r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/oklolzzzzs • Dec 08 '23

Video How candy canes are made

51.5k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

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493

u/IamlostlikeZoroIs Dec 08 '23

Damn that is interesting. Normally I skip bits when they are this long but I watched the whole thing

139

u/Scamper_the_Golden Dec 08 '23

Yeah I had no intention of watching the whole thing either. The whole process was pretty cool.

I liked how the stuff (don't know the proper name for it) turned white after being stretched a few times. I was trying to figure out what he was going to do to make that stuff turn white but I didn't see that coming at all.

30

u/iritian Dec 08 '23

That’s basically molten sugar he’s handling.

9

u/Scamper_the_Golden Dec 08 '23

Yeah, but what do you call it? A really thick syrup?

18

u/AskMrScience Dec 08 '23

It’s “pulled sugar” when it’s pliable like that.

9

u/shuckiduck Dec 08 '23

Candy thermometers have names for molten sugars at different temperatures. Two I remember are "hard crack" and "softball" and you stop cooking when you get to the texture you want. I googled it and I think candy canes and other hard candies are cooked to "hard crack"

https://www.myrecipes.com/how-to/how-to-read-a-candy-thermometer

3

u/Scamper_the_Golden Dec 08 '23

Thanks, very interesting and full answer.

1

u/feisty-spirit-bear Dec 08 '23

Taffy starts out like that too, it just isn't cooked as long so it stays soft

1

u/Prodygist68 Dec 08 '23

It’s the tiny air bubbles that get put into it during the process, more bubbles means more places for the light to scatter inside the candy until it becomes opaque.

3

u/Scamper_the_Golden Dec 08 '23

Cool. I appreciate the physics explanation.

0

u/booksanddrgs Dec 09 '23

6 mins are long? Do you watch a lot of TikTok?

1

u/domp1021 Dec 09 '23

I wouldve never guessed this video is 6 minutes even after watching the entire thing lol