Sugar Work

[skidude72]

After reading the multiple threds on sugar pulling and blowing i went to try on my own. i used 100g water to 300g sugar with 30g glucose and .4g COT and i mixed in 4 drops of green food coloring. I heated all the ingredients to 160 degrees. once it hit 160 i poured about half the mixture onto a silpat and waited for it to cool enough to work with... after it cooled it still was liquidy and impossible to work with. So i heated the remaining mixture and poured it onto the silpat... this time the mixture cooled but never solidified. so can any one here help me out... explanation on how to get the desired constency. also i was wondering if anyone new of any courses on sugar work in New England.

thanks

P.S.- my goal is to make a box of thin green sugar sheets then to make ribon of blue around the ox... like a gift wrapped object.

Edited August 16, 2006 by skidude72 (log)

[Shalmanese]

Check the accuracy of your thermometer. Next time, take it up to 160 and drop a bit of it into cold water. If it doesn't form a hard crack, then take it up another few degrees and try again.

[Kerry Beal]

160 F or 160 C? Sugar is at hard crack around 310 F which is 154 C.

[skidude72]

i heated to 160 f... i think its obvious that i have no idea what im doing but im really intrested in learning how to do this and as a mostly broke 16 y/o books and classes are kinda out. so could anyone outline a simple guide on how to go ahead and do this. my plan was to make make the sugar dye it green and pour it onto a silpat, once it becomes nearly solid id heat a knife and cute it into the shapes i need. usinmg a small butane torch i would "weild" the pieces together and form a a box... in terms of making the ribbon and curls... i was planing on trying very hard to mimick the pictures from the 3 day class report and pray it works.

thanks

[chefette]

If you are trying to make a 3D box - you want to use poured sugar - leave out the acid (cream of tartar) which is added specifically to make the sugar flexible - which you want for pulling and blowing - but not for a standing object

You might get the best results by creating a form or mold in which to pour your sugar - thus creating perfect pieces. This will make assembly easier

You can use a silicon baking pan if you have some in sizes that will yield pieces of the proper size for your box

alternatively you can purchase black neoprene sheets at a hardware store and cut out the shapes - your place the neoprene form on your silpat on your work surface - you may want to place some cans on it to weigh it down then pour the sugar into the form - let it set up then remove the neoprene - very clean - not too expensive, and gives you nice clean pieces

another alternative - purchase some modelling clay - I buy it at craft stores in blocks - it is beige and quite stiff - you roll it out to the desired thickness - cut out your form - pour in your sugar - this works ok - but can be messy since the clay melts some and you have to clean off your edges

you can also make barriers to control the shape and size in other ways - depends what you have around, what you want to do...

to 'glue' your pieces together - use the torch to warm both surfaces that will be joined - have a little pool of still melted sugar and just touch that to the base of the piece you are attaching - then attach

you need to hold this steadil;y in place for a minute or two since the warmd sugar will take a fw moments to cool - otherwise you will risk pieces moving around

You don't want to do the construction until your pieces are completely cool or else they can sag

Remember that sugar on a humid day just sort of goes all sticky and 'melts' as it takes on moisture from the environment

The ribbon - well - good luck! Ribbon pulling is a skill and will take some practice - but it doesn't hurt to give it a go - its the best way to learn

[skidude72]

Thanks Chefette,

Ok so for the pieces... should i mix glucose sugar and water in a pot then when combined add food coloring.. then heat to 160... F or C??

Edited August 16, 2006 by skidude72 (log)

[Patrick S]

Thanks Chefette,

Ok so for the pieces... should i mix glucose sugar and water in a pot then when combined add food coloring.. then heat to 160... F or C??

←

C.

As Kerry said, you'll need to heat the sugar to about 310F, which is the hard-crack stage. If you go much lower than that (290-300F), it will be too soft. If you go much higher than that (beyond ~320F), the sugar will begin to caramelize, which will change the color and taste.

Edited August 17, 2006 by Patrick S (log)

[chiantiglace]

if you heat your sugar to 310 there is a good chance you are going to have an amber colored sugar. 297 is optimum, with optimum atmospher that is.

Second of all, add your coloring after you pour it onto the silpat and work it in. But if your casting the sugar, drop it in at around 260-270F

by adding the sugar during the pulling stage you can do multiple colors at once.