You won’t need to buy any fancy equipment to make caramel. In fact, you may already have everything you need in your kitchen just waiting to be put to work.
To get the desired results when you’re making caramel, exact temperatures are important. Too low a temperature and you’ll get a dull, semi-tan puddle; too high and your burned, blackened mass will make a rock seem soft in comparison. Using a candy thermometer removes much of the temperature guesswork. My favorite type of candy thermometer is digital. You can get one for less than $25, and it should come with a clip so you can attach it to the side of the pot and monitor the rising temperature without holding onto the thermometer. Most digital thermometers also come with an alarm; you can set them to beep when your chosen temperature approaches so you know exactly when to take the caramel off the heat. Make sure the tip of the thermometer doesn’t rest against the bottom of the pot (the pot itself is hotter than the liquid) or you won’t get an accurate temperature reading.
Hard crack: 300°F to 310°F. The sugar will form threads that break when bent. This is the highest temperature you’ll want for cooking with sugar; above this point the sugar mixture will burn, so make sure you remove the pan from the heat. This is the temperature for toffee and brittle (the word brittle refers to the texture and breakable nature of the candy).
A thermometer is the best way to determine that your caramel has reached the desired temperature. However, it’s also possible to test for any particular stage without a thermometer. Simply take a scant half teaspoon of the hot sugar (or sugary mixture) and put it into a glass of very cold water (you can add an ice cube if you don’t think the water is cold enough). When it hits the water, the sugar will cool instantly, becoming gooey, hard as a rock, or somewhere in between, depending on its stage of cooking. This clever test will tell you what the texture of the sugar would be if you were to stop the cooking and cool the mixture. If you don’t have a thermometer, this is a reliable test for doneness. If you do have a thermometer, then this is a fun way to confirm that your thermometer is correct and that you’ll have the desired outcome for the candy’s texture.
When you heat sugar, it’s not just “uncooked” and then “cooked” sugar. Sugar goes through several identifiable stages, each with a name and corresponding temperature:
Just as important as the thermometer, a heavy-duty metal pot will evenly heat the caramel to its high temperature. Avoid thin, lightweight pots, which will increase your chances of burning the caramel. Nonstick pans aren’t a good choice either, as the nonstick surface often degrades over time — whether from damage or just from wearing out — and this can affect the flavor of the food you’re cooking, especially at the high temperatures called for in making caramel.
As for size, I prefer an 8-quart saucepan or stockpot. This may seem large, but when you add the cream to the sugar, the very hot mixture will often bubble up in the pan and instantly (though temporarily) double or triple in volume. Using a large pot reduces the chance of the hot caramel bubbling over and causing injury or cleanup headaches. If you don’t have an 8-quart pan, a 4- or 5-quart pan will also work. Just be extra cautious to keep the mixture from bubbling over the sides of the pan.
Heatproof spatula: A spatula is the ideal tool for stirring the caramel and getting every last drop out of the saucepan or bowl. But just because a spatula is made of rubber doesn’t mean that it’s heatproof. Check the package, or the spatula itself, to make sure it can withstand heat up to at least 400°F.
Wooden spoon: You can use the back of a large wooden spoon (or an offset-handle spatula if you have one) to spread thin mixtures, such as toffee. And if you don’t have a heatproof spatula, a wooden spoon can take its place for stirring and scraping. However, wooden spoons can sometimes introduce small amounts of moisture in the middle and later stages of cooking caramel, which can then trigger the creation of sugar crystals and cause your sugar mixture to seize. For this reason, the heatproof spatula is more reliable for making caramels.
Whisk: Called for in many recipes, a whisk will combine the ingredients much better and faster than a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon.
A pastry brush, which is typically used for brushing sauce or an egg wash onto foods, has a special purpose when you’re making caramels: when the sugar mixture is boiling, you will use a damp pastry brush to wash down the inside walls of the pan to prevent the sugar from crystallizing and seizing. A traditional bristle brush is a better choice than a silicone brush, which can’t hold even a bit of water. Just make sure no bristles come off in the pan.
In many recipes for baked goods, parchment paper is used interchangeably with waxed paper, usually with similar results. However, when making caramels, I recommend using parchment instead of waxed paper to line the pan or baking sheet when required. The high temperature of caramel may cause the waxed paper to soften and melt into the caramel, negatively affecting the flavor. Parchment paper, on the other hand, can withstand the high heat and will not harm the caramel’s flavor.
Waxed paper does come in handy for wrapping the individual candies, especially soft caramels, after they have cooled. You can also purchase special caramel packaging materials at hobby stores like A.C. Moore, Michaels, and various online sites.
A kitchen scale isn’t crucial, but it will take the guesswork out of some measuring and make your kitchen time a bit shorter. It’s usually faster to weigh an ingredient, like butter or chocolate, rather than approximating its weight or measuring it by volume.