How to caramelize sugar

In order to caramelize sugar, you need to heat sugar to very high temperatures. Once the sugar is hot enough, it will start to caramelize. Caramelizing sugar isn’t necessarily very complicated, but if you’ve never done it before, you might need a few attempts to get it right.

You can caramelize sugar by simply heat the sugar in a pot on your stovetop. This is called the dry method. It works fine, but if you’re new to caramelizing sugar, it is more tricky since it is more prone to burn.

The slightly more foolproof method is to add a little water to the sugar in the pot before starting to heat it. Adding the sugar will help dissolve the sugar crystals. Then heat the solution until it starts to turn brown. This is often referred to as the ‘wet’ method. In the video below, we’ll walk you through how to caramelize sugar using this method.

When you caramelize sugar, you don’t need a thermometer. It is best to look at the caramelizing sugar and its color, to determine whether it’s ready. Once it’s the color you’re looking for, take it from the heat and do what it is you need to do with the caramel. This depends on the recipe you’re making. Caramelizing sugar takes a little practice, but isn’t that complicated once you get the hang of it.

Later in this course we will come back to caramelization a few more times, to help you troubleshoot when things go wrong!

Optional reading: Want to learn more about the wet and dry method to caramelize sugar? We’ve written a more extensive article explaining the differences: How to caramelize sugar: Dry vs. Wet method.