To make an acid drop to perfection, the pan must not only be clean but bright; use best white sugar, and just enough water to melt it, with a little extra cream of tartar (no glucose); boil on a sharp fire to 305; after pa.s.sing through machine, well dust with icing sugar and bottle.
Beginners should not try to work with less water, as the boil is more liable to grain, which can be seen by an expert and avoided. Before putting on the boil see that there is sufficient fuel on the furnace to carry through the operation. To make up a fire during the process spoils the color and quality. The sharper the sugar is boiled the better the appearance and durability.
When boiling common sugars have the pan large enough,--some throw up a good deal of foam when they reach the boiling point and are liable to flow over--watch closely, and if unable to beat the foam down, lift the pan on the side of the fire a few minutes until boiled through.
Many weak sugars burn on a clear fire before they come to a degree of crack. In this case sprinkle a little fresh fuel or ashes over the fire and replace the pan again. Should it again catch, repeat the operation nursing it up to the desired degree. Bad boiling sugar is very troublesome. A good plan is to make a rule of straining the batch just after it boils, through a very fine copper wire or hair sieve, this prevents foreign matter such as grit, saw dust or even nails, which is often mixed with the sugar getting into the goods. Keep thermometer when not in use in jar of water standing on the furnace plate by the side of the pan, wash out the jar and fill with cold water every morning; keep the thermometer clean, especially the top part, as the sugar which adheres to it becomes grainy, and might spoil a whole boil. After making many dark candies thoroughly wash the thermometer before putting into a light boil.
In using colors for drops and clear goods, use them in the form of a paste where practicable, then you can mix them in when the boil is on the slab, thus saving your pan; keep the colors damp in jars, look over them every night, and, where necessary, add a little cold water to keep them moist, or the top may get dry and hard, which would make the goods specky. Use a separate piece of stick for each color to rub in with, and be careful not to use too much color; a very little goes a long way with clear boiled goods. Goods are more often spoiled by using too much than too little; more can always be added if the shades are too light, but there is no remedy if you have added too much. When coloring taffies, this must be done in the pan; liquid colors are best; trouble will be saved if used in the following order. Suppose Raspberry, Everton and Lemon taffies were wanted, make the Lemon taffy first, add saffron just before the boil is ready, then the lemon, and pour out; make the Everton taffy next in the same way, add the b.u.t.ter before the lemon; then make the Raspberry. In this arrangement there is no necessity of steaming out the pan. Had the Raspberry taffy been made first, the pan would have to be cleaned out before the Lemon or Everton taffy could have been made, because it would have been red.
Measure the flavors in a graduated gla.s.s; wash out the gla.s.s frequently, or it will get rancid; weigh the acid and see that it is well ground; if it has become dry and lumpy, rub it down to a powder with a rolling pin or heavy bottle on a sheet of paper before using. In using fruit essences a little powdered tartaric acid throws up the flavor, half the essences will have a better effect. Put the acid on the boil after it has been poured on the slab in a little heap, and pour the essence over it, then thoroughly incorporate the whole.
Use the best oil for the slab with a clean flannel cloth; keep the cloth in a saucer, if it lies about it falls on the floor and picks up dirt and carries it to the pouring plate. When it gets hard or gritty burn it at once and get a new one, or it may be used by mistake and make a mess.
We have seen the beauty of a boil spoilt scores of times by using dirty rags and rancid oil. A sugar boiler cannot be too careful in these little details, the success of his work largely depends upon it. It is easy to inaugurate a good system, and much more comfortable to work to it than a slovenly "what shall I do next" sort of a method. Know where to find and put your hand on everything; when the boil is hot there is no time to look for what you require. "A place for everything and everything in its place" should be a practical feature in every boiling shop.
STICKY CANDIES.
Perhaps there is nothing more annoying to the trade than sticky boiled sugars. All clear goods when exposed to the atmosphere will turn damp, especially in wet weather. It is a question of degree, some slightly and some will run almost to syrup; it is impossible to obviate the former but the latter can be prevented. Great care should be used in adding the lowering, whether cream of tartar or glucose, too much of either will cause the goods to run immediately after they are turned out. Weak or inferior sugars, or not sufficient boiling, has also this effect. We know of no reliable agent which will altogether prevent this result but we do know that a careful arrangement of the different proportions, using good sugar and well boiling greatly mitigate, if not altogether prevent the grievance. Goods intended for exposure should contain just sufficient lowering to prevent the boil from growing grainy and boiled right up to the standard. Of course different sugars will carry more or less lowering, but this can be easily tested by the workman. A few experiments will determine the exact quant.i.ty for each boil. There is no excuse for drops sticking in bottles when corked, this should not occur, if it does, the fault is in the making; the water has a great deal to do with causing the candies to be sticky. The writer has experienced this in several country places, where the only supply of this indispensable ingredient was drawn from the artesian wells. To look at it, it was all that could be desired--a beautiful, cold, clear and wholesome beverage. Of its chemical const.i.tuents I do not pretend to give an opinion, but the drops and other clear boils for which it was used got damp directly after they were exposed, and would have run to a syrup had they not been covered up. The goods keep all right in bottles, but it is very annoying, not to speak of the injury and loss to a business, when this is the position with regard to the water supply. The only remedy we could suggest, and which was very successful, was powdered borax. We used this in the proportion of a teaspoonful to every 14 lbs. of sugar adding it just as the sugar began to boil. Borax has been found useful with any water when making goods to be exposed in the window or on the counters, such as taffies, rocks and clear boiled sugars generally. Where the supply of water, as in most large towns is suitable, given good sugar, cream of tartar or glucose, in proper proportions, and careful boiling up to the standard, the addition of borax is unnecessary and should only be resorted to under special circ.u.mstances.
PLAIN TAFFY.
14 lbs. White Sugar.
2 quarts Water.
1/2 ounce Cream Tartar.
PROCESS.--This is an easy and capital recipe to begin with. The process is practically the same as for all other clear goods, but the ingredients being fewer there is little chance of their getting complicated. With a thermometer it is hardly possible to make a mistake, besides it will make the instruction more intelligible: should he not possess this appliance, we must ask that the instructions "How to boil sugar" should be committed to memory, as it would be tedious and a great waste of time and s.p.a.ce to keep explaining how to tell the different degrees through which the sugar pa.s.ses before it comes to the point required for the different goods given in this book. For this and other reasons I will a.s.sume the learner to be working with one.
Put the sugar and water in a clean pan, place it on the fire and stir it occasionally till melted; when it comes to the boil add the cream of tartar and put a lid on the pan; allow it to boil in this way for ten minutes, remove the lid and immerse the bottom part of the thermometer in the boiling liquid and allow it to remain in this position until it records 310 degrees, then quickly take out the thermometer, lift off the pan and pour contents into frames, tins, or on a pouring slab, which have been previously oiled. If on a pouring slab, mark the boil into bars or squares, while warm, with a knife or taffy cutter: when quite cold it is ready for sale.
LEMON TAFFY.
14 lbs. White Sugar.
1/2 ounce Cream Tartar.
Saffron Coloring.
2 quarts Water.
Lemon Flavoring.
PROCESS.--Proceed as directed for plain taffy. When the sugar reaches 305 degrees, add a few drops of saffron color; when it reaches 310 degrees, add a few drops of oil of lemon and pour out immediately into frames or tins; or if on pouring slab, mark out into bars or squares before it gets cold. The pouring slab should be level so that the sheet should be all the same thickness.
b.u.t.tER SCOTCH.
8 lbs. White Sugar.
1 lb. Fresh b.u.t.ter.
Lemon Flavoring.
1/4 oz. Cream of Tartar.
1 quart Water.
PROCESS.--Melt the sugar in the water by an occasional stir when the pan is on the fire, then add the cream of tartar and boil up to 300, lift the pan on to the side of the furnace and add b.u.t.ter in small pieces broken off by the hand; slip the pan on the fire again, adding the lemon flavoring; let it boil through so that all the b.u.t.ter is boiled in then pour into frames; when partly cold mark with cutter into small squares; when cold divide the squares; wrap each in wax-paper; sold generally in one cent packages.
N.B.--There is good b.u.t.ter scotch and better b.u.t.ter scotch, but no bad b.u.t.ter scotch; this quality may be improved by the addition of a large proportion of b.u.t.ter: some makers would put 2 lbs. or even 3 lbs. to this quant.i.ty, but that would be regulated by the cla.s.s of trade and the size squares. These frames are made to hold 144 squares; a boil this size will make each square weigh about 1 oz., but any weight of square may be arranged by the adding or deducting from the boil.
EVERTON TAFFY.
12 lbs. White Sugar.
2 lbs. Dark Sugar.
2 lbs. Fresh b.u.t.ter.
1/2 oz. Cream of Tartar.
2 quarts Water.
Lemon Flavoring.
PROCESS.--Melt the sugar in the water, add the cream of tartar and boil the whole to the degree of 300; lift the pan on the side of the fire put in the b.u.t.ter in small pieces, place the pan again on the fire and let it boil through; add the lemon and give it time to mix in, then pour out contents into frame, or on pouring plate to cut up into bars. Everton taffy and b.u.t.ter scotch are similar, except in color; same remarks as to quality will apply in both cases; if the fire is very fierce, do not put the pan down flat on it after adding b.u.t.ter; nurse it gently to prevent burning; little fresh c.o.ke shaken over the fire would a.s.sist.
RASPBERRY TAFFY.
14 lbs. White Sugar.
1/2 oz. Cream of Tartar.
Raspberry Flavor.
2 quarts Water.
Brilliant Rose.
PROCESS.--Bring the sugar and water to a boil, add the cream of tartar, put on the lid for ten minutes, then uncover and immerse the thermometer; continue to boil to 300; tinge a bright red with liquid, brilliant rose; add raspberry essence; pour out on frame or pouring plate and mark into bars or squares of convenient size; when cold the taffy is ready for packing and sale.
FIG TAFFY.
10 lbs Good Yellow Sugar.
2 lbs. Glucose.
3 lbs Figs Chopped Fine.
3 pints Water.
PROCESS.--Boil the sugar, water and glucose to a weak crack, 295; lift the pan partly off the fire, putting a piece of iron under it to prevent it burning; add the figs, gently letting the whole thoroughly boil through and mix; pour in oiled tins or on slab, and mark into squares.
When adding the figs let them drop through the fingers, not in a heap.
WALNUT TAFFY.
5 lbs. Brown Sugar.
5 lbs. Crystal Sugar.
2-1/2 lbs. Glucose.
3 lbs. Walnuts.
2 quarts Water.
Lemon Flavoring.
PROCESS.--Sh.e.l.l the walnuts, peel off the skin chop very fine. Boil the glucose, sugar and water as before directed to the degree of weak crack, 300. Lift the pan a little from the fire; add the prepared nuts by letting them run through the finger gently; let the whole boil through, then add a few drops of the oil of lemon; when thoroughly mixed in, pour out the boil and mark into bars before too cold. The flavor is improved by roasting the walnuts a little before putting in the boil.