Candy making utensils…

Utensils… well… why should you care about the required utensils?

You will simply use whatever you have at home to make your candies! right?

I will be the first to admit that no special utensils are required – If you have a basic kitchen, you already have all of the things you need to make your candies and that’s a fact.

Still… you better choose your candy cooking utensils with some care. So let’s discuss what tools you may wish to choose from your drawers before making candies. I will discuss these tools from the most important top three tools to the least important, but I should point out that having all these tools – neither a lot of tools nor a considerable expense! – will make your candy making experience much accurate, repeatable, faster, simpler and finally – a lot more fun!

Thermometer

I’ll put it plainly – you don’t need a thermometer, and if you read my page on making candies without tools you will learn how to do that. BUT – and it’s a big “BUT” it will make your candy making much simpler and easier!. If it is affordable – buy it. I would also suggest either a candy thermometer or a laser thermometer. I prefer the laser one, but that means I have to stir the hot candy before I measure.

Measuring cups

It’s the most useful tool you will have or need for candy making. It’s not a must – but it sure will cut down preparation time. Again, there are many websites like Ebay or AliExpress that sell these at very low cost. These measuring cups are also useful for cooking in general so it’s not a purchase that will be used only for candy making. I do recommend you buy light weight measuring cups that stand steadily on their flat bottoms – these should have light weight handles. This feature will prevent spills when weighing light material (such as spices).

The Pot

I would recommend having two pots – both preferably from stainless steel. One should have a thick bottom (retaining the heat) and one should be made from a thin sheet of stainless steel. The reason is due to the natural candy behavior – some candies “burn” really fast so a think bottom pot won’t do with these candies. Most don’t care so you can start with the thin bottom pot.

I would not cook in aluminum tools however, at least not the sour candies that contain natural acids such as citric acid. These acids can react with the aluminum and you will eat aluminum atoms in your candy, which isn’t good for us humans… Usually these aluminum pots are Teflon coated. So – if you have a Teflon coated aluminum pot – make sure it is unscratched before you use it.

Note:  Teflon is also known as PTFE in the industry.

The stirring tool

It doesn’t matter if you use a stainless, plain steel or wooden spoon (plastic spoons will melt or deform, so plastics are out of this list for obvious reasons…).

There is only one important thing about your candy mixing tool – it has to have a long handle. Preferably it would not conduct heat – such as a stainless spoon with a wooden handle (as seen below), but even a long handle teaspoon will do. Bamboo spoons work well – assuming they fit your pot.

The scale

The scale is not critical – so if you are on low budget and can’t afford one don’t buy it just for candy making. However, you will need one if you want your candies to be consistent – meaning that you will get the same flavor intensity similar from batch to batch. Today with Aliexpress and Ebay (and many other websites out there) buying such a scale is both cheap and affordable. I recommend you do buy one if  you can.

Parchment paper

Parchment paper is my solution to the stickiness of the poured candy. I would highly recommend parchment paper and it can be used twice: once for each side. If you find yourself in a pinch – you can try using it twice per side but never three times as the paper fiber will be embedded in the candy on the third attempt. Warning: Do not mistake sandwich wrapping paper for parchment paper – they do look much the same but they are not the same and it will stick to your candies and ruin the batch!

If parchment paper is not handy you can also pour on a lightly greased marble or thick glass surface. To do that you only need a tiny bit of cooking  oil or butter. I suggest you use a non-flavored oil (e.g. sunflower oil) so you won’t add an unwanted flavor to your candies. For this reason I would not use olive oil (although I do love it, and use only it for most of my cooking), and the same goes for Peanut oil, Avocado oil and so on. If you do use oil make sure you can slide the slab of candy off the surface – this is the simplest way to get it off the surface.

Well… it’s become a lot longer of a page than I had planned for, but I hope you have enjoyed it.

Go make some candies… and good luck!

Saar