Peppermint evaporating in hard candy?

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TadGhostal

Assistant Cook
Joined
Feb 13, 2015
Messages
2
Location
Charlotte, NC
Greetings all,

I'm having an issue trying to make hard peppermint candy.

I'm using LorAnn Peppermint oil, and I'm adding it after the sugar stops boiling, but it immediately smokes and, I can only assume, evaporates out, because the end result has very little peppermint flavor.

I've used 1 dram, and then 2 drams in a batch with no better result. I've tried waiting until the candy cools back down to about 250, and it still evaporates out.

The entire kitchen gets filled with extremely strong peppermint vapor and it burns my eyes and nose.

What am I doing wrong? I've searched all over the internet and it seems NO ONE is having this problem. Everything I've read says add the flavoring after the sugar stops boiling, but I think it's obvious that it's immediately evaporating out.

This is peppermint oil, with no alcohol, and I'm not going over 300F. I'm at a loss here. I've got the hard candy thing down pretty well - just not the flavoring. I want really strong peppermints!

Any help/suggestions would be appreciated!
 
My first thought would be to try a different brand of peppermint oil.
 
I'm not a candy maker, so not sure. Others here with experience will hopefully weigh in. Penzeys may have some double strength peppermint extract. Wilton (the cake and candy supply place) might have some as well.

BTW, welcome to DC!
 
I've used peppermint extract in hard candy with good results.

I think that the Lorann oils are best for flavoring different types of candies like chocolate. The flavored oil will not cause chocolate to seize like a flavoring with an alcohol/water base.

Extracts will likely work better in hard, sugar based candies.
 
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