Soft-crack stage

The soft-crack stage is a point in cooking sugar syrup, reached at 132 to 143°C (270 to 290°F) at sea level. A drop of syrup in cold water separates into hard threads that bend a little before they break. The candy is firm but still slightly chewy and may stick to your teeth. Saltwater taffy, butterscotch, nougat with a firmer bite and some toffees are cooked to this stage. It comes after the hard-ball stage and before the hard-crack stage.

How to do it

1. Use a heavy, clean saucepan, a little larger than seems needed. Syrups with butter or cream foam up.
2. Dissolve the sugar in water over medium heat, stirring, before it boils.
3. Wash down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush.
4. Clip on a candy thermometer. The tip must sit in the syrup, not on the bottom of the pan.
5. Boil to 132 to 143°C (270 to 290°F). Syrups with butter or milk need gentle stirring so they do not scorch.
6. Take it off the heat as soon as it reaches the target. Add flavoring and pour or shape it as the recipe says.

How to tell it is done

Drop a little syrup into very cold water. Lift out what forms. At soft crack it makes threads or a lump that is hard but bends slightly before snapping, and it feels a little sticky in your mouth. If it forms a ball you can squash, it is still at hard ball. If it snaps cleanly and does not stick, it is at hard crack.

Why it works

As water boils away, the syrup's boiling point rises, so temperature tracks how much water is left. At soft crack, the syrup is about 95 percent sugar. There is enough water left to give a little chew, but not enough to keep the candy soft. With butter or milk in the syrup, you will also see the color start to deepen as the milk solids brown.

Common mistakes

• Using a small pan. Butterscotch and toffee bubble up high and can boil over.
• Stirring a plain sugar syrup. It may crystallize.
• Not watching the last few degrees. The temperature climbs fast near the end.
• Pulling taffy while too hot. Wait until it is cool enough to handle, and butter your hands.
• Cooking on a humid day. The finished candy can absorb moisture and turn sticky.

In recipes

"Cook to the soft-crack stage" and "cook to 140°C (285°F)" both refer to this. The cold-water test helps if you have no thermometer, but it takes practice.