Sugar syrup and candy stages in °C and °F
Cook sugar syrup and it passes through a series of stages, each with its own temperature and texture once it cools. This candy temperature stages chart lists them from thread to hard crack and caramel in degrees Celsius and Fahrenheit, with the old cold-water test for each and the sweets it suits. It also covers the Indian chashni stages, such as the one-string syrup that gulab jamun and jalebi depend on.
Choose the stage you are cooking to and the tool gives the target range. If you live above sea level, enter your altitude or the temperature at which your water boils, and every stage drops by the same amount. Type your thermometer reading to see what stage it is. Everything runs in your browser.
How to use the Candy & Sugar Syrup Stage Chart
- Pick the stage your recipe names, such as soft ball for fudge or one string for gulab jamun.
- Choose °C or °F. Enter your altitude or, for the most accurate result, the boiling point of water on your thermometer today.
- Read the target temperature range, then heat the syrup without stirring and watch the thermometer.
- Optionally type the live reading to see the stage, and confirm with the cold-water or thread test before you take the pan off the heat.
Candy & Sugar Syrup Stage Chart features
Western and Indian stages
Seven candy stages plus five chashni stages in one place.
Altitude and boiling-point correction
Lowers every target by the drop in the boiling point of water.
Reading to stage
Type the temperature you see and get the stage name and chashni name.
Tests in words
The cold-water and thumb-and-finger tests are described, so you can check a thermometer that may be off.
Why the stages exist
Boiling syrup loses water, so its sugar concentration rises and so does its temperature. By the hard crack stage almost no water is left, so the later the stage, the less water remains and the harder the candy sets. The names come from tests made before thermometers: drop a little syrup in cold water and see what it forms.
The temperatures here follow the usual US extension-service tables, for example from Kansas State University and the Exploratorium, for thread (230–235 °F), soft ball (235–245 °F), firm ball (245–250 °F), hard ball (250–266 °F), soft crack (270–290 °F), hard crack (300–310 °F) and caramel (320–350 °F). Sources differ by a few degrees at the edges, so when a recipe gives its own figure, use that.
Correcting for altitude
Water boils about 1 °F lower for every 500 feet you climb, or roughly 1 °C per 300 metres, and sugar syrup follows. A recipe written at sea level that says 240 °F should be cooked to about 236 °F at 2,000 feet. The most reliable fix is to boil plain water with your thermometer and subtract the amount it falls below 100 °C (212 °F) from every target. Enter that number above and it overrides the altitude estimate, which also corrects for the weather and for a thermometer that reads a little off.
Indian chashni, in words
- Kachi chashni: sticky between thumb and finger but without a thread. Used when a light soaking syrup is wanted.
- Ek taar (one string): let a drop cool for a few seconds on a spoon, press it between thumb and forefinger and pull gently apart. A single thread forms and then breaks. This is the usual syrup for gulab jamun, jalebi and boondi laddu.
- Do taar (two string): the thread stretches further before it breaks, which suits barfi and laddu that need to bind.
- Teen taar (three string): a thick, firm thread, close to the firm ball stage, for sweets that must set hard.
Candy & Sugar Syrup Stage Chart FAQ
What temperature is one string sugar syrup?
Roughly 105 to 110 °C (221 to 230 °F) at sea level, a little below the Western thread stage. Home cooks judge it by the thread test, so treat the temperature as a guide.
What is the soft ball stage temperature for fudge?
About 235 to 245 °F (113 to 118 °C). Many fudge recipes aim for about 236 °F (113 °C) and let the mix cool before beating.
What temperature is hard crack stage?
About 300 to 310 °F (149 to 154 °C). The syrup forms brittle threads in cold water and sets glass-hard, as in lollipops and brittle.
Does altitude change candy temperatures?
Yes. The boiling point of water drops about 1 °F per 500 feet (1 °C per 300 m), so each target is lowered by the same amount.
Why is my candy too soft or grainy?
Soft candy usually means the syrup stopped short of the stage or humidity added water. Grainy candy comes from stray crystals, so wash down the pan sides and avoid stirring while it boils.
How accurate is a candy thermometer?
Check it in boiling water. If it reads 99 °C instead of 100 °C at your altitude, treat that as your correction, which the boiling-point box above applies for you.