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How is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. How’s Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. This article has been viewed 1,952,420 times. Caramel is the result of melting and browning sugar. While perfecting caramel takes practice, sugar is cheap, so mistakes aren’t costly.
Once you know what end purpose you need the caramel for, it’s time to get started making your own caramel. You do not need any special equipment to make caramel, but the saucepan or skillet you use should be completely clean. Make sure the pot is heavy, solid, and light-colored so you can monitor the caramelization process. If you plan on adding cream to your caramel, be sure the pot you choose can accommodate the caramel’s expansion. For our purposes, this means the formation of awful sugar clumps. Heated sugar can splatter, and burn you very badly.
Wear long-sleeves, an apron, and an oven mitt. If you have glasses, wear them. Keep a deep bowl of cold water nearby to plunge your hand in if caramel lands on it. Sprinkle the sugar in a thin layer at the bottom of your saucepan or skillet.
Pour your water over the sugar slowly and evenly so all of the sugar is covered. Be sure there are no dry spots. Brown sugar and powdered sugars contain too many impurities and will not caramelize. Cook the sugar and water on medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
Watch the mix closely and swirl the pot if you notice any sugar clumps forming. Most clumps will melt during cooking. To prohibit recrystallization, you can keep the pot covered until the sugar is completely melted. Any sugar crystals hanging on to the sides of the pot will be forced to the bottom by the condensation created. These recrystallization “agents” prevents large crystal lumps from forming by coating the smaller crystals. Some people also use a pastry brush dipped in water to wipe any sugar crystals off the sides of the pot during the heating process. While effective, the bristles can come off the brush and wind up in your beautiful caramel confection.
Watch the sugar as it darkens. When it has reached the point of almost being burnt and when it is gently foaming and smoking, immediately remove it from the heat. Because cookware and stoves do not always distribute heat evenly, it is important that you stand over the caramel during the entire process. Browning occurs quickly and caramel can burn quickly if left unattended. Add in the cream and butter to cool the pot and stop the cooking process. Stir with a whisk on low heat. Any lumps that remain can be strained out.
Cool the caramel and store in an airtight container. 4 teaspoon of Kosher salt once the caramel mixture cools to room temperature. To make a a vanilla caramel sauce, stir in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract when you remove the caramel from the heat. Cleaning up your sticky pan may seem daunting, but it is fairly simple. Either soak your pan in warm water or fill the pan with water and bring it to a boil.
Boiling will melt all of the caramel. Put the sugar in a pan. Sprinkle an even layer of sugar in the bottom of a heavy skillet or saucepan. Be sure the pan is large enough to accommodate the sugar’s expansion. Cook the sugar on medium heat. You will notice the edges of the sugar will begin to brown and cook first.