{"id":19,"count":11,"description":"<h2>Contents<\/h2>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><a href=\"#what-is\">What is caramel<\/a><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"#groups\">Main variations<\/a><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"#stages\">Preparation stages<\/a><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"#mistakes\">Common mistakes<\/a><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"#faq\">FAQ<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n<h2 id=\"what-is\">What is caramel<\/h2>\r\n<p>Caramel is the product of thermal sugar degradation \u2014 sucrose heated above 160\u00b0C breaks down into hundreds of volatile and non-volatile compounds, producing the characteristic amber color, toasted aroma, and deep flavor. The name covers a spectrum of confections: hard caramel candy, soft chewy caramels, toffee, butterscotch, dulce de leche, and flowing caramel sauces.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 id=\"groups\">Main variations and product groups<\/h2>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><strong>Hard caramel candies<\/strong> \u2014 sugar and glucose syrup cooked to 150-160\u00b0C; transparent, brittle, long-lasting.<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Soft caramel chews<\/strong> \u2014 milk, cream, butter, and sugars cooked to 118-125\u00b0C; elastic texture rich in dairy.<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Toffee and butterscotch<\/strong> \u2014 butter-sugar cooked to 140-150\u00b0C; harder than soft caramel but more fragile than candy.<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Fleur de sel caramel<\/strong> \u2014 soft caramel finished with sea salt flakes for contrast, modern classic in <a href=\"\/category\/world-cuisine\/desserts\/\">desserts<\/a>.<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Dulce de leche<\/strong> \u2014 long-cooked sweetened condensed milk, South American staple for filling and spreading.<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Caramel sauces and syrups<\/strong> \u2014 pourable for coffee, ice cream, and pastries.<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Caramel color (E150)<\/strong> \u2014 industrial food coloring produced by controlled sugar caramelization with ammonia, sulfites, or both.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n<h2 id=\"stages\">Preparation stages<\/h2>\r\n<ol>\r\n<li><strong>Sugar dissolution<\/strong> \u2014 combine sugar with water or glucose syrup in heavy-bottomed pan; stir only until dissolved.<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Dry-heat caramelization<\/strong> \u2014 stop stirring once boiling; agitation seeds crystallization. Swirl pan gently if needed.<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Color development<\/strong> \u2014 watch for amber shift starting at 160\u00b0C; color deepens rapidly from pale gold to dark amber to burnt.<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Dairy or fat addition<\/strong> \u2014 for soft caramels and sauces, warm cream and butter added carefully \u2014 mixture splatters violently with cold dairy.<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Final cooking<\/strong> \u2014 for soft caramels cook to 118-125\u00b0C firm-ball stage; hard candies to 150-160\u00b0C hard-crack.<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Cooling and setting<\/strong> \u2014 pour onto parchment or oiled tray; score soft caramels before fully set.<\/li>\r\n<li><strong>Wrapping<\/strong> \u2014 pieces individually wrapped in greaseproof paper to prevent sticking and moisture absorption.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n\r\n<h2 id=\"mistakes\">Common mistakes when preparing caramel<\/h2>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>\u26a0\ufe0f <strong>Adding cold dairy to hot caramel<\/strong> \u2014 causes violent boil-over and steam burns; warm cream to 50-60\u00b0C before adding slowly.<\/li>\r\n<li>\u274c <strong>Stirring during caramelization<\/strong> \u2014 seeds crystallization and produces grainy sugar; swirl the pan instead.<\/li>\r\n<li>\u274c <strong>Sugar splashing on pan sides<\/strong> \u2014 crystals stick to hot pan walls, fall back into syrup, trigger crystallization of entire batch.<\/li>\r\n<li>\u274c <strong>No glucose syrup in hard candy<\/strong> \u2014 pure sucrose crystallizes during cooling; 25-35% glucose syrup prevents graining.<\/li>\r\n<li>\u274c <strong>Overcooking<\/strong> \u2014 170-175\u00b0C turns caramel bitter; remove from heat at target color, residual heat continues darkening.<\/li>\r\n<li>\u274c <strong>Humid storage<\/strong> \u2014 hard caramel absorbs water rapidly and becomes sticky within hours; wrap and store airtight.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n<h2 id=\"faq\">FAQ<\/h2>\r\n<h3>At what temperature does sugar caramelize?<\/h3>\r\n<p>Sucrose begins thermal decomposition at 160\u00b0C, turns pale gold at 160-165\u00b0C, amber at 170-175\u00b0C, dark amber and bitter at 180\u00b0C. For soft caramels cook the full dairy mixture to 118-125\u00b0C.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h3>Why did my caramel crystallize?<\/h3>\r\n<p>A single seed crystal triggers the whole batch. Causes: stirring during caramelization, undissolved sugar crystals, or splash on pan sides. Always dissolve sugar fully before boiling and use a wet pastry brush on pan sides.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h3>How long does caramel keep?<\/h3>\r\n<p>Hard candy 2-3 months wrapped airtight. Soft caramels 3-4 weeks at room temperature, 2 months refrigerated. Caramel sauce 3-4 weeks refrigerated; reheat gently before serving.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>More information on caramel can be found in the articles below:<\/em><\/p>","link":"https:\/\/tehnologam.com\/en\/key-words\/caramel\/","name":"Caramel","slug":"caramel","taxonomy":"post_tag","meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Caramel is food product obtained by heating sugar until it melts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Caramel is food product obtained by heating sugar until it melts and develops a golden to deep brown color with a distinctive sweet, slightly bitter flavor.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tehnologam.com\/en\/key-words\/caramel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Caramel is food product obtained by heating sugar until it melts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Caramel is food product obtained by heating sugar until it melts and develops a golden to deep brown color with a distinctive sweet, slightly bitter flavor.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tehnologam.com\/en\/key-words\/caramel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"If you know Technology - 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