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Why is my toffee grainy?
Good toffee is smooth and glassy. Grainy, sugary or crumbly toffee has gone wrong in one particular way: the sugar has started to crystallise. Here is why that happens, and how sweet makers stop it.
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Sweets made from boiled sugar fall into two families. Hard sweets, caramels, toffees and nougats are non crystalline: the sugar sets as a smooth, even mass. Fudge and fondant are crystalline, full of tiny sugar crystals that give a creamy texture. Grainy toffee is a toffee that has crossed over into the wrong family: see how is toffee made?
Why crystals form
A boiling sugar syrup holds far more sugar than cold water could. As it cools, it is supersaturated, and the sugar is ready to come out of solution as crystals. Once a few crystals appear, they give the rest something to grow on, and the graininess spreads.
The usual causes
- Stirring the boiling syrup. Stirring helps crystals start. Recipes for toffee apples, for example, tell you to stop stirring once the sugar has dissolved and the syrup is boiling. Old fudge recipes that were stirred all through the boil turned out crumbly for the same reason.
- Crystals on the side of the pan. As the syrup boils, sugar crystals form on the sides of the pan above the liquid. If they fall back in, they can seed the whole batch. Cooks brush the sides with a pastry brush dipped in water, or butter the sides of the pan, to wash them back into solution.
- Undissolved sugar. If the sugar had not fully dissolved before the syrup came to the boil, the leftover grains act as seeds.
Ingredients that help
Some sugars get in the way of crystals. Glucose syrup and invert sugar, a mix of glucose and fructose, both help stop ordinary sugar crystallising, which is one reason some toffee recipes include golden syrup, which is about 55 per cent invert syrup, or glucose: see what is invert sugar? and what is glucose syrup?
Grainy on purpose
Graininess is only a fault when you wanted smooth toffee. In fudge, the crystals are the point, as long as they stay tiny: see why is my fudge grainy?
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Questions and answers
What causes grainy toffee?
Sugar crystals forming in the syrup. Toffee is meant to be a non crystalline sweet, so one crystal can start others growing. Stirring once the syrup boils, stray crystals on the side of the pan, and sugar that never fully dissolved can all set it off.
How do you stop toffee going grainy?
Dissolve the sugar completely over a gentle heat before boiling, then stop stirring. Brush the inside of the pan with a wet pastry brush to wash crystals back down, and use a recipe with golden syrup or glucose syrup, which help stop sugar crystallising.
Is grainy toffee safe to eat?
Graininess is a fault in texture, not a sign of germs. When low moisture sweets such as toffee spoil, the changes tend to be in shape, colour, texture and flavour, rather than the growth of dangerous microbes.
Sources
- Candy, Wikipedia
- Fudge, Wikipedia
- Toffee, Wikipedia
- Confectionery, Wikipedia
- Traditional homemade toffee apples, Claire Jessiman, Foodie Quine
Keep reading
- Sweet tips and how toWhy is my toffee not hardening?Toffee only sets hard if the syrup reaches the hard crack stage, 149 to 154°C. The usual reasons toffee stays soft or sticky, and how to avoid them.
- Sweet tips and how toWhy is my fudge grainy?Good fudge is full of tiny sugar crystals. Grainy fudge has big ones, from stray crystals, stirring the boiling syrup or beating it hot. How to avoid it.
- How it is madeHow is toffee made?Toffee is sugar or treacle boiled with butter to the hard crack stage, 149 to 154°C, then poured out to set. Cooked less, it stays chewier.
- How it is madeWhat is invert sugar?Invert sugar is ordinary sugar split into glucose and fructose with acid or an enzyme. It is sweeter, keeps sweets moist and stops sugar crystallising.
- How it is madeWhat is glucose syrup?Glucose syrup is a thick syrup made by breaking down starch, usually from maize or wheat. Sweet makers use it to sweeten, soften and stop sugar crystallising.
- Sweet tips and how toHow to make toffee applesToffee apples need sugar syrup boiled to the hard crack stage, about 150°C. A traditional method, the safety rules, and why damp weather can spoil them.