Day 6: 31 Days of Pinterest: Rock Candy

Today's Pinterest find is part science project and part candy. What a great one to do the day after spending time at the Science Museum! This is one we started today, will watch all week, and will enjoy next weekend.

Homemade Rock Candy!

Easy and quick to do, but we'll see how it turns out... I'm a bit skeptical right now. :)

You'll need:
bamboo skewers
glass jars/glasses
sugar
water
clothespins or chip clips

First, soak the bottom portion of the bamboo skewers you'll use for your rock candy (depending on the number of colors you plan on.  I made four but had enough solution that I could have done 2-3 more easily.)  Then roll in sugar and allow them to dry completely. (so the syrup has something to crystalize to)

I then made my own contraption for setting them in the glasses to form for the next week.  It will take seven days sitting in solution for the rock candy to form on the skewers and during that time the skewers cannot touch the bottom or sides of the containers.  The pinner I pinned from used clothespins.  Since I didn't have any and didn't want to spend extra money, I created my own version using chip clips and a second skewer to stabilize the actual skewer across the top of the container.

I also didn't have a funnel and wanted to use one to pour the syrup into the glasses a bit easier, so I created one from the top of a 2 liter bottle... worked GREAT!

Prior to pouring in the syrup, I added the food coloring to the glasses so that when poured in it automatically mixed.

Then it was time to create the syrup.  First combine equal parts sugar and water and stir at medium high heat until all sugar is dissolved.  I used four cups of each.

Once that is dissolved, you want to add in cup by cup of sugar until you have a ratio of at least 2:1, but could easily be 3:1.  If the sugar stops dissolving, you know you are done adding.  I ended up using four cups water and eleven cups sugar.  Once it reaches a simmer, turn off, remove from heat, and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.

It's still very hot at this point, but you can now ladle it into your containers.

Then place your skewers, making sure they are not touching the bottoms or sides, and you are ready.  After a couple days you should start to see crystals forming on the skewers.  If not, pour back into a pan, reheat and add more sugar and try again.  After 7 days sitting in a WARM, SUNNY location, your rock candy SHOULD have developed (we'll see!)

We look forward to checking on these daily and hopefully having a treat to share next weekend!

Original idea found HERE.