Weather & Humidity Impact Candy Making | Warrell Creations (2024)

FAQs

Weather & Humidity Impact Candy Making | Warrell Creations? ›

As a rule of thumb, only make candy when the weather is cool and dry, as the candy will cool faster and reduce the likelihood of crystal formation. Remember, high-humidity days can occur during the winter as well as summer.

When I've made the candy on a warmer, humid day, it tends to be a stickier brittle. This is because the brittle takes longer to cool, and it reaches a point where it is no longer evaporating moisture into the air. It reabsorbs moisture from the air and forms unwanted crystals.

Controlling excessive humidity is critical to avoiding quality issues like chocolate blooming. Chocolate blooms, specifically sugar bloom happens when humidity starts to dissolve sugar crystals on the surface of the chocolate and leaves behind a white powdery-looking film.

If the weather is cold, the temperature of the environment may aid in cooling the mixture faster. On the other hand, if it is humid outside, this can slow the evaporation process from the candy mixture and affect the final texture and hardness of the candy.

Too much humidity – An overly humid environment can make caramel sticky and create a less than desirable layer of scum on its surface.

A good rule of thumb is to store leafy greens that won't wilt in high-humid environments and fruits and vegetables that will wilt in low-humid environments. Furthermore, humidity promotes the growth of mold. A bag of strawberries may last for several weeks when stored in a humidity-controlled environment.

The high ash sugar starts gaining moisture at something more than 40% humidity while the low ash sugar maintains a constant mositure content to more than 60%. All three sugars increase rapidly in moisture above 75% and at 85% humidity start to liquefy.

When making Fudge on a damp, humid day it will need to boil to a higher temperature in the pan and when it's left to cool and set it will be a little softer. That doesn't mean you can't make Fudge on a damp, humid day! You can make Fudge all year round.

Perhaps you heard your grandmother complain that “you can never make fudge when it's raining.” No mythical urban legend here. High humidity alters the cooking properties of sugar. Fudge can take three times as long to set up, if at all. Sugary meringue absorbs humidity.

High temperatures, paired with high humidity, cause the sugar in the chocolate to dissolve. As the moisture evaporates, the sugar re-crystalizes, giving the chocolate a dusty appearance and off texture.

Does altitude affect candy making? ›

Rule of Thumb: For each 1,000 feet above sea level, reduce the temperatures in the recipe by 2°F. This adjustment allows the candy maker to control the degree of evaporation necessary to achieve the proper sugar concentration for the desired end product.

The process of turning sugar into a hard, smooth, transparent confection involves heating a sugar/corn syrup/water solution to 300 – 310° F. {150 - 155° C.}, or what is known as the hard crack stage of sugar. The use of a candy thermometer is not essential, but highly recommended and accuracy is critical.

Cotton candy remained stable for over 2 y when held at 11% RH, but crystallized within 3 d when held at 33% RH. ... It has been said that the key to making high-quality candy is understanding and controlling the transitions of sugar.

Issues with Candy Making in High Humidity

You may also feel a stickiness on hardened sugar you are using for making candy. Cooking candy sugar to the proper temperature requires achieving the appropriate sugar-moisture balance. High humidity hastens the breakdown of sugar as it cools.

If the melting sugar splashes up onto the sides of the pan, it quickly loses its moisture content and forms back into crystals. That can set off a chain reaction that can cause caramel to seize up, ruining the entire batch.

Drop a little of the molten syrup in cold water and it will form hard, brittle threads that break when bent. CAUTION: To avoid burns, allow the syrup to cool in the cold water for a few moments before touching it! Toffee, nut brittles, and lollipops are all cooked to the hard-crack stage.

Insufficient humidity levels can also be detrimental to product quality, creating issues such as cracking, fragility, and degradation. To prevent these issues, manufacturers must implement humidity control strategies aimed at preserving product integrity and optimizing the performance of the processing equipment.

High humidity can cause excessive yeast activity, resulting in over-fermentation and a gummy texture. Conversely, low humidity can slow down yeast activity, leading to under-fermentation and dense products. Proper humidity control ensures optimal yeast fermentation, contributing to light and airy baked goods.

Product quality is a function of many factors, including temperature and humidity. In general, higher temperatures and humidity levels will degrade product quality. This is because high temperatures and humidity levels can deteriorate the product quality and cause the products to get damaged easily.

Cotton candy is made by melting crystalline sucrose above 210C in a bowl which shoots molten liquid sucrose into the air where it rapidly cools and dries into an amorphous glassy solid state. As such, it is highly hygroscopic, picking up moisture as %RH increases and becoming rubbery.