Subtleties&Stuffe John Nott on Smooth & Blown Sugars

John Nott on the smooth boiling of sugar and on blown sugar.

Continuing with John Nott, here are his entries on the smooth boiling of sugar and on blown sugar.

164. The Smooth Boiling of Sugar.

You must first clarify your Sugar, and then set it on the Fire again, to boil it to its smooth Quality, and you may know when it is come to that, by dipping the Tip of your Fore-finger into it, and applying it to your Thumb, and then opening them a little; for a small Thread or String will stick to both, which will immediately break, and remain in a Drop upon the Finger; when this String is scarcely to be pereciv’d, the Sugar has only boil’d till it is a little smooth; but when it extends it self further before breaks, then the Sugar is very smooth. [Section SU; 1726 edition.]

165. To boil Sugar to its blown Quality.

When the Sugar at its pearl’d Quality has boill’d a few more Walms, shake the Skimmer a little with your Hand, beat in the Side of the Pan, and blow through the Holes of it, and if certain Sparks, as it were, or small Bubbles, fly out, the Sugar is come to the Degree or Quality called blown. [Section SU; 1726 edition.]

Nott, John. Cooks and Confectioners Dictionary. 1726. Facsimile. Edited with introduction and glossary by Elizabeth David. London: Lawrence Rivington, 1980. [Limited numbered edition.]