carmelized sugar question

[JJ40]

Last night I made the Carmelized Pork over Lettuce (from June 98). It was quite good, but I had trouble carmelizing the sugar.

The recipe said to cook 2 tblsp of sugar over medium heat until golden. Then add 2 tblsp each of water and fish sauce and remove from heat.

I tried it twice, following the directions, and both times the sugar stuck to the bottom of the pot. Then of course I had the trick of trying to chisel it off the bottom of the pot.

What did I do wrong??

TIA,
Julie

[sneezles]

Did you stir constantly until the sugar melted? Then once it begins to brown you leave it alone but watch constantly. You may need to adjust the heat, medium on your stove may be too hot. Turning it down will take longer but it shouldn't burn.

[Jessica]

Take a look at the Angela's Flan thread on this page for more caramelized sugar tips/discussions.

[MicheleKeilson]

And a tip for getting it off the pan...The easiest way is just to put hot water in it and then heat it up on the stove. It comes right off.

[JJ40]

Thanks for your responses. The weird thing was that the recipe specifically said NOT to stir the sugar. Also, you don't add water to it until after the sugar carmelizes.

Hm.

Julie

[JJ40]

Thanks, aggie94! I thought it was a little odd that I wasn't supposed to stir it. And a hard candy coating stuck to the pan was exactly what I got!!

Julie

[Chefmom]

Actually, when you are making caramel, stirring the sugar can create crystalization. It's best to NEVER touch the sugar after it has disolved. You want to swirl the sugar by holding the pan and swirling the pan over the heat. It's the classical way that I learned, and there have been times when I was in a hurry and stirred, well, I learned my lessons with large crystals!!

Tami

[aggie94]

With stirring, my sugar has formed clumps first (I don't think I'd call them crystals), but eventually they melt and the sugar caramelizes. This is the way I've always done it with flan, and it's worked fine. Could the crystallization occur at higher temperatures? I always caramelize on a pretty low heat.

[aggie94]

I think the recipe is lying. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif You have to stir constantly to caramelize sugar, otherwise it sticks like a hard candy coating to the pan. Ignore the instructions, and stir it constantly over a fairly low heat (low to medium-low) -- it will take a while, but it will eventually caramelize.