Q&A for How to Make Rock Candy

If you want to flavor your rock candy with soda, make sure it is flat before adding it, as carbonation could change the texture of the candy.

No, you don't want to use a foam cup, a plastic cup, or any other kind of cup except glass. Glass jars or cups have very few porous spots. Generally speaking, glass is completely smooth, therefore it gives no opportunity for crystals to accidentally grow on it instead of your string. Foam cups are extremely porous. Using a foam cup would result in chaos, with crystals forming all around your cup or you will just get an ugly dried-out lump of sugar that doesn't crystallize.

It will take a day or so but it depends on how big you want the rock candy to be. The larger you want it to become, the longer you will need to wait. To form the biggest rock candy, wait a week. After a week, it will come to the end of its growth.

Try scraping the crystals with a dull blade, like a butter knife, and wash it with hot, soapy water. You could also try putting it in the dishwasher.

Remove the string from the solution, and boil the solution again adding more sugar.

It depends on the size of the glass. It may be better to use multiple smaller glasses.

That just depends on how big you want your rock candy. The larger you want it, the longer it will have to sit, it typically stops growing after a week.

If you want the best results, meaning the biggest crystals, store it in a dark, cool place.

The crystals don't form instantly because it takes a week or so for the water in the jar to evaporate.

This depends on how big the jar is for the craft sticks, and you can cut the end off wooden skewers, or just use appropriate care around the sharp end, to be sensible.

If you are referencing a question above, do not place the sugar-water mixture in the refrigerator. Instead, wait for it to cool down in a preferably dark and cool environment. Alternatively, place it in the sun to create candy faster. The processes are essentially the same for sticks/string and pans.

The straw may melt in the solution, just as a plastic cup would. It's best to stick to string or a skewer.

You don't have to put it on a stick or in a jar. If you want big chunks of hard rock candy, make it as shown, but place it on a cookie sheet. Wait for it to cool, then break it with a small mallet.

Not really. You could make several different sticks of candy at the same time and put them in different locations, then choose the biggest ones. It is recommended to wait at least five days if you want bigger crystals.

This recipe makes one stick of rock candy, however you can always double the amount to make more candy.

No, the water has to be very hot in order for the sugar to dissolve.

Cherry, strawberry, and grape are the popular flavors for rock candy, but other flavors like cotton candy, root beer, banana, etc. are just as good if you like.

Yes, that's what it's made for. It is pure sugar and therefore not at all healthy, so eat it in small doses.

Yes, if there's a lot of humidity.

You need to stir the sugar until it is completely dissolved into the water, and there is no sugar visible in the container.

Rock candy can be flavored with any water-soluble flavoring and colored with food coloring in any combination.

Use flavoring oils such as Loran oils you can find at craft or box stores. Look for one with lots of flavors.

Yes, just make sure that the string is not touching the sides of the cup.

It depends on how yow big you want your rock candy to be. If you want it larger, it could take about a week.

No, you cannot do this. It needs to say in the mix of sugar and water in order to form the candy.

Maybe. But it might not form correctly, because it needs to evaporate and the fridge keeps it cold, preventing evaporation.

Fill the jar with hot water to loosen the crystals. Once you've let the water soak in the jar for at least an hour, wash the jar as normal.

No.

By all means, make the ants happy! If you didn't add flavoring (food coloring is fine), you can put it in a hummingbird feeder. If you did flavor it, however, boil it down until there's only sugar left, and you have flavored sugar.

Basically do the same as above, but instead of a tall, thin container during the evaporation part, use a container wide enough so the liquid level is only about 1-3 in. deep. Depending on how much you make, it can be as easy as keeping it in the pot it was heated in. Sprinkle only a few particles of sugar into the mixture after it cools. If they keep dissolving, keep adding more a bit at a time. A couple important things: 1) The crystals will happen much faster than with the string method, so check it daily instead of after a week, and/or keep it loosely covered, especially for nice big crystals. Setting cardboard on top would work well. 2) This is also much messier than the string method.