Why did my caramel corn crystallize?

Answer 1

You must have overcooked it. All the various caramel corn recipes I've used have the syrup cooked to the softball stage. You must have gone to at least hardball stage for it to crytallize. And was your pan completely clean and then did you use a little butter on the inside "walls" so the sugar could totally dissolve in the liquids rather than sticking to the sides of the pan?

Answer 2

Could be a number of things....
Was it very humid when you were making the syrup? Candies and/or sugar syrups are more difficult to make when it is humid. The sugar retains more moisture and will sometimes crystallize more quickly when put to heat. Double check the boiling point of water at your locale before making them if you've any question on humidity level. [Water boils at 212F at sea level and one degree less for every 500 feet above sea level.] Adjust your temperature on candy thermometer [I mean if water boils at 210F on a given day and the recipe says to cook the syrup to 270F, only cook to 268F].
Was it stirred according to the recipe? If you took the spoon out and put it back in, there may have been granules of sugar on it that caused the crystallization.
Was the pan completely dry prior to beginning the syrup?
Did you wash down the sides of the pan whilst making the syrup? If so, did you wait until after it had come to a boil and allow time for the water to dissipate?

Next time, try a recipe which uses corn syrup instead of sugar to avoid the problem partially.

Answer 3

You probably cooked it too long...or kept it at a too high temp for too long...I'm saying this only because I did it myself recently....