Fudge experts needed! I screwed up fudge. Any tips? Am talking proper fudge, soft ball stage n all that

[MincepieBorage]

Basically it turned in to toffee, which ended up being far top hard to eat to be remotely enjoyable, so I turned it in to delicious toffee sauce. I used to (about 20 years ago be quite successful at making proper crumbly fudge, but this time was cautious about under cooking it so overcooked it. When's it ready? I have a thermometer and know it should be 240 degrees, but in practice, I buggered it up. Help.

wot no fudge ponces?

hmmm. My sugar thermometer puts soft ball at 118 degrees C. You can also take it off the heat when you think it might be ready and dunk a bit into cold water to see if it is a 'soft ball'. I made some fudge yesterday and one lot is perfect and the other all odd and crystally. If you undercook it though you can always reheat it to the right temp and then whisk it up etc. Hope that helps

Thanks
yes, think that's what I'll need to do, undercook and reheat if no good.
btw all the fudge I made in the past used to be odd and crystally just before it became the perfect crumbly fudge. Is your fudge crumbly? Do you think the odd and crystally thing is when it's just a little overcooked?
240 is farenheit from my antiquated fudge cook book!

Oh god, ignore me, I've turned in to a fudge bore! Sorry!

No, I think actually that I was too lazy ( orin too much of a hurry to go out carol singing) and I didn't mix it enough when cooling - not sure but I think the mixing is to break up the sugar crystals ( so my 1950 Good Housekeeping book says)- so I guess I didn't beat it enough. Its not awfully nice though ! ( cleatly I am boring too)...

ah ha! Yes, right then, I feel I am ready for another try. When I made it this time, I remember it going sort of crystally, and then decided it needed to cook for longer. I will stop when crystally thing happens and beat fiercly to break up the crystals. Thanks teabag

Let me know how it goes as I can't be arsed to try again myself! Good luck

TRy using the old fashioned saucer test. Put a little water in a saucer and drop a little fudge mixture into it when you think the mixture is ready. Allow it to cool for a minute and then see if it will roll into a soft ball. If it has, it is ready. (BTW when the mixture is ready it has usually turned colour a little and doesn't cling to the sides of the saucepan.

I'm from Canada and we never used a thermometer in our family when making fudge. We just kept a glass of very cold water beside the pot and periodically dropped a little of the "fudge-to-be" into the glass. Replace the cold water after each try. At first, it just dissolves into a soup: It's not ready yet. Then it makes a nice little soft ball (perfect -- take it off the heat). If you cook it too long, it makes a firm caramel thread or ball. At this point it is too late for fudge but maybe OK for ice cream topping. By the way, as kids, we liked the taste of the soft fudge in the in the ice water so much that we ate half of it this way!

Agree with Karlo and Lilymaid re. cold water test. Don't bother with thermometer. Also, the beating part is v. important, I always beat hard with electric mixer (stick it straight into the saucepan & beat as soon as you take saucepan off the heat).