I made candied almonds In a crock pot according to a recipe. They did not get a candy coating on them. Now I have a large bowl of gooey nuts and don't know what to do with them. They are too expensive to throw out.
1 Answer
I'm not an expert on candy-making, but it sounds to me as if you didn't heat the sugar sufficiently. The temperature that the sugar reaches will affect the texture when it cools:
I'd attempt to heat it back up to hard-crack state (300°F), and see if I could recover it.
Being that I don't have a candy thermometer, I'd probably try something stupid, like spread it out on a sheet pan (on a silicone mat) and bake it in a 325°F oven 'til it got close, then turn the temperature down to 300°F and just let it sit for a while.
Candymaking generally requires pretty specific temperatures ... I'm not sure that I'd trust a crockpot unless it was one of those digital controlled ones with a temperature probe. (but I suspect most of those are intended for meat, and may not be able to handle temperatures above 250°F)
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1Depending on the recipe, they might also just need to dry out more, in which case you wouldn't have to worry about reaching a specific temperature, and you could just leave them in a moderate oven (even cooler than 300F if you're paranoid about overcooking) until done.– Cascabel ♦Nov 19, 2014 at 1:32
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1The sheet pan is a good idea. Given that most slow cookers max out around 215F, I don't think they get hot enough to really "candy" anything.– SourDohNov 19, 2014 at 23:02