Gritty fudge - what did we do wrong?

[RomComPhooey]

Following on from my corn syrup thread earlier, DS1 and I fudged the vanilla fudge recipe & made a batch with double cream (instead of full fat milk), caster sugar and butter + vanilla extract. I have a jam thermometer, so could see it hit soft ball about 3 min into the main rolling boil (which recipe estimated would be ~10 min). We took it off the heat after 5 min @ 114c (soft ball). It tastes OK and has set, but it is rather grainy and a bit crunchy, like sugar in block form. Have we done something wrong? Should we have let the rolling boil go for the full 10 min, even though it was creeping up towards hard ball temperature?

Sounds like you've made tablet rather than fudge - you can send it to me and try again if you don't like it - I like it much better than squishy fudge.
The difference apparently id in the cooling as well as the boiling...

cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/16803/why-does-my-fudge-always-set-up-like-a-rock

How long did you leave it before stirring it. It's important to leave it well alone once it's got to soft ball stage for at least 15 mins before stirring so the temperature of the fudge cools right down otherwise you get grainy fudge

Yes it is like tablet. And I think we stirred too soon. Bugger!

Basically I panicked because it sort of imploded when I added the vanilla essence and salt after I took it off the heat, so started stirring almost straight away.

I have a recipe for fudge - from the Penguin cookbook - and it always comes out like tablet, but as that's the recipe my mum used, I am used to it, and happy with it.

And it always tastes delicious and gets eaten quickly, so I wouldn't worry.

My kids like it but even they have declared it sickly.

I think you haven't melted the sugar properly, that's why it's gritty. Heat slowly until all the sugar has melted - the sugar needs to melt properly before you start to boil the fudge. Grainy is desirable in my opinion - You encourage a grainy texture by beating fudge as it cools so you might want to avoid that stage if you don't like grainy.

I think if it gets too hot for too long it goes a bit crystallised. The sugar should have dissolved at that temp.

When I do fudge if it's been getting a bit too hot then you start to see darker specks which will turn into strands of left longer and ime this can make it a bit grainy.

Once it's got to to the stage of the odd speck appearing I leave it, stop stirring and pour it out to set.

Ok, so I beat it/stirred it vigorously after the recipe-mandated quick dunk of the pan in iced water. Would I have been better just pouring it after I'd taken it off the heat?

Also, the recipe said not to stir whilst it was at the rolling boil stage.

Rom if you like squishy fudge they boil it less and don't beat it. But grainy fudge is not the same as gritty fudgy. Grainy is a softer version of tablet.

You don't need to stir at the rolling boil but you do need to stir to dissolve the sugar properly - it really is the key and I was completely amazed that sugar refused to dissolve at high temps, they don't dissolve they caramelise - after a few failed batches I realised my problem.

Thanks both - I think I'll have another go with standard ingredients before I attempt the chocolate version, which has lots of expensive high cocoa solids dark chocolate in it.