How do you know when peanut brittle is done without a thermometer?
A candy thermometer is your best bet, but you can use a digital one as long as it reads high enough—or if you’re completely without a thermometer, you can use the water test: You’ll know it’s hot enough when a bit of the syrup dropped into cold water completely hardens and becomes, well, brittle.
How do you make taffy without a candy thermometer?
Have lollipop sticks ready in case you accidentally boil the taffy syrup too long. You can test without a thermometer by skimming off a small bit of the candy syrup and drip onto a piece of parchment paper. Wait a few seconds and peel it off. Work with the drop for a few seconds, pulling and twisting it.
Why did my peanut brittle not harden?
Why is my peanut brittle soft? If your peanut brittle is too soft, you didn’t cook it long enough. It’s important to use a candy thermometer and cook the sugar mixture until it reaches the hard crack stage. Watch it closely…you may be tempted to take it off the stove sooner, but don’t!!
How do you know when brittle is done?
When it’s starts to brown, it will brown fast. No candy thermometer needed. Once you start to see some color form around the edge of the sugar mixture, turn your heat down to medium (will give you some wiggle room and more control).
Why is my brittle bitter?
Peanut brittle has to reach the hard-crack stage, which means that strands of sugar break easily and feel dry, not sticky. If you take it off the heat too soon, it doesn’t set up and makes a sticky mess, but let it cook too long and it becomes scorched and bitter. Another possible cause might be humidity in the air.
How do you pull taffy by hand?
Once the taffy’s cool enough to handle, butter up your hands, grab a hunk of candy and a pulling partner (heh), and start pulling. The taffy will slowly stretch into a long rope. Loop it back and stretch repeatedly, until the taffy gets too stiff to pull and is opaque.
Is there a way to fix peanut brittle that didn’t Harden?
When peanut brittle doesn’t harden up, your best options are to either start over or pretend that you meant to make peanut chews, not peanut brittle. But before you toss the sticky peanut brittle in the trash, try reheating it and repeating the final cooking steps.
Why is my nut brittle chewy?
It is probably too chewy because it didn’t get to a high enough temperature when cooking the candy mixture. There’s probably not much you can do to repair this batch since it is already finished.