I don't know about fudge, but I've had trouble with toffee separating, and research suggests that the issue might be that I used unsalted butter. Apparently salt acts as a stabilizer to keep the butter and sugar separating in the toffee. I don't know if a similar issue is at play for fudge, but if he used unsalted this time when he normally uses salted, it might be a factor.

Thanks to you both! I haven't checked cooking forum for responses yet but I thought I'd post DH's experiment that may have salvaged one batch of fudge (he didn't toss them as I thought, just poured them into glass casserole pans). He'll repeat the same technique on the other batch tomorrow night and see if it works.

We kept thinking it had to have something to do with the pan and the way it heated up and retained heat differently than our old Farberware. He thought that maybe the pan hadn't cooled down enough when he put the chocolate chips in. I'm not so sure about that. It's a heavier pan but I don't think the pan gets as hot as it did on gas, even with our old Farberware.

Anyhoo, he put tonight's batch back in the 5 qt pan and turned the heat to med low and stirred and stirred and he was able to get it to emulsify back into a creamy state. Yay! It's a different consistency than normal - denser, which isn't necessarily a bad thing - but no longer greasy and grainy.

I have to say that I'm relieved. I was really feeling bad about talking him into induction if it meant that his fudge making days were over. 'Course, I've no doubt that our friends and neighbors who look forward to his fudge all year would have gladly offered up their gas cook tops and cheap pans for him to use. =) But still, it will be nice for him to make fudge at home.

My mom used to make fudge, honest to goodness fudge from scratch. I think she used a double boiler but it's been so long since I watched her make fudge that I can't remember for sure. Tomorrow marks 10 yrs since she's been gone. Still miss her so much.

Off to check the cooking forum and report on DH's experiment.

jcollins, I asked him that but he doesn't think he got any water in the mix.

cawaps, good thought! I usually buy unsalted butter for cooking and he might have bought the same out of habit. I'll check and see.

Thank you, both!

cawaps, I just checked the package in recycling. He used unsalted butter. He thinks that's what he usually uses but I think he might be wrong (ssh, don't tell him). I think that lately we've been in the habit of buying unsalted butter for cooking but that we used to only buy salted butter.

Anyhoo, it's something to try and see if that makes a difference as well. Thanks!

Lisa - I don't have any advice, however, would you mind posting the fudge recipe. My DD loves making fudge, and we've tried a couple of recipes but none that I am crazy about.

It didn't happen if you don't post the recipe :)

If it's the one with Marshmallow Creme, the recipe should be right on the jar.

I used to make that fudge every Christmas. Revere ware over gas, always salted butter. Never had any problems other than my own practice of wrapping each piece in foil.

In the spirit of generosity, I'll offer to take any bad batches of fudge off your hands... :o)

I've been making fudge for the last two years on my induction. It turns out the same as before on a coil burner and different pots. My recipe uses mini marshmallows and choc chips so I am not sure if its the same recipe, but must be close. I haven't had a problem using my tri-clad Cuisinart pot. I do notice with some things, that because my set of pots has the sides as well as the bottom with tri-clad inductive material, that not just the bottom is simmering or starting to boil. It may heat up quicker for that reason. Also the no salt in the butter could be a reason for the problem.

I bet they changed the formulation of the chocolate chips.

hope he figures it out and makes it work!!

No one makes Hershey's cocoa fudge anymore? I miss that old fashioned flavor and texture that you don't get with marshmallow creme and chocolate chips. I used to make it all the time as a kid--actually my job was to beat it with a wooden spoon--but I tried making it once as an adult, using the cold water test. I made Tootsie Rolls! I have to get a candy thermometer and try again some day.

I always make that fudge, mayflowers, but I've never had a candy thermometer and no problems. You just need to learn how much it needs to coalesce when you drop it into the water. It's easy to decide too soon that it's making enough of a ball when it isn't quite there yet.

I went too far if I got Tootsie Rolls! I have done the cold water test many times in my younger days as we made fudge a few times a year, not just for Christmas. Also penuche.

Lisa, I wonder if it could have been the rain we've been having. I just remembered that I've never tried making Christmas fudge because they say not to make it during periods of high humidity.

How about recipe and a photo, nightowl and Lilyspider? Not sure why the far right pan looks a different color. Blame the photographer. =)

The batch to the left is the greasy, grainy 1st attempt failure. The 2 pans to the left are DH's second attempt that looked just like the batch on the left but now look closer to normal after he put that batch back on the burner. He and DS2 sampled it last night and said it tasted better, closer to what it should taste like.

As Linelle posted, the recipe is on the jar, however, it's not the classic version DH uses. They changed the recipe more than a decade ago and DH didn't like it nearly as well so he looked up the old recipe on the internet.

Fantasy Fudge

3 C sugar

3/4 C butter (salted, not unsalted)

2/3 C evaporated milk

1 12-oz pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 7-oz jar Kraft Marshmallow Creme

1 Tbsp vanilla

Combine sugar, butter and milk in a heavy 2 1/2 qt saucepan; bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Continue boiling 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring, until candy thermometer reaches 234 degrees F (soft ball stage).

Remove from heat, stir in chocolate chips until melted. Add marshmallow creme and vanilla, stir until blended. Pour into greased 13 x 9 pan. Let cool and serve.

Makes about 36 pieces.

Note: DO NOT substitute sweetened condensed milk for evaporated milk.

The new recipe calls for less sugar and more milk and chocolate chips.

Mayflowers and writersblock, my mom always used the water test to know when her fudge was done. I never saw her use a candy thermometer in her life.

tmy_jax, that is so self sacrificing of you! I suspected you were a good sort and you just proved it.

silken, I think there'll be a bit of a learning curve but once he's got it figured out, all will be fine. And yes, I think the unsalted butter is part of the problem.

Mayflowers, never thought about the water dump we've had being part of the problem. I don't think DH has ever paid attention to that. (Did you see the photo showing the flooding in the Pearl District with Nessie swimming by? Cracked me up! We haven't had any flooding, thank goodness, just a very soggy garden.)

Springroz, I'll do some googling to see if I can figure out if Hershey's changed the recipe for their chocolate chips. Never would have thought of that, thanks.

Hmmm, my Fantasy Fudge was greasy and grainy last year (electric smoothtop, as in previous years). I have always used unsalted butter. Unless there was a manufacturer's change in the chips or marshmallow cream, I can't explain it. I DID use a heavy stainless pan last year instead of my thin old Revere pan.

Thanks for the pics and the recipe! We are trying that one this year. Hopefully I won't have any issues. I always use salted butter, an electric range, and I still have my cheap Revereware sauce pans.

If your DH gets desperate, he could always buy a hot plate and a cheap pot :)

oasisowner, interesting that you had the same outcome but no change in cook top and pan. And that you used unsalted butter.

Lilyspider, if DH gets desperate, he can use the neighbor's cook top. I mentioned the fudge fiasco to her and she immediately volunteered her kitchen. And 5 very willing tast testers, lol.

It very well may be the chocolate chips, I understand they're removing transfats from them and it's altering the way they behave. I used to bake a large sheet cookie, spread chocolate chips on top, put back in the oven till they were shiny and then spread the melty chips over the cookie surface. But now the chips don't spread smoothly, they clump up and get grainy as soon as you touch them (like the left pic of your fudge). They still melt fine in the microwave for some reason but I'd bet the change to some other type of fat in the chips is what's causing the fudge troubles.

lisa_a - Thanks for the recipe. I made this probably 20 or more years ago to give away at work, stopped and then tried it again a few years ago. I was very disappointed. Must have been using the old recipe that you supplied. Thanks.

P.S. Glad it wasn't the induction cooktop - we're putting one in next month when we remodel our kitchen.

Thanks, ghostlyvision. I looked on-line to see if I could figure out if the formula had changed but I couldn't imagine why they would and didn't know what to look for. Never considered the push to remove transfat, which is a good reason for them to change the formula. Makes sense that change would affect how they behave. I found the ingredient list on-line and you're right, no transfat in them. Oops, I misspoke above. I said he used Hershey's but he uses Nestle's. But same issue; transfat removed.

Maybe it's time to find another chip brand, one that won't behave as badly. Serious Eats did a comparison. Trader Joe's brand came out tops and it's reasonably priced. Or we could spring for the really good stuff and use Barry Callebaut or Scharffen Berger, both brands that got positive reviews in the side by side comparison.

Oh, darn, I'm going to have to do some chocolate testing. Poor me. But someone has to do it and I'm willing to sacrifice myself for the greater good.

Thank you, I really appreciate your help solving this mystery.

For the past 9 years or so I have had to use generic chips (store brand) because my son has peanut and tree nut allergies. Nestles and Hersheys and the better brands were contaiminated with nuts. I have never had an issue with the consistency of the chips. I melt them for all sorts of treats including fudge without issue. I just tried to research when nestles started using/stoped using trans fats in their chips. I didn't have much time to look as my family is quite chatty tonight and I can't concentrate :) but it might be interesting to find out.

Nestles is now nut free, however, I still always check everything I buy everytime.

**Edited: Just to clarify it appears to be only the semi sweet and milk chocolate chips that are nut free. The white chocolate still is cross contaiminated with nuts.

Good info, thanks, LilySpider. Thankfully, we don't have to worry about peanut and nut allergies. Dealing with my GF restrictions is enough of a bother.

GF?

I made my toffee this evening with salted butter and it didn't separate. Yay!

I also made bourbon pecan caramels. Yum!

I just looked at the Fantasy Fudge recipe on the Kraft website, and it looks the same as your husbands except that it uses 12 oz of Baker's semi-sweet chocolate (chopped) instead of chips. And it has walnuts.

Careful -- all this negative talk about chocolate chips....poof

GF = Gluten Free. Sorry for being cryptic, LilySpider.

Yay, great news cawaps! I'll tell DH to use salted butter next time.

lol, nightowl!

I don't make fudge so I have no tips. I prefer to make PB balls and home-made Frangos. But I always thought it was Divinity that you shouldn't make when it's damp, not fudge.

I used to make fantasy fudge too - and everyone loved it. Gave it as gifts at Christmas. I also made batches w/a tbsp. or 2 of peanut butter in it - and batches using butterscotch chips. those'll kill ya. if you like butterscotch you'll eat'em til you almost die... they are beyond rich!

haven't made it in probably 30 yrs tho. I made it on a corning cook top using a large corning pot and on a coil top w/ my large corning pot. Never had a thermometer to use tho. I always used salted butter.

and as a kid... I made the hersey box fudge. Sometimes it turned out fine. Other times I had fudge taffy that I ate with a spoon ... and once even brick hard fudge. I still remember taking it to the basement to use the hand saw to cut it. oh dear! It's a wonder I ever kept cooking after that!

thx for the recipe and other info. maybe 1 day I'll make it again. I do remember that the pot w/fudge in it got too heavy for me to lift and hold over the pan to pour the fudge into it. My nowX would hold the pot while I scraped the fudge out of it. Guess maybe I can't make it now that I'm alone. Unless I make it when my handy man is here. He'd probably hold the pot for some of the fudge to take home!

I've never made any of the marshmallow fudges, but I live in FL (and most of the time until recently usually without the A/C running) and humidity wasn't ever a problem with fudge. Meringues, now…

I Googled and they tell you to cook fudge to a higher temperature in high humidity to cook out the extra moisture. We were under a state of emergency due to flooding in our county in Oregon, so I thought I'd mention it to Lisa. Much different weather than previous years.

Amazing photo and a great story about the brittle, lisa_a.

You must have wanted that brittle!

Here's an easy recipe that I used to make when I had a microwave, and it doesn't require marble or a candy thermometer!

Cashew Brittle

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 cup cashews

1 teaspoon butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon (recipe calls for 1/2 tsp. but I just like a nuance of cinnamon)

1 teaspoon baking soda

In a greased 2 qt. glass measuring cup, cook sugar, corn syrup, and salt on high for 2 - 3 minutes until boiling. Cook 4 minutes. Stir in nuts, butter, vanilla, and cinnamon. Cook 2 min. Immediately stir in baking soda until light and foamy. Quickly pour onto greased cookie sheet and spread. Cool and break into pieces. Makes one pound.

I spray all cooking and stirring utensils with Pam.

You could use peanuts but it's very good with cashews.

I've had to use workshop tools to deal with candy fiascos, too, desertsteph!

we're 'candy making' twins! As I was reading your peanut brittle story, my brain was saying 'no lisa - use a cookie sheet and you only have to twist the pan and it'll pop!' After I married, my closest neighbor was about 12 yrs older than I was and a super, super cook - especially in the dessert area. I learned a lot from her over the 14 yrs I lived there - even how to can. Of course, that didn't mean I never again did something weird like the taffy/brick fudge. I learned about the fantasy fudge from her.

beautiful wave pic!

LOL Lisa, hilarious story! And you're welcome about the transfat thing, I don't know when they began removing it but it seems like it's been a year or so that my sheet cookies have had to have mini chips in them instead of a layer of chocolate on top of them. Kroger's semisweet mini chips did melt and spread well for the graham cracker/toffee cookies I made two weeks ago, but I miss the Hershey's milk chocolate flavor. Test away and let us know which still perform as they used to, a terrible job but I think you're up for the task. ;)

OK, I weighed myself this morning, and despite not eating ANY fudge, I am not a happy camper and shouldn't even have opened this thread. Off to the gym!

LOL on chiseling the brittle off.

We've been deluged up here, too. Some flooding and road closures. That lighthouse photo is incredible!

Frango Mints

They look like this instead of the boxed Frangos you buy:

Yummy. Tastes just like the original Frederick & Nelson's ones. It's fun to experiment with different flavorings and chocolates. Example: dark chocolate with raspberry or orange flavoring. I have also made them with half chocolate and then half PB or butterscotch chips. Not as Frango-like that way but still very yummy.

• 1 (12 ounce) package milk chocolate chips or 1 (12 ounce) package semi-sweet chocolate chips.
• 3-4 Tablespoons paraffin
• 1/4 lb butter (not margarine)
• 1 1/8 cups powdered sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons imitation vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract or 1/4 teaspoon rum extract (or play with other flavors)
• INSTRUCTIONS
  • 1. Melt the chocolate and paraffin over hot water, then cool.
    1. Cream butter.
    2. Add powdered sugar.
    3. Mix.
    4. Add eggs; beat well. Beat for a long time, the longer, the creamier.
    5. Add cooled chocolate, vanilla and flavoring.
    6. Mix well and drip into small candy liner
    7. Place in fridge for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
    8. Store in cool, dry place.

Thanks for the recipe, mayflowers. I've made cashew brittle and hazelnut brittle using the recipe from Joy of Cooking but it's been years since I've made any brittle. Think I'm overdue for a batch.

desertsteph, I've no idea why I didn't think to use cookie sheets right away. Looking back, it's really a d'oh moment for me (but it made for a really funny story).

ghostlyvision, Kroger's bought out locally grown and owned Fred Meyer some years back so perhaps Freddy's brand of chocolate chips will perform the same as Kroger's. Worth a try. Oh, the sacrifices I must make for DH's pursuit of fudge perfection.

lol, sjhockeyfan! I read a study years ago that people who are good at imagining food aromas are more likely to gain weight. That's so very wrong!

In my pursuit of better chocolate chips, I'm going to see if I can find a brand that is GF. Last time I checked Nestle's wasn't. I help DH make the fudge but I never indulge; it's not worth the tummy trouble I'd have later on.

Glad you all enjoyed my brittle making story!

Oops. Forgot to add photo above. Sorry so blurry.

Thanks, funky! I did a doubletake that the recipe calls for paraffin. I didn't realize this was edible. I mean, I've used it in the past to seal up jars of jam but never as an ingredient in a recipe.

Really? All my candy recipes call for it. If you don't use it, the chocolate just melts all over your fingers. I'm betting it's in every chocolate you eat.

Lisa_a - does it normally list gluten as an allergen on the chips? Or does it have to say gluten free? I just looked at mine and couldn't find anything about gluten on the package. Just curious. As I said before, lots of allergies here but not to gluten!

I have a chocolate covered peanut butter ball recipe that requires wax. Still alive... However, we mixed it up a few years ago and now put the peanut butter part in a little paper cup thing and drip the chocolate on top, so it is like a reese's cup. We don't put the wax in it this way.

Guess I haven't paid enough attention to ingredient lists on the candy I eat. And I'm still alive, too!

LilySpider, gluten free products will be labeled as "Gluten Free" or "Certified Gluten Free" with GF in a circle between the wording. IIRC, the former is used when a specific product doesn't contain gluten in its many forms but is made in a factory that also processes products that contain gluten (chance of cross-contamination). That info will usually be included at the end of the ingredient list (chance of cross-contamination). The latter is made without any gluten-containing ingredient and in a factory that does not process products that contain wheat, etc. I can handle minor cases of cross contamination; people with Celiac Disease can not do so without becoming ill.

When I started eating a GF diet, I had to learn the secret code to figure out what ingredient might contain gluten. "Food starch" could be corn starch or wheat starch; no way to know so I avoided both. Malt is often used in chocolate; malt contains gluten. Labeling has gotten much better in the few years since I went GF so it's not quite as difficult to tell when an item is a no-no for me.

btw, I just read a fascinating article on NPR about the discovery of a protein that affects how we process gluten. It may be the first step towards finding effective treatment. In case you're interested,A Protein In The Gut May Explain Why Some Can't Stomach Gluten

Thanks. I find reading about any and all food allergies interesting. I'll check it out.

If you are interested in foods and food allergies you should check out this book.

http://www.amazon.com/Unhealthy-Truth-first-Text-Only/dp/B004TWYR5E/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1449975903&sr=1-5&keywords=the+unhealthy+truth

Update. I made the fudge today with salted butter, Food Lion chips, cheap pan and an electric range. It turned out perfect. Not grainy. Just lovely. I noticed that the recipe appears to be the same as the one you said was the "old" version. Perhaps they went back to the original recipe? Either way, I just wanted to let you know that it worked for me. Thank you! Moving on to peppermint bark (my personal fav), so we can start giving gifts before Christmas comes and goes!

Thanks, LilySpider! So glad your fudge came out wonderfully. DH is beyond happy that he was able to salvage the 4 batches he made (2 double batches). He went to work, armed with goody bags to pass out to long time friends at work. One of the couples gives us homemade jam, made with berries from her garden. Yumm!

I think that is so nice that your DH makes treats! My DH doesn't cook, bake or grill!

Edited: However, he can fix anything :)

"I've no idea why I didn't think to use cookie sheets right away. Looking back, it's really a d'oh moment for me (but it made for a really funny story)."

ah, well, I was so smart because I had my neighbor lady guiding me -lol! and she has a funny story on me and I'd tell it except I can't remember it ... had to do with a pie crust - maybe it was a frozen pie. don't remember but seems I thought I should take it out of the pan to bake it... did I think that for real? I'll have to ask her next email to her. It was about 40 yrs ago and I'm lucky to remember what I did yesterday... I'd watched my mom makes pies over the yrs so knew they needed to be in something - but maybe because I had never had a frozen one.

but these funny stories are good for our souls. great belly laughs sometimes too. that makes them healthy. so then we can eat more chocolate and cookies, and candy, and pies...

Lisa_a,

i just bought Nestles semi sweet chips ( and the minis) and the milk chocolate chips. All are now gluten free!