Making homemade candy is usually reserved for the holidays or that favorite aunt who may have used sorcery to create the confections she brought to every event. The idea that one would go out and buy such a specific tool as a candy thermometer seems a little ambitious and maybe even a little unnecessary. Candy thermometers are for so much more than peanut brittle and melting chocolate. These multi-functional kitchen tools can help you from breakfast to dessert with a little know-how.
Like a Kid in a Candy Thermometer Store
While there are many types of candy thermometers, many of us are familiar with tube-shaped candy thermometers that look like cartoonishly large versions of the medical-grade thermometers we held under our tongues as kids. Candy thermometers have come a long way since some of those limited analog models. While some analog models were limited to measuring liquids of a certain batch size, today’s digital candy thermometers can be used for so much more.
Probe-style candy thermometers can perform more tasks than their mercury analog counterparts. While paddle and cylinder-style candy thermometers are limited to measuring larger batches of liquid for candy making or deep frying, probe-style thermometers can also do the same functions as a meat thermometer, thus making it a more versatile kitchen tool.
Digital Virtues
Probe candy thermometers come in both analog and digital. While both will perform the same basic functions, the benefits of a digital candy thermometer can help save you time and wasted batches. You don’t have to buy the fanciest model for a digital candy thermometer to have several useful tools. For example, the Escali Digital Deep Fry & Candy Thermometer is a perfect digital probe candy thermometer with its ability to set three different temperature alerts.
Whether it be the appropriate temperatures for hard ball, soft crack, or thread, candy-making has many important temperatures to know and observe. It is important that a candy thermometer has a range that will reach up to at least 500 ° Fahrenheit (or 260 ° Celsius). While both the digital and analog versions of these candy thermometers will help you keep track of important temperatures for candy making, digital thermometers will have these important temperatures preset with an option to set an alarm to alert you when that temperature has been reached. This feature will enable you to tear your eyes away from the proverbial “watched pot” and allow you to multitask.
While analog thermometers take time to reach an accurate reading, digital thermometers will provide a highly accurate reading in under ten seconds. The digital candy thermometer’s ability to provide a near-immediate reading can save you precious time when cooking, baking, and grilling. The quick reading of a digital thermometer coupled with the ability to set an alert for a specific temperature will help make sure you never miss a crucial stage in your culinary creations.
Multi-Functional
Even if you’re not planning on making peanut brittle every year, a candy/deep-fry thermometer might be a great, versatile tool for your kitchen. The probe style, whether digital or analog, is also a multi-functional thermometer for meat, shallow pan frying, and grilling.
Happy cooking!