Serious Eats: Talk  So Apparently You Can't Make Candy Without a
Candy Thermometer..  At least not without a fire extinguisher
handy.  I decided to spend my Sunday afternoon making pralines,
but I don't have a thermometer. The recipe I used said to bring
the brown sugar mixture to a boil, stirring constantly, and cook
until "soft ball consistency." Sure, there was also a
temperature next to it, but I figure "soft ball consistency"
meant stir until thickened enough to roll into a soft ball,
right? Wrong. Very, very wrong.  Fortunately, thanks to a lot of
scrubbing, I think my Calphalon is saved. But my question is
what the criz is soft ball consistency, and is it possible to
reach without a thermometer?! The mixture seemed to go from nice
brown bubbling to raging black volcano in a matter of seconds,
so how do I judge?  Also, if anyone has any thermometer-less
recipes for pralines or other crunchy pecan-ey delicious treats,
please share!  Printed from  © Serious Eats