Cooking For Engineers

[Lindylou]

Does anyone have any idea why the butter will separate at the end of cooking english toffee? I've used the same recipe for years and it sometimes happened in the past but lately everytime I make it (2 c butter, 2 c sugar, 2 c almonds, 1/4 c Karo, 1/2 c water. Everything goes fine, then at end of cooking the butter separates (as oil) out of the candy. I've tried cooking slowly, not stirring, stirring constantly, increasing Karo, cooking rapidly - all to no avail. Is it the kind of butter? This didn't use to happen.

[yocona]

It could be a difference in brands of butter. (You're using unsalted, right?) However, I'm more inclined to suspect that it's a temperature issue. Have you tested your thermometer lately to see if it is still accurate? You can't calibrate a candy thermometer, but you can at least determine if it is off by a few degrees and compensate accordingly. When working with sugar, a few degrees can make a real difference.