FoodNet

Experimental cookery

1932

Page 49

Presented as published in 1932. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Stages of cookery. In part the descriptions of stages of cookery of sugar sirups are from "Terminology Used in Food Preparation." A sucrose solution that has reached a concentration indicated by a temperature of 110° to 112°C. does not form a ball when a portion of the sirup is tested in ice water, but spins a two-inch thread when dropped from a fork or spoon. At a temperature of 113° to 115°C. a soft ball is formed when a portion of the sirup is tested in ice water. This ball is easily molded in the water, but does not retain its shape at room temperature. Sirup cooked to this stage is used for fondant, fudge, and penuchi. At a temperature of 118°C. a firmer ball is obtained. At 122°C. the ball is still harder and less readily molded in the water. At 122°C. the ball retains its shape at room temperature. Sirups for caramels are cooked to 118° to 122°C. Temperatures of 118° to 123°C. are used for sucrose sirups that are to be poured over beaten egg white. The sirup at temperatures of 121° to 130°C. forms an increasingly harder ball, which holds its shape, yet is plastic, when a portion is dropped into ice water; it is used for popcorn balls, nougat, divinity, and some taffies. The sirup at temperatures of 132° to 143°, called the soft-crack stage, separates into threads which are hard but not brittle when dropped into ice water. It is used for butterscotch and taffies. Sirups cooked to 149° to 154°C., the hard-crack stage, separate into separate threads which are hard and brittle when dropped into cold water ; used for brittles and glaces. The length of the thread or hair that forms when a fork or spoon containing some of the sirup is lifted into the air may also be used to indicate the stage of cookery. Effect upon stage of cookery of addition of corn sirup and other sugars to sucrose solutions. The addition of corn sirups and other sugars to sucrose solutions modifies the firmness of the portion tested at a definite temperature in cold water. Commercial corn sirup is composed of dextrin, dextrose, maltose, water, and a small amount of ash. Frandsen, Rovner, and Luithly state that its composition is as follows: Per Cent Dextrin 29 . 8 to 45 . 3 Maltose 4.6 to 19.3 Dextrose 34 . 3 to 36 . 5 Ash 0.32 to 0.52 Water .• 14.2 to 17.2 Since the composition of corn sirups may vary slightly, this may result in different degrees of firmness when different corn sirups are used with 56 SUGAR COOKERY sucrose solutions. The use of corn sirup with sucrose in taffy, brittles, or caramels, candies that do not require crystallization, produces a definite stage of hardness when determined by the cold-water test at a lower temperature than when sucrose is used alone. Dextrin is the ingredient of the corn sirup that brings about this result, for if dextrin is used alone with sucrose the temperature for a definite degree of hardness is still lower than when corn sirup is used. In some of the early references on sugar cookery the term glucose is used for corn sirup. Table 1 1 shows the effect of different proportions of sugar upon the stage of hardness in sugar cookery. Miss Daniels has reported similar results in part. TABLE 11 Amt. of Amt. of Amt. of Amt. of Soft Medium Hard Crack Cara- dextrin corn sucrose dextrose ball ball ball melized sirup Temp. Temp. Temp. Temp. Temp. °C. X. °C. °c. °C. 1 cup 1 cup