The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-03-16
CANDY MAKING NOWADAYS.
The Old-Time Glories and Sweets of
the Pulling Bees.

the Pulling Bees.
From Tie NetC York Press.
To those of us who remember the candy
pullings of counh days and the fun, as we'll
as the general sw eetness of everything, the
daubed faces and clothes, the burnt fl gers,
the long strings of taffy which grew golden
yellow as it was pulled and then gradually
ct lighter until 1t became a silver white
t ere must always be pleasurable memory
connected with candy, even if it is eaten 10
more.
1t was great day. For at least a week
before nothing else was talked about among
the children,' and great tales are told of
teats on Former occasions, both in the pulling
and eating line At last the time comes,
the kettle is placed upon the fire, g
mixture of molasses and sugar in those pro-
portions which are one of the family { adj
tions is duly Tut into it, and those children
who will be good are allowed to watch ana by
anticipation eat that candy of the ima gina
ton which never pulls The brown bub-
bling mass boiis up and the stirring begins
This solemn part of the rite, which, it is
devoutly believed, must not stop for one
moment during the whole time, is generally
performed 10y tn sc who are old enoug to
be trusted with the important work. In the
meantime the pans are uttered. Then,
when the cook pronounces the mess ready,
it is poured, and the children gather round
to watch it cool. One or two are sure to
burn their fingers in their impotence, try
ing it before it is cool enough.
During the pulling how sticky the chill
dren get and what fun they have over it, 1t
is popular superstition that if one puts
butter enough on the hands the pulling can
be done much better. This results in gen
orally unctuous appearance, which seems
but to add to the general rejoicing. At
last the caniy is ali eaten, there is a marked
lack OF appetite at supper and the fun is
over. -.
Candy as made in New York to-day en-
ploys men almost entirely. The work is
bard and requires good deal of strength
Packing 1t into hoxes and selling IL IL the
w'rk of girls and women. The place where
it is made may be any kind of room or
cellar where the furnaces can be set up.
The things necessary are large copper
ties, slabs of marble, or stone, large
table or two and large hook fastened o
post or the wall. To these are added a
thermometer which is marked to 400 de
grees Fahrenheit, a cutter like a rolling
pin with movable cutting dishes of teel
which can be set at different distances from
each other, pair of scales. some machines
which by turning a cranL, will force the
candy thr ugh and mold it into such little
shapes as the peppermint drops; some
stamps to form lozenges, pair of scissors
and two or three knives OF course sugar
OF vari us kinds, honey, flavoriug extracts,
uts and fruit must be a ded, for it is out
of these that the candy is actually made.
Now, watch a candy maker as he makes
batch. Taking an open copper kettle, he
puts IN brown sugar and watar. Placing
this on the open furnace he let's ii boil until
the Thermometer shows there are 800 of
heat Into the brown ard bubbing mass
he pours quantity of strips of fle cocoa
nut and mixes the whole thing together
with a long stick.
As the process goes on the boiling mass
gets darker and darker. Suddenly he takes
out the stick, and, Selling the pot by its two
handles, lifts it to the big marble slab.
which he has previously rubbed with sweet
oil. With a rapid motion he poufs it all
oIt in great cake, and almost as fast as it
touches the table the cand sinks to the
bottom in thin layer, holding the cocoa
nut strips on top. With the cut ing roller
he marks it out into strips about inches
wide These are then lifted from the alb
by having a long knife run under hem,
separated, and as soon as they are perfectly
cod they are piled up on trays and are
ready to be sold
The next batch is to be turned out into
long sticks. They are to be two coolS.
light yellow and white. This time the batch
is cut into two parts and each one while
still hot is rolled up into a mass like af
of bread. One of these is taken to the hook.
placed over it and pulled As the pulling
goes on it charges from a dark brown to
light, then to yellow and at last TO a white
Ike silver. Taken f. om the hook it is put
on top of the brown candy and he two are
nodded into mass. Carryi this over to
the long table the confectioner begins to
pull out one end of it. As he works it
lengthens until it is a stick about fee
long and about the size of a mans third
finger.
The so-called cream which is inside the
chocolote creams so many people like is
made quickly. White sugar, honey and
water are mixed and boiled until the tenn
perature reaches 250'. Sometimes, if the
cream is t. be very soft, 24O' are encug
Then it is put aside to cool in the kettle It
now looks like mass of colorl IS Jelly more
than anything else BIT when it is only
about as warm as the hand the cream is
beaten. At this point the fiavoring goes in.
As the a ing goes on it begins to turn
white until at last it is like a mass of ice
GREEN in color.
Then it is done and is poured into the keg
in which it is kept Here, as it becomes
perfectly cold, it gets hard, so hard that it
has to be dug out with a knife in great
Jumps.
To get it soft again ready to eat it is
pounded and worked with the hands until
it gradually becomes like putty that has
been thoroughly kneaded for use. If chOco-
late creams a'e 10 be ma out of it little
cones are nodded by the finge and dipped
70 moment into the hot chocolate.
The rule Is the higher the heat the harder
the candy when made The degrees of heat
necessary range from 2i0' Fahren e t.
340', u tn SO m st CO nmon'v use are
go. 2S0', 300 and 800. csc in candy max
ing NAV be cal ed soft. like the rreams, soft
like soft taffy, hard like hard taffy and very
hard like cocoanut CANDY The candy viii
not burn as long as it is stirred and not al
lowed to get above these temperatures but
the difficulty is that at the last it rises very
ranidlv.
From 800 to 500 did not take over min
ute. 1t is well, then, in making candy at
home TO complete the operation upon the
covered stove with the hampers closed to
reduce the heat, as there is the less danger
of a sudden smell and a cry from some one,
ooh, dear, it's spoiled"