Peanut Brittle

[FraidKnot]

those granma's were pretty crafty, weren't they. they avoided having to wash or worry about candy thermometers by noting that at the right temperature, after the first 1 or 2 big globs came off the wooden spoon, something looking like fiberglass or fishing line ("thread" in culinary terminolgy) was left hanging from the spoon.

commonly, the money saved on buying a candy thermometer was well spent on hooch from the local rumrunner or speakeasy.

Grandpa brewed beer in the basement, no need to buy hooch, just hops! I'm not even sure they made candy thermometers back in the 1920's and '30's.

 

[AllenOK]

hey rob, what's the baking soda doing in the recipe? i'm not seeing anything that it would react with. peanut brittle seemed so strait forward, that i've never bothered to actually look a recipe up.

i like pecans and hazelnuts better than peanuts, myself.

The baking soda reacts with the sugar. That's what gives the brittle the distinctive color and flavor. If you leave out the baking soda, you get a clear, hard sugar candy.

 

[aguynamedrobert]

I believe AllenOK is correct,
It is an acid within the sugar that reacts with the baking soda to release the carbon dioxide. This is actually going to make the Brittle more Brittle by adding the air to the mixture. It is going to add a little color but most of the color comes from taking the temperature of the brittle up to 305-310...the temp at which sugar starts to caramelize. The butter assists in the color as well...as it darkens at much lower temps...

-Robert
www.chocolateguild.com

 

[philso]

well, i was never any good in highschool chemistry, and i'm too lazy to google it (says a lot about me) my guess that any acidic minerals found in cane sugar sap are thoroughly removed by the time it gets to be granulated white sugar. i could definitely be wrong here though. it wouldn't be the first time. maybe someone more enterprising could do the research.

anyway, i simply start with as much sugar as i want to use, add enough water to wet it out, and cook until it just starts to caramelize. by the time i mix in the nuts, it's caramalized a bit more, to about the right taste for me. seems to be about the same as any other peanut brittle, but i've never done a side-by-side comparison.

 

[aeyla]

I tried the first recipe last night, but do not have a candy thermo. So I tried to do the old fashioned way hehe. Well let me just tell you it did not turn out. It did not set so I had a sticky gloop of peanuts...
Well I am not one to waste things so decided to pop a batch of popcorn and try the gloop on it and see if I could make a popcorn ball like my mom used to make. Well instead I put it in the oven at 250 and camalized it to make one great batch of carmel corn!!!! I am so pleased that something so great came out of a horrible mistake.
I am going to post this in the carmel corn thread I read the other day. I think this is easier to do then some of the recipes I saw. The key would be to let it cool before mixing with the popcorn so you dont melt the corn.

 

[YT2095]

actualy if I may,

Bicarb doesn`t react as such with the sugar, what Does happen is that the heat in the sugar is sufficiently high enough to decompose the bicarb.
NaHCO3 + Heat (543 kelvin) = Na2CO3 + H2O + CO2

it`s the heat thing that does it

 

[aguynamedrobert]

Thanks for your input..I have read that it was the sugar but I was slightly sceptical...although I wasn't educated enough in that science to know for sure...where did you learn that info?

Thanks for sharing,
Robert
Chocolate

 

[philso]

543 kelvin ??? is there an english translation of this?

this i posted for rob in a previous unrelated thread:

i've been wondering about the baking soda/sugar thing in the peanut brittle from that other post, so while the brownies were in the oven, i went ahead and experimented a bit. i made a half glass of simple syrup and added about 1/2 or 3/4 teaspoon of soda to it. i stand corrected. white sugar apparently does have some acidic minerals left in it to react with the soda. however, the action is very gentle, almost barely noticable. tasting it, it left a very unpleasant bitter aftertaste in my mouth for quite a long time (even after about 2 shots or so of kahlua). the fizzing action being so little, i think that the main reason for it being in the recipe is the taste. at the ratio i used, it was pretty yukky, but, like bitters in a drink, the right amount probably provides a nice balance to the sweetness of the brittle, maybe akin to quinine in tonic water. just thought i'd pass this along, too.

YT2095 - as the resident science guy (compared to some of us at least [read "me"]) maybe you could give us your take on what the baking soda is contributing to the final product in peanut brittle. a touch of bitterness to balance the sweetness? bubbles to affect the bite? a bit of both? none of the above?

we may end up having to cook up two batches, with and without, to get to the bottom of this. what a calamity! at least it won't be as fatty as two batches of brownies! lol

 

[FraidKnot]

i've been wondering about the baking soda/sugar thing in the peanut brittle from that other post, so while the brownies were in the oven, i went ahead and experimented a bit. i made a half glass of simple syrup and added about 1/2 or 3/4 teaspoon of soda to it. i stand corrected. white sugar apparently does have some acidic minerals left in it to react with the soda. however, the action is very gentle, almost barely noticable. tasting it, it left a very unpleasant bitter aftertaste in my mouth for quite a long time

Simple syrup isn't hot enough, for one thing, nor the right consistency. Peanut brittle isn't a syrup! It also doesn't have the flavour from having cooked the raw peanuts for a long time in the sugar/water combo or the addition of butter. No wonder it tasted nasty!

Fraidy

 

[aguynamedrobert]

Well I know this for a fact that the baking soda is used for taste and texture...I know this because the master confectioner I worked under would go taste peanut brittle and caramel corns that had baking soda in it and comment on if it had to much or too little because of the taste...He said it was an important part...also the texture is something we want...it makes the brittle more brittle...So it works for taste and texture...I just can't tell you scientifically why that baking soda is activated...

Robert
Chocolate

 

[YT2095]

appologies, 543K = 270 centigrade, just take 273 off any temp marked in Kelvin to get the Centigrade.

Sugar (C12H22O11) doesn`t have any freely available/replacable Hydrogen ions, therefore it`s non acidic and Ph neutral (7).

NaHCO3 is slightly basic though (alkaline), however it will decompose at quite a low temperature (270c) to give your CO2 gas bubbles, and actualy leaves Sodium carbonate (yes, Washing Soda!).
sodium ions do have a taste though, which is why Salt is added to certain sweets and cookies etc...
in fact even a crappy coffee can be taste improved by the addition of a little salt!

however that`s where I leave off, I`ve never made peanut brittle myself or tested with/without types. so I can`t really comment with any authority as to what it does to it from a Cooks/Tasters perspective.

all I can say is that it will give of CO2, you will be able to taste it, and it will on a perhaps noticable level affect the crystaline structure of the end product.

 

[philso]

don't read this; you've been warned

ok, after observing the results of my very scientific test and reading rob's master confectioners comments and perusing YT2095's physics 101 perambulations, my conclusive conclusions are thus, conclusively:

the baking soda in peanut brittle may add both a touch of bitterness and some bubbles to the end product.

of course you're shouting "why? why?"

well, i observed that baking soda added to a simple syrup of purified water and granulated sugar did in fact, and against my expectation, produce bubbles. a very gentle fizz, but a fizz it was.

this gentle fizz would be taking place right from the get go, so i would guess that a considerable percentage of the fizz fizzes right out, thus contributing to the greenhouse effect of our poor blighted planet, before it reaches the hard crack stage and can be trapped in the brittle as it cools when poured.

two questions remain: a) how much bubbliness is trapped in the brittle? and b) how much of the baking soda is left unreacted upon, to contribute a certain amount of bitterness?

both answers are, i think: not a whole lot.

again, why? well we know that not all of the bubbles produced are actually trapped, and, looking at peanut brittle it's obvious that it's not mostly air held together by a minumal amount of substance (to wit; pumice-like or bagguette-like), but mostly solid. hence, question a's answer.

also, it's been proven beyond a scientific doubt that peanut brittle is not gnarly tasting. thus question b's answer.

however, if even after all these undeniable scientific facts, you remain unconvinced, please consider this; what's not entirely obvious to neophyte chefs is absolutely transparent to a master confectioner. so (obviously) there's something going on which, from a lay persons perspective would be: not a whole lot. maybe something along the lines of a sommelier being able to tell the difference between the world's best wine and the world's second best wine.

case closed.

or maybe not, since i'd better admit, before someone else points it out in public, that i don't have the palate of a sommelier and i only just managed to get through 10th grade science by the skin of my teeth .

what i learned from this thread:

1. baking soda likely affects peanut brittle to a point where a brittle connosieur can notice, but ordinary people might not.
2. what a total idiot i am. i knew i was an idiot, but i'm only now realizing the true depths of my idiocy.
3. if i can write something like this without the aid of alcohol, it's not too likely that i have any future in literary circles.

what i haven't learned from this thread:

why there are people, myself perhaps foremost, who would rather sit babbling in front of a computer instead of getting a real life.

thank you, and excuse me

 

[YT2095]

if you got a fiz with you baking soda in plain water and sugar then there`s a contaminant somewhere.
either the water is a little acidic, the sodium bicarb is impure, or there`s still traces of HCl (Hydrochloric acid) in the sugars crystal latice.

Sucrose is quite a large sugar molecule, HCl is added to break this down into more simple sugars such as Fructose and Glucose etc...

as for doing these types of things on the computer, these types of things I do IN real life also
don`t be ashamed of it, You`ve have further Empirical evidence brought out through experimentation and observation, Be Proud of your nerdiness!


EDIT: you asked also: "two questions remain: a) how much bubbliness is trapped in the brittle? and b) how much of the baking soda is left unreacted upon, to contribute a certain amount of bitterness?"

a) you`de need to make some without the peanuts as their density varies, then you would make a batch of each, with and without the bicarb. weigh each peice, then see how much volume it takes up (simple displacement test will suffice), so that you have a Mass over Volume equasion and that will give you the density of each, the difference will be trapped CO2

b) you`de need to react this with an acid, the quantity of CO2 evolved will give you an idea in Molar values of the amount left unreacted.

 

[Barb L.]

I bought some peanut brittle 20-30 yrs. ago at a church christmas bazarre, have never seen it since. It was pale yellow and real buttery tasting very good brittle! Any ideas how it was made ? Thanks all !

 

[aguynamedrobert]

Ok one thing....273 Centigrade is 518 Degrees F. For Brittle the temp only comes up to 305-310 Degrees F....hum....

Robert
Chocolate

 

[philso]

YT2095 "... or there`s still traces of HCl (Hydrochloric acid) in the sugars crystal latice...."

eek! hydrochloric acid??? is that what's eating up my teeth??

"as for doing these types of things on the computer, these types of things I do IN real life also
don`t be ashamed of it, You`ve have further Empirical evidence brought out through experimentation and observation, Be Proud of your nerdiness! "

that's all fine and well, but now that i've pointed the finger at confectioners for screwing up the environment with their greenhouse gas emissions, i'm living in mortal fear of an assasination attempt by some culinary goon squad.


"EDIT: you asked also: "two questions remain: a) how much bubbliness is trapped in the brittle? and b) how much of the baking soda is left unreacted upon, to contribute a certain amount of bitterness?"

a) you`de need to make some without the peanuts as their density varies, then you would make a batch of each, with and without the bicarb. weigh each peice, then see how much volume it takes up (simple displacement test will suffice), so that you have a Mass over Volume equasion and that will give you the density of each, the difference will be trapped CO2

b) you`de need to react this with an acid, the quantity of CO2 evolved will give you an idea in Molar values of the amount left unreacted.

ok. i'll straighten up my research lab and get right on it!

 

[YT2095]

Ok one thing....273 Centigrade is 518 Degrees F. For Brittle the temp only comes up to 305-310 Degrees F....hum....

Robert
Chocolate

I don`t use F myself (don`t understand it), the 270c is the outside max for total decomp 100%, the actualy decomp starts 60c+, at 200c+ the decomp is quite violent.


Philso: the HCl pressent would be in PPM, and harmless to your teeth

EPA - Envirofacts Warehouse - TRI
will give you an idea of the amounts used in sugar refineries.
as for greenhouse gasses... ROFLOL

 

[Scott94596]

Just a note on microwave peanut brittle. If your microwave is not at least a 1,000 watt oven-it wont work. Been there and done that. I cant make it this year cause i am using an old microwave-which still works-but not powerful enough for brittle.

 

[sparrowgrass]

I make my Aunt Rosie's peanut brittle, with baking soda, and the soda definitely makes a big difference in the brittle. My peanut brittle is thick and full of bubbles, which make it melt in your mouth. And buttery tasting, like Barb L wanted.

Commercial peanut brittle is thin and glassy.

Don't make this peanut brittle unless you have a will of iron--once you take a bite, you won't quit til it is all gone.

Aunt Rosie's Peanut Brittle

3 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups white corn syrup
1 1/3 cup water
1 to 1 1/2 pounds dry roasted peanuts
1/4 cup butter--NOT margarine
1 heaping tsp. baking soda.

In a large, heavy pan, combine sugar, corn syrup and water. Stir constantly until mixture boils. Cover pan and let mixture steam for 2 minutes. (This ensures that you have no stray sugar crystals to interfere with the crystalization of the brittle.)

Cook the syrup mixture until it reaches about 290*. Add butter and peanuts, and cook to 305*. STIR CONSTANTLY--the mixture burns very easily once the peanuts are added.

Working quickly, stir the baking soda in, and pour onto lightly buttered cookie sheet. Do not spread the peanut brittle. (you can tilt the pan a little to allow it spread out over the pan.

Tips and warnings--be sure to set your cookie sheet on something heatproof--that candy is hot enough to damage a countertop. If you warm the peanuts in the microwave for a minute or two, they won't lower the temp of syrup so much, and it will be easier to stir. Wear cotton gloves or new white socks on your hands when you break the brittle--it can be sharp enough to cut you. It breaks more easily if it is still just a bit warm.

I use real butter, best I can find, and Planter's low salt dry roasted peanuts. If I can't find them, I put regular ones in a colander and rinse most of the salt off. If you have a big enough pan, you can double this recipe.