Thermometer oddity

Jethro_uk · 2020-10-13T13:42:21+00:00

For reasons not relevant here :) I'm trying to make invert syrup.It seems the trick is to get the fully dissolved sucrose (i.e. granulated sugar) to a temperature of 114C before killing the heat and letting cool naturally to a (literally) Golden syrup.To my pleasant surprise I discovered a true candy thermometer at the back of the drawer. However (a) it misted up inside (I know it's not supposed to) and (b) trying to read the scale to the exact 114C was a PITA.So I reverted to my plan A which was to use a digital thermometer I have for brewing. Long probe and reads C/F with a max/min hold feature.The problem is that the display dances all over the place with (what I presume) is the sampling rate = about once every 2 seconds. So I've seen 108/112/109/107/113/110/107/109 before getting 114 ... and then 110/109/114/115/109 etc ?Just curious as to what is happening and more importantly what it says about the accuracy of the thermometer ????

Oct 13, 2020 Last reply: 5 years ago 26 Replies

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Chris Hogg 5 years ago

Under normal circumstances, you should never put bought honey out for bees, unless you know the beekeeper who produced it and he can assure you it's free from the diseases that bees get. A lot of commercial honey, for example that bought in supermarkets, will be imported or blended with imported honey, and will likely carry bee diseases. UK bees fed with that honey will catch those diseases and the hive will be severely affected and may even be killed out.

This, from here

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"Never feed bees honey unless it is from their own colony. Honey can carry harmful spores, which are perfectly safe for us humans but can be most deadly for bees. Imported honey can transfer foreign diseases, which then could kill off native or indigenous colonies."

But in your case, having well and truly cooked it, it might be OK. But only 'might be'.

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AnthonyL 5 years ago

Thanks for that. Isn't stuff complicated?

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Jethro_uk 5 years ago

There is a fucktonne of science - some still as yet unresearched - in the processes involved in cooking and food preparation.

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Reentrant 5 years ago

You should never give honey of unknown origin to bees as it can contain all pathogen spores such as foul brood.

When sugars are heated the Maillard ("browning") reaction starts and all kinds of complex molecules form. Initially they taste pleasant ie caramel, but too hot and bitter compounds also form. Lots on this in the superb McGee book already mentioned.

As a beekeeper we were warned on our training course many years ago about hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) if you got honey too hot as it was carcinogenic, but according to Wikipedia it probably isn't.

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tabbypurr 5 years ago

I ued to make fudge as a kid, I don't remember it ever going wrong. If you struggle with it you're surely doing something amiss. I never used a thermometer, or any other instrument. Unfortunately I can remember hardly any of the details.

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newshound 5 years ago

Presumably a thermocouple probe? Even if the thermocouple tip is connected to the probe there is some thermal inertia, that sounds to me more like electrical noise or a bad electrical connection somewhere. Some of my digital "cooking" thermometers read to tenths, and only that last figure fluctuates whatever I'm measuring.

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