Vanilla caramel recipe woes

[ChocMD]

Hi folks,

I just made this year's batch of caramel twice so far. First time was my old recipe, which *once again* had terrible cold flow, fell off the precoat and was very difficult to dip. Next I tried PPG's recipe using sweetened condensed milk, and I think there must have been too much milk solids in it because it set VERY chewy and ultimately rock hard. Does anyone have a good-tasing caramel recipe that doesn't exhibit cold flow and has fairly short bite but not too hard? Thanks so much for any assist!

[ChocMD]

My bad, in two ways. First I didn't realize there is a multiplicity of threads on caramel and  Greweling. And the way I manually checked that batch of caramel was not well done.

 

Made another batch of Greweling's recipe, turns out that all my thermometers are inaccurate, by up to 8 degrees. I have not been able to purchase a truly accurate thermometer in several years.

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, ChocMD said:

My bad, in two ways. First I didn't realize there is a multiplicity of threads on caramel and  Greweling. And the way I manually checked that batch of caramel was not well done.

 

Made another batch of Greweling's recipe, turns out that all my thermometers are inaccurate, by up to 8 degrees. I have not been able to purchase a truly accurate thermometer in several years.

Thermoworks handles wonderful thermometers - I would recommend the Chefalarm for caramel. 

[pastrygirl]

2 hours ago, ChocMD said:

 turns out that all my thermometers are inaccurate, by up to 8 degrees. I have not been able to purchase a truly accurate thermometer in several years.

 

Room temp according to three thermometers the other day ... I feel your pain and might have to upgrade too!

[ChocMD]

On 12/11/2018 at 9:11 AM, Kerry Beal said:

Thermoworks handles wonderful thermometers - I would recommend the Chefalarm for caramel. 

Oooh, that looks amazing! Definitely next on my purchase list.Thank you so much for the recommendation!

[ChocMD]

On 12/11/2018 at 9:36 AM, pastrygirl said:

 

Room temp according to three thermometers the other day ... I feel your pain and might have to upgrade too!

 

PG I was laughing so hard that the dog gave me a funny look. I am so happy to see someone else who has food coated thermometers! If I get Kerry's nice Chefalarm I might have to keep it clean....

[pastrygirl]

On 12/11/2018 at 6:11 AM, Kerry Beal said:

Thermoworks handles wonderful thermometers - I would recommend the Chefalarm for caramel. 

 

I've had so many thermometers with the probe on a leash that crapped out suddenly, I'm wary.  Not that my luck with stem thermometers is that much better 🙄   I like a long stem thermometer for caramel and hot things that spatter, might have to give this one a shot.  Is the Thermapen extra special in some way or should all their offerings be equally high quality?  https://www.thermoworks.com/RT610B-12

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

8 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

 

I've had so many thermometers with the probe on a leash that crapped out suddenly, I'm wary.  Not that my luck with stem thermometers is that much better 🙄   I like a long stem thermometer for caramel and hot things that spatter, might have to give this one a shot.  Is the Thermapen extra special in some way or should all their offerings be equally high quality?  https://www.thermoworks.com/RT610B-12

 

 

I don't like the Thermapen for anything but instant readings - it turns itself off and doesn't lend itself to being clipped on the side on a pot.

 

My favorite blue Chefalarm fell in water - about 3 years after I got it - and stopped working. I contacted Thermoworks and they sent me out another immediately at no charge. My blue one - placed in a bowl of rice for a couple of weeks started working again and has continued to work since.

 

 

[Chocolot]

1 hour ago, Kerry Beal said:

I don't like the Thermapen for anything but instant readings - it turns itself off and doesn't lend itself to being clipped on the side on a pot.

 

My favorite blue Chefalarm fell in water - about 3 years after I got it - and stopped working. I contacted Thermoworks and they sent me out another immediately at no charge. My blue one - placed in a bowl of rice for a couple of weeks started working again and has continued to work since.

 

 

 

The Thermapen has a micro switch that can be changed to keep it turned on until you close it. I use the Thermapen for 90% of my needs.