Has anyone used their Polder therm for ,aking candy? Any advice?

M

mariadnoca

Moderator
I can't find my old glass one, don't want to go to the store, years ago when I FAILED at making Gayle's caramel it took the numbers right off the new metal one I'd bought (so returned it).

I have 2 Polder and 1 instant read but of course none clip to the pan, but all this talk of fudge makes me want to try to make some.

Candy is hard for me to make given my old push button electric stove top. I don't know how my mom pulled it off all those years.

 
I'd make a band of aluminum foil and attach two different ones to the pan....

I had a Polder one but can't remember why I took it back. I've had SUCH a hard time finding an accurate thermometer! Right now I use an old fashioned glass one (like your mom used, probably) and a metal clip-on from France. Both are pretty accurate. I also keep a small bowl of water next to the stove and water test it when it's about ready.

Everyone has a batch not turn out sometimes and it's disheartening! (and expensive!) Don't give up! Candy really isn't hard...you just have to watch temps and have every thing prepared ahead of time to add at the right moment. smileys/smile.gif

Temperature is crucial with caramel, especially. These days I'm cooking it just a little less so that it's soft when it sets up. It still cuts, but you have to drag it from the pan and plop it onto your waxed paper square (or whatever you use) and then kind of roll it up. It is sticky and WONDERFULLY chewy to eat! Melts in your mouth! Otherwise it's a firm square that is hard to chew at first and then softens as you hold it in your mouth.

You can make knockoff Scotch Kisses like See's sells with this softer caramel by using half a large marshmallow with it. TDF!

Another See's knockoff is Butterscotch Pops (I can't remember the correct name). You cook the caramel to Hard Ball (260) also, cut and push the rectangled pieces on a lollipop stick.

I gotta stop talking candy!!! lol

I really miss making it and giving it away!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays from Missouri to all of you!!!

 
Maria, I tried my polder probe along with 2 glass versions. I tested

all three of them in boiling water and NOT ONE of them registered 212...and I'm six feet about sea level.

However, the glass worked much better than the Polder did when it got up to the higher sugar-stage numbers.

 
I have to find a narrower, deeper, higher-sided pot for my Almond Butter Crunch. Did a test...

...using two thermometers.

I had a hunch the depth to which you submerge the thermometer probes had a lot to do with their accuracy.

In a recent batch (3 nights ago) of Almond Butter Crunch, I affixed my Wilton candy thermometer to the side of the pot, and took readings with my polder digital.

When the Wilton read 230, the polder said 300! Huh??? The candy looked done, so I poured it out on the silpat. It tasted fine.

I tested my theory by boiling water at a depth I normally use to boil sugar and butter for the candy. Both thermometers read around 180 when the water was at a rolling boil!

Then I filled the same pot with water so the Wilton was submerged by 3 inches of boiling water and the polder was covered by about 2 1/2 inches. Both read 210 when the water was at a rollicking boil. We are at about 1100 feet above sea level here in Phoenix.

Interesting, at least to me. Butter and sugar are expensive!

Michael

 
I am having the same problem Michael is having. Gayle, what size

saucepan do you recommend for making candy. I usually make one batch at a time and have to keep tipping the pot so that the mixture will cover the thermometer. What would a deep heavy saucepan be in your opinion? Is that why you usually double or one and half times a recipe? I made a batch of your peanut brittle, with the cayenne. I make it on two pans, and it comes out so light, and not hard on the teeth as you said. Thanks!

 
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