it looks scary. like napalm. 

today, i took a swing at it. i have some vanilla ice cream, and it needs caramel sauce...i used a big pot and a long whisk..and yes, i had welding gloves on. feeling triumphant..i even put a couple cans of sweetened condense milk into simmering water for several hours..in about 9 minutes, i hit the four hour mark and i will pull them. tomorrow? dulce de leche!!


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## Godslayer (Jun 13, 2016)

Making angel hair with sugar is my favorite garnish. Little nest and a quenelle of vanilla hagendaz, 1/2 tsb aged balsamic and a strawberry flower and im in heaven.


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## WildBoar (Jun 13, 2016)

Glad you overcame your fear. It really isn't much worse then getting hot grease splattered on you or touching your arm against a 425 degree oven rack. If you get any hot sugar one you, just get it off as quick as you can to limit the ultimate doneness of your flesh (i.e., rare is probably preferable then medium-well).

Try making some brittle next, to overcome that last hurdle.


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## cyp450 (Jun 14, 2016)

So many carbon-carbon bonds in a gummy bear:

[video=youtube;mamoT11TEV4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mamoT11TEV4[/video]


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## Kingkor (Jun 15, 2016)

Sugar is fun but scary as f*** when hot. In every different temperature it acts diffirently and you can do crazy stuff with it. I have a book all about sugars


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## cjans (Jun 15, 2016)

agreed. sugar is scary to cook with. you're not the only one.


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## WildBoar (Jun 15, 2016)

cjans said:


> agreed. sugar is scary to cook with. you're not the only one.


Hmmm, while some of the many posts you have made contain useful info, the ones like this imply you are post-farming.


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## daveb (Jun 15, 2016)

And I was thinking this was the least banal of them all. But then sugar and roux exist to burn me.


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## joshsy81 (Jun 20, 2016)

Sugar is napalm, I'm mildly scared by it but I give it the proper respect it deserves. But as a pro EVERYTHING is out to burn or cut you in the kitchen, even extremely cold or surprisingly blunt yet sharp? things. You just live with it. I can imagine a home cook being a bit terrified by sugar. For me, flat top grill scrape schmegma is the ultimate napalm in the kitchen...


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## spoiledbroth (Jun 22, 2016)

Someone buy glucose and tell us how much better it is than sucrose


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## strumke (Jun 23, 2016)

spoiledbroth said:


> Someone buy glucose and tell us how much better it is than sucrose



Glucose is a PITA to work with at room temp, it's like WAY stickier honey. Warming it up a bit help tremendously.


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## boomchakabowwow (Jun 23, 2016)

my second attempt was a failure. it got gritty and separated. wierd. 

i'll research it.


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## spoiledbroth (Jun 23, 2016)

I was thinking more about taste!


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## cheflivengood (Jun 23, 2016)

boomchakabowwow said:


> my second attempt was a failure. it got gritty and separated. wierd.
> 
> i'll research it.



You either agitated it too much or a stray granual of sugar got in...this is crystallization, you need to make sure the sides of your pot dont have any sugar granuals on them, or your spatula. To get people past this fear, my culinary school baking and pastry chef taught us how to temp cooking sugar using our fingers. what you do is hold your thumb and pointer finger in ice water for a second or 2, then "pinch" some of the boiling sugar, then go straight back into the ice water. you then roll the cooled sugar in your fingers to see its hardness (ie hard ball, soft ball etc...). GO FOR IT haha


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## boomchakabowwow (Jun 26, 2016)

cheflivengood said:


> You either agitated it too much or a stray granual of sugar got in...this is crystallization, you need to make sure the sides of your pot dont have any sugar granuals on them, or your spatula. To get people past this fear, my culinary school baking and pastry chef taught us how to temp cooking sugar using our fingers. what you do is hold your thumb and pointer finger in ice water for a second or 2, then "pinch" some of the boiling sugar, then go straight back into the ice water. you then roll the cooled sugar in your fingers to see its hardness (ie hard ball, soft ball etc...). GO FOR IT haha



thanks. third time was effortless. i didnt stir or agitate it. just let it go on it own. thanks.


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