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bonsai4tim · 03-21-2010, 09:48 PM

I've got a lot of experience boiling sugar for candy (family business, etc). You pot should be at least 4 times as "tall" as the sugar+water mixture you are boiling.

I've had no problems making the belgian candy syrup-it works better if you don't try to make it quickly---it should take about 30 minutes from when it starts to boil to color change (assuming 2 pound sugar and 1 1/2 cups water). If it takes less time to get up to 290F then the heat is too high.

The diammonium phosphate is the key to the maillard reaction. Its pretty easy to get sugar syrup up to 290F without changing its color if you don't burn it.

Last 2 batches of belgian candi I've waited to add the diammonium phosophate until the thermometer was at 240F--no sense in wasting the N at a lower temp when it wont work. Its seemed to go a little faster in terms of color change, and the ammonia smell isn't as bad. I suspect waiting to add until the temp is 240F of so makes more of the N available for the reaction.

There are a lot of different opinions about this on line and some people say this is "invert sugar".

This is not the same as making "invert" sugar with an acid (like lemon juice), and this is not the same as "carmalization". This is more like the browning of bread in the toaster--it is a change in the sugars to a complex molecule that tastes different that caramel. Its a fairly complex reaction, and the products are not exactly sugars.

tim

Dirtybeau · 04-04-2010, 05:15 PM

So there seem to be some veteran candy makers on this thread that can help me out here.

If my sugar "syrups" are crystalizing as soon as they cool (in essence I'm getting more of a paste that hardens very quickly), is my second terminal temp getting above soft ball (post water addition), or is my first terminal temperature too high (pre-water addition), or should I add more water? Color and flavors have been spot on with Snicks descriptions, but the consistency of the syrup is similar to what James Spencer and Steve get on the HBR sugar-making video podcast.

smizak · 04-04-2010, 08:12 PM

I'm far from being a veteran but....

I have just been turning the heat off as soon as the second water addition dissolves. It has remained a syrup even after I've cooled it down to room temperature. I had the same trouble after heating it back up to 240F. Give that a try.

Gremlyn · 05-04-2010, 05:32 AM

Did Sugar #5 today, came out great. Definitely did not crystalise when it cooler, and it was VERY tasty.

maida7 · 07-16-2010, 01:31 PM

I made some deep amber last night. I'm gonna use it in a 10 gallon batch of Belgian dubbel in the next few days.

Great recipe and instructions. Thanks for teaching me how to make this.

Palefire · 07-26-2010, 10:28 PM

Hey - does anyone know if there's a good supermarket/drugstore sub for DAP when making this syrup? I'm really interested in trying this out, but I'd rather not make a special trip to the LHBS to get $1 worth of DAP if I don't have to. Has anyone had any luck with subs? Or (all you chemists out there) would any subs even work?

Thanks - great thread!

Palefire · 08-01-2010, 05:49 AM

So I ended up just going to the LHBS and getting some DAP. Made the dark amber a few nights ago. Took a little longer than I expected (1.5 hours) and the ammonia smell didn't leave my nose until the next morning, but wow! That's some awesome stuff. I expected it to be tasty, but I definitely didn't expect it to be as rich as it is...flavors just kind of go on and on. I honestly think it'd be fantastic if drizzled over a nice dark cake.

Just dumped 1.5 lbs in a Dubble ... can't wait to see what it does to the beer.

Thanks a ton for this thread!

Centexbear · 09-03-2010, 02:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dirtybeau

So there seem to be some veteran candy makers on this thread that can help me out here.

If my sugar "syrups" are crystalizing as soon as they cool (in essence I'm getting more of a paste that hardens very quickly), is my second terminal temp getting above soft ball (post water addition), or is my first terminal temperature too high (pre-water addition), or should I add more water? Color and flavors have been spot on with Snicks descriptions, but the consistency of the syrup is similar to what James Spencer and Steve get on the HBR sugar-making video podcast.

I made the 290 tonight and also got the exact same crystallization upon cooling.

Color is perfect and it tastes great. But if I were making a homebrew today, I'd have to heat it back up to get back into a syrupy form. Don't think I'd want to plop it in the boil in this harder candy form. I think next time I'll pass on reaheating back to 240 and see if it's more syrupy as others have suggested.

Thanks for an awesome thread and for teachin me how to make this!

Gremlyn · 09-03-2010, 08:47 PM

Make sure you're using beet sugar, supposedly cane sugar can crystallise on you.

Hermit · 09-03-2010, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gremlyn1

Make sure you're using beet sugar, supposedly cane sugar can crystallise on you.

Last time I made up a batch I had problems with this but I did this batch differently. I decided to skip a step. Previously I had always used my pressure cooker to get the initial inversion. I've read that inverted sugar won't crystallize so there may be something to this. At 15 pounds pressure I get a very light caramel color going.