How to Make Toffee Without a Thermometer

To those with the knack, making toffee looks simple. For others, less talented in the kitchen, it seems to be a dark craft veiled in a cloak of instinctive understanding. Some chefs like to take a scientific approach and use candy thermometers to precisely measure temperatures.

Fear not; assistance is available for individuals who do not own a candy thermometer or possess magical toffee knowledge. Toffee may be made without a thermometer if you know a few simple tactics and approaches.

The cold water candy test may be used to make toffee without a thermometer. The toffee mixture is dripped into a dish of cold water until the desired reaction occurs. Toffee may be baked until it reaches the soft crack, hard crack, or hardball stage. Some recipes can be prepared with precise time.

If you don’t have the time or money to purchase a sugar or candy thermometer, you may still make toffee. Some individuals dislike using thermometers and prefer to make candy using alternative methods.

Is It Possible to Make Toffee Without a Sugar Thermometer?

Since the late 1800s, people have been making toffee. Candy and sugar thermometers were not available to chefs at the time.

There are various basic strategies for determining whether toffee is done. Since cooks first began working with sugar to make candy, these approaches have been employed.

How to Use the Drop Test to Make Toffee

To make toffee, combine the ingredients and heat them until they achieve the desired consistency. The trick is to get the right consistency without burning the mixture. Few things taste worse than burned sugar.

Dropping some of the toffee mixture into a bowl of cold water and seeing how the syrup responds is the drop test or cold water candy test.

Prepare a bowl of cold water to sit next to the saucepan of toffee mixture while it cooks. Every few minutes, drop a spoonful of the toffee mixture into the cold water to see when the toffee is done.

Toffee recipes frequently include when to cease cooking or the temperature that should be achieved on the sugar thermometer.

The Stages of The Cold Water Candy Test

There are several stages in cooking sugar.

1. The Thread Stage

230 F to 235 F

The mixture still contains around 20% water. The sugar content is 80%. This step of sugar heating results in syrup. Soft, thin threads will develop if a spoonful of the mixture is dropped into cold water. When these strands are taken from the water, they will not form a ball.

2. The Soft Ball Satge

235 F to 245 F

Because additional water has been lost, the sugar content is now 85%. A softball will develop when the toffee mixture is placed into cold water. When withdrawn from the water, this ball is soft and will flatten into a pancake form.

3. The Firm Ball Stage

245 F to 250 F

The sugar content is 87%. When placed into cold water, the mixture will form a solid ball. When removed from the water, it will not spontaneously flatten. It is flexible and readily flattens when squeezed between the fingertips.

4. The Hard Ball Stage

250 F to 266 F

The sugar content is 92%. When the syrupy liquid is dropped, it creates ropey strands. It will form a firm ball that will not readily flatten in cold water.

5. The Soft Crack Stage

270 F to 290 F

The sugar content is 95%. The bubbles on the toffee mixture’s surface are tiny and close together. When the mixture is dropped into cold water, it creates lengthy threads. When removed from the water, the strands are malleable and will bend before breaking or shattering.

6. The Hard Crack Stage

300 F to 310 F

The sugar content is 99%. When the toffee mixture is placed into cold water, it hardens into threads. When you take these threads out of the water, they will shatter under pressure. Because these threads are incredibly hot, they must be handled with utmost caution.

Before testing, allow them to cool in the water.

What Cold Water Candy Stage Is Toffee Cooked To?

Toffee is typically cooked to one of three stages: hardball, soft crack, or hard crack. Toffee will be soft and chewable if cooked to the hardball stage. The soft crack stage produces a little firmer, chewier toffee.

The hard crack stage produces brittle, hard toffee that snaps when eaten. To chew toffee cooked to the hard crack stage, you’ll need a strong jaw.

Recipes That Use Timing

Some recipes say that you may produce toffee by just timing the cooking process. This seems logical in principle, but there are several difficulties.

Cooking time is affected by height because water boils at various temperatures depending on altitude. If the recipe was prepared at sea level and you are cooking at sea level, stating that the toffee mixture should boil for five minutes will be successful. If you reside at a higher elevation, your toffee mixture is more likely to burn.

Even though the recipe says to cook it for a certain amount of time, it is always advisable to do the cold water candy test.

The Limitations of Sugar Thermometers When Making Toffee

Using a thermometer without considering your altitude is similarly inaccurate to timing a recipe.

When using a sugar thermometer, your temperature measurements must be adjusted for altitude.

You may do a test in which you measure the temperature five minutes after the water comes to a boil. This will give you the boiling point at your elevation. At sea level, water boils at 212 F (100 C). If your water boils four degrees below the boiling point at sea level, subtract four degrees from the cooking temperature specified in the recipe.

Many individuals find this treatment to be difficult and do not intend to finish it. As a consequence, toffee manufacturers may opt to utilize the cold water candy test instead of or in addition to a sugar thermometer.

Final Thoughts

The cold water candy test is the most reliable technique to make toffee without a thermometer. Even if they use a sugar thermometer, many people depend on this test to determine when the toffee is cooked and to avoid burning.