Old Fashioned Vinegar Taffy Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why is my taffy so hard? ›

If our taffy feels hard, it is most likely because it is cold; try holding the taffy snugly in the palm of your hand for a few moments, the warmth should soften it right up!

Does salt water taffy expire? Yes, taffy can go bad and generally expires six months after purchase. Homemade taffy expires even sooner and only lasts 3-7 days.

Modern commercial taffy is made primarily from corn syrup, glycerin and butter. The pulling process, which makes the candy lighter and chewier, consists of stretching out the mixture, folding it over, and stretching it again.

Salt Water Taffy: This is a pretty resilient candy best enjoyed at a warmer room temperature. Store in a sealed plastic bag at room temperature for the longest shelf life, which can be up to 3 months before the consistency begins to change.

Taffy Care:

Avoid cold as it makes taffy hard. Taffy Likes 70 degrees. If taffy gets hard, soften in a microwave approx. 5 seconds for 5 to 10 pieces.

To speed that process along, leave the candy in a loosely covered container with a damp paper towel. If the candy is not wrapped, place a double sheet of plastic wrap between the damp towel and the candy. Change the damp towel every two to three days. It will still probably take a month or so for the candy to soften.

There was little or no salt added to the candy over 100 years ago or now. Manufacturers of the candy in seaside towns capitalize on the name of salt water taffy, but there is truly no difference between salt water and regular taffy.

In this taffy recipe, glycerin helps give the candy a soft, creamy consistency. Glycerin can be found in many drugstores, as well as some supermarkets and craft stores in the baking supplies section, or in cake-decorating stores.

The purpose of pulling the taffy is to add air in to the candy. This allows for millions of air bubbles to form which is how a clear batch of cooked taffy all of a sudden begins to turn bright white. The added air into the product also adds volume, and turns the candy into a much larger piece.

Tootsie Roll (/ˈtʊtsi/) is a chocolate-flavored candy that has been manufactured in the United States since 1907. The candy has qualities similar to both caramels and taffy without being exactly either confection. The manufacturer, Tootsie Roll Industries, is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Why do you stretch taffy? ›

As it turns out, pulling taffy aerates it, or incorporates many tiny air bubbles throughout the candy. This makes it lighter and chewier. Taffy isn't the only candy out there that gets pulled this way. We saw molten lollipop pulled by a machine at a local lollipop factory.

There is nothing in it that would ever cause it to expire. It may reach a point where it tastes stale or even rancid but it is only sugar and flavoring. It may have a sell by date stamped on the wrapper, but that does not mean it expires on that date.

Taffy is very sensitive to the colder weather and will react to the freezing temps. Taffy, however, will return to a delicious state once it's in 72 – 74 plus temperatures after 24 hours. If you can't wait, please hold a piece of taffy in your hand for five minutes and wait until it warms up.

Saltwater taffy, without a doubt can and will melt if left in the heat for too long. The beauty about the World's Most Famous Taffy™ is that if given time in proper room temperature conditions, it will firm up and get back to where it was originally.

Because hard candies have a low moisture content, it will absorb moisture from the air, making it softer. In the case of soft candies, they have a higher content, and when the air is less moist than the candy then some of the moisture will be released into the air, making the soft candy hard.

The process of turning sugar into a hard, smooth, transparent confection involves heating a sugar/corn syrup/water solution to 300 – 310° F. {150 - 155° C.}, or what is known as the hard crack stage of sugar. The use of a candy thermometer is not essential, but highly recommended and accuracy is critical.

For example, you could melt the candies in the oven in a heat-resistant dish. Cooking them at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes will do the trick, but check on the melting candies regularly to ensure they don't start bubbling or burning.

The final texture of a candy will depend upon the sugar concentration which in turn depends upon the boiling temperature. Higher boiling temperatures result in higher sugar concentrations as more of the water evaporates from the mixture producing hard and brittle candies.