Cool Kitchen Gadgets: Digital Candy Thermometer
By Nikki Goldstein (from Serious Eats) on December 14, 2009
I'd gotten along just fine for years without a digital candy thermometer. For plenty of purposes in the kitchen--just trying to get a bubbling pot of sugar to a certain range, like the soft ball or hard ball phases, or just trying to get oil hot enough for frying--a standard candy thermometer, giving temperatures on an old-fashioned analog dial, is just fine. This Taylor Classic or Polder 511 will do the trick nicely.
As it turns out, though, candy thermometers come quite in handy--and for DIY candy-making, a digital readout is much more precise. Williams-Sonoma makes a reasonably priced digital model for $35, and Amazon.com offers several popular brands and models including Maverick's digital oil and candy thermometer. It beeps as soon as it reads the temperature you set it to, letting you know exactly when your concoction is ready. It's great if you're doing advanced work where it's more important to hit a particular temperature, rather than a range.
Here's the caveat: Even if you have a gadget to tell you when you're sugar's ready, leaving a pot of boiling sugar alone for more than a millisecond is a bad, bad idea, as anyone who's done it can tell you (myself included). Sugar can burn far more quickly that most people suspect, and a few moments can make all the difference. Some would also say that a traditional thermometer is more reliable; at the very least, it doesn't have batteries that could die at the wrong moment.
The convenience of a digital reader benefits the avid perfectionist, not the lazy baker, so know which category you fall into before you shell out the bigger bucks. For the former, it's a worthy investment, but this holiday season, I'll be making my marshmallows with my trusty old analog friend.
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Serious Eats is a website focused on celebrating and sharing food enthusiasm through blogs and online community.Our unique combination of community and content brings together the distinctive voices of food bloggers, compelling original and acquired food video, and spirited, inclusive, conversations about all things food- and drink-related.
As it turns out, though, candy thermometers come quite in handy--and for DIY candy-making, a digital readout is much more precise. Williams-Sonoma makes a reasonably priced digital model for $35, and Amazon.com offers several popular brands and models including Maverick's digital oil and candy thermometer. It beeps as soon as it reads the temperature you set it to, letting you know exactly when your concoction is ready. It's great if you're doing advanced work where it's more important to hit a particular temperature, rather than a range.
Here's the caveat: Even if you have a gadget to tell you when you're sugar's ready, leaving a pot of boiling sugar alone for more than a millisecond is a bad, bad idea, as anyone who's done it can tell you (myself included). Sugar can burn far more quickly that most people suspect, and a few moments can make all the difference. Some would also say that a traditional thermometer is more reliable; at the very least, it doesn't have batteries that could die at the wrong moment.
The convenience of a digital reader benefits the avid perfectionist, not the lazy baker, so know which category you fall into before you shell out the bigger bucks. For the former, it's a worthy investment, but this holiday season, I'll be making my marshmallows with my trusty old analog friend.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Serious Eats is a website focused on celebrating and sharing food enthusiasm through blogs and online community.Our unique combination of community and content brings together the distinctive voices of food bloggers, compelling original and acquired food video, and spirited, inclusive, conversations about all things food- and drink-related.
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