Sugar Science - The Textures Of Tasty

Okay, so ("spoilers, sweetie") I'm working on a few new posts for homemade candies. 

All of these recipes will make more sense if you have a bit o' knowledge about how sugar works in certain situations. Firstly, knowing the exact temperature of cooking sugar is paramount because of the fact that the final sugar concentration of the syrup will have a great effect on the texture of the final product. For example, the only difference between cooking a smooth, rich syrup fit for topping ice cream, a chewy caramel candy, and a hard brittle or toffee is the temperature the sugar was cooked to. Knowing and understanding this is the key to effective candy making.

Exhibit A

I will likely link to this page often, as I use sugar syrups in many recipes. 

The stages of sugar that I commonly utilize are as follows:

Thread stage; 110-112 degrees Celsius, 230-234 degrees Fahrenheit:

This is the coolest temperature range, and therefore it has the lowest sugar concentration of any of the sugar stages. At this temperature the sugar concentration is around 80%. This stage is used for syrups. 

Soft ball stage; 112-116 degrees Celsius, 234-241 degrees Fahrenheit:

At this temperature the sugar concentration is around 85%. This stage is used for desserts like fudge or toppings like fondant and even some marshmallow recipes.

Firm ball stage; 118-120 degrees Celsius, 244-248 degrees Fahrenheit:

At this temperature the sugar concentration is around 87%. This stage is used for my favorite caramels and some frostings, like Italian meringue buttercream. 

Hard ball stage; 121-130 degrees Celsius, 250-266 degrees Fahrenheit:

At this temperature the sugar concentration is around 90%. This stage is used for desserts like divinity, some harder, chewy caramels, and glazes for things like caramel corn.

Soft crack stage; 132-143 degrees Celsius, 270-289 degrees Fahrenheit:

At this temperature the sugar concentration is around 95%. This stage is used for desserts like butterscotch and salt water taffy. 

Hard crack stage; 146-154 degrees Celsius, 295-309 degrees Fahrenheit:

At this temperature the sugar concentration is around 99%. This stage is used for hard candies like toffee, and also in my angel food recipe.