Sea salt caramels

14 Comments

  1. The instructions at the top indicate not to stir, but recipe indicates to stir while caramelizing. Which would be best?

  2. Can you adapt this recipe to make brittle? I.e. cook it to the 310°F mark then mix in peanuts and pour? Would more baking soda be required?

    1. Good question! I think that SHOULD work. I’d give it a half teaspoon of baking soda right before adding the peanuts. It may be butterier and more, well, brittle, but I have no problem with that. If you try it, let us know!

  3. These caramels are INSANELY DELICIOUS. I’ve been making caramels for more than a few years, trying to perfect my technique and get that ever-so-elusive multi-dimensional depth of flavor along with the ultimate chew. This has involved a great many recipes, using different temps/timings, many different types of sugar (white, cane, Demerara, muscovado, Lyle’s Golden Syrup vs. corn syrup vs. glucose, warming or not warming cream prior to adding, adding cream in 2 different stages, etc., all with varying results, and not always good. But not one of those recipes added baking soda. What a revelation! Cooking to the higher temp was key (for me) to the depth of flavor I was searching for. And also (for me) the combination of glucose and cane sugar created the best chewy pull.

    These were the very best caramels I have ever made. THANK YOU ThermoWorks and The French Pastry School for that!!

  4. Martin, this article on making caramels is excellent! Thank you for explaining the chemistry behind caramel making.

    I do have one question. As the final caramel mixture approaches 248°, I almost always see a drop in temperature of 2-3 degrees. I’m all set to pull the pan off the heat to have this drop happen. What is happening at a chemical thermal level to the candy?

    1. I don’t know why this happens, but I have seen it as well. I think it has something to do with moving to the next elevel of doneness. A burst of steam leaves, cooling the caramel. But I don’t know for sure.

    1. Uncoated pots are traditional and work perfectly well for candy making. If you only have a non-stick, that’s fine, but certainly don’t buy one for this purpose.

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