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Jim D.

Jim D.

On 7/12/2019 at 4:08 PM, Bentley said:

If you look back in the forum to my early days, I once had an issue with a cherry caramel separating.  Never figured out why.  But I've never had a caramel separate since then.  

I take the caramel off the heat as soon as it hits my temp, then let it rest for maybe 5 minutes before putting the butter in.  I am certainly not an expert in emulsification, but it makes sense that the blender would help emulsify the mixture, as the blades are creating smaller and smaller particles of fat to be suspended in the water.   

 

@Bentley, I've been waiting to post regarding your technique of using an immersion blender to add the butter at the end of making a caramel as a way of avoiding the issue of having the butter separate out. I wanted to make sure I had given this idea a fair test. So now I am writing to thank you for this suggestion. I have used a blender for every caramel I have made since then, and so far there has been no more separation of butter. It helped to think of adding the butter as similar to making a ganache, adding fat to the caramel, which does have some fat in it but is basically a liquid. My only concern is how robust my blender will prove to be since the caramel thickens as time passes. Maybe I need to look for an industrial stick blender if there is such a thing. Thank you very much for this suggestion.

Jim D.

Jim D.

On 7/12/2019 at 4:08 PM, Bentley said:

If you look back in the forum to my early days, I once had an issue with a cherry caramel separating.  Never figured out why.  But I've never had a caramel separate since then.  

I take the caramel off the heat as soon as it hits my temp, then let it rest for maybe 5 minutes before putting the butter in.  I am certainly not an expert in emulsification, but it makes sense that the blender would help emulsify the mixture, as the blades are creating smaller and smaller particles of fat to be suspended in the water.   

 

@Bentley, I've been waiting to post regarding your technique of using an immersion blender to add the butter at the end of making a caramel as a way of avoiding the issue of having the butter separate out. I wanted to make sure I had given this idea a fair test. So now I am writing to thank you for this idea. I have used a blender for every caramel I have made, and so far there has been no more separation of butter. It helped to think of adding the butter as similar to making a ganache, adding fat to the caramel, which does have some fat in it but is basically a liquid. My only concern is how robust my blender will prove to be since the caramel thickens as time passes. Maybe I need to look for an industrial stick blender if there is such a thing. Thank you very much for this suggestion.

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