Mastering caramel: A troubleshooting guide for perfect results

Hi Bold Bakers and welcome to Bold Baking Basics. These videos will get you baking with confidence anytime, anywhere. So time and time again I come across people who struggle making caramel and it's the same thing. It crystallizes, it burns, it seizes up and gets really hard. This video is a step-by-step solution to all of those problems. Go to BiggerBolderBaking.com where I have even more written information and make sure you read through the post because there's loads of info there that you'll need. Okay, let's get started with step one. So first things first your saucepan you want to make sure that it is good quality that it's heavy bottomed and that it's not nonstick nonstick is not good for making caramel. Also you want to make sure that your saucepan is medium size in case your caramel bubbles up. So step two, make sure that your saucepan is nice and clean. There's no impurities in there. Once you add in your water and your sugar, you also want to make sure there's no bits in your sugar. Any impurities will actually cause your caramel to crystallize and go really hard. So you want to make sure that everything is nice and clean. So step three is really important. At this point, turn your caramel down to a very low heat and let your sugar dissolve. At this point, you do not want it to simmer. If your mix simmers before all your sugar has dissolved, it will crystallize and crack your caramel and then you have to start all over again. So turn it down low, allow your sugar to dissolve, then you can turn it up and bring it to a simmer. Cooking caramel is not just about following steps, it's about being in control and that's really important in the kitchen, about controlling the heat, controlling the pan, controlling everything that's going on, that will set you up for success. Okay step four, once your caramel comes to a simmer, no more stirring, don't put a spatula in there, don't put a wooden spoon in there, don't put nothing in there. Just leave it be, it'll be totally fine undisturbed. So if you do put anything in there at this stage, it can cause your caramel to crystallize. A wooden spoon or a spatula is a foreign body, just like I said, the way that you've got to make sure your sugar is clean and your pan is clean, you don't want anything foreign in there that can cause your sugar to crystallize. So all of these tips that I'm telling you, don't just apply to caramel making, if you're making marshmallows, candies, anything at all that involves sugar like this, all of these rules apply. So come here to me, I want to show you something really important, you see that undissolved sugar there? If that stays there the whole time, it can fall back into your caramel and crystallize your caramel pretty much everything we're doing is to try avoid our caramel from crystallizing. So I can tell you what you can do there. Here I have a little jug of water, a pastry brush dipped in it just very gently go along with your pastry brush and dissolve that little bit of sugar, then it won't build up over time fall back in and crystallize your caramel. So step five is be patient. Let your caramel just simmer there by itself. Do not go in there and crank up the heat because you will not get the same result it has to just do its thing, hang out, and be patient. So if you're making a caramel sauce with this, just let it continue cooking until you get a lovely golden brown. If you're making marshmallows or candies, have your candy thermometer in there, and then you'll know when it's ready. So lastly, if you're working with sugar and it ends up looking like this, that means that it has crystallized. Now unfortunately there's nothing you can do at this point. It is done and it can't be reused. So what I like to do is just pour some water on top, let it dissolve a little bit, and then you can pour it down the sink and you're gonna have to start over. I have lots more great bowl baking basics just like this one on my website so make sure you go over there and check them out. And I'll see you back here really soon for more Bigger Bolder Baking.