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Good Eats: Fudge Factor
Candy is an American favorite, especially fudge. Folks will pay as much as five dollars a pound for the treat, which is a shame. All a cook needs is a pot, a thermometer, a few ingredients and a little science in the soul and he can create delicious fudge. Alton demonstrates by making Chocolate Fudge, explaining at each step both what to do and why one does it. Alton also offers tips for concocting candy in humid environments and on how to store the completed confection. Even kids can get into the act, as Alton demonstrates with his Peanut Butter Fudge recipe that needs no cooktop, only a microwave.
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Episode Info
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Episode number: 7x16 Production Number: EA1G05 Airdate: Wednesday February 11th, 2004 Writer: Alton Brown
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Recap
Alton’s at “River Street Sweets” to prove a point – that everyone loves candy. In fact, he says, if you show him a person without at least a few sweet teeth, he’ll show you a person who’s not entirely trustworthy. About then a city councilman walks by and when Alton offers him some fudge, he declines – perhaps making Alton’s case. Most people really like fudge, and will pay as much as five dollars a pound for it. And that’s a shame, because with a pot, a thermometer, some basic ingredients and a little science in their soul, anyone can create their own… Good Eats...Read the full recap
Episode Notes
Cards
- Americans consume a little more than 25 pounds of candy per year.
- A Vassar college student supposedly made the first batch of fudge in the early 1900’s
- When touring, singer Cole Porter had nine pounds of fudge sent to him each month.
- Wooden spoons are poor heat conductors, and therefore less likely to burn their users.
- Roast nuts in a 400º F oven for 5-10 minutes.
- The largest slab of fudge was made in Amityville, N.Y. in 1999 and weighed 600 lbs.
- Plastic wrap prevents butter from splattering inside the oven.
There is a three second long outtake of Alton spouting gibberish after the end credits.
Episode Quotes
Alton: Everybody loves candy. Everybody. Kids, moms, dads, doctors, demolition derby drivers... everybody! Heck, you show me an American that doesn’t have at least one or two sweet teeth in his head and I’ll show you somebody that’s, well... just shy of trustworthy, if you know what I mean. Oh, watch... (calling out) City Councilman! Have a little bit of fudge!
City Councilman: No, thanks! Never touch the stuff. Here! Have a button!
City Councilman: No, thanks! Never touch the stuff. Here! Have a button!
Alton: If you’ve got a pot, a thermometer, some basic ingredients and just a little science in your soul, you, too can produce fudge that is really, really... (Good Eats theme plays)
Alton: Great, so my crystals are in the fudge. Great. Did you bring the fudge samples back?
Karl Hagan: No, no, it tasted too good!
Karl Hagan: No, no, it tasted too good!
Alton: As the solution boils it becomes more concentrated because the water can escape as steam, but the sugar can’t. As a result, the temperature of the solution begins to rise beyond 212º F. So, not only are he sugar molecules moving around a lot faster now, they don’t have near as much room to move in. In other words, this solution is concentrated. Now, by watching the temperature, you can gauge when the concentration is right for forming the crystals, and therefore the candy, of your choice.
Alton: If you have to make fudge in high humidity, you should compensate by cooking your syrup a few degrees higher than what the recipe calls for. Sure, the texture may seem a little on the grainy side at first but it’ll soften up in a day or two.
Alton: We have attained 110º F. Now it is time to make the crystals. (A hand presents a mixer.) Ooh, nice idea. But, no. A mixer would work too much air into the fudge and that would ruin the texture. This, I’m afraid, is a job for a good old-fashioned wooden spoon.
Alton: If you’ve ever made one of the many fudge recipes features on packages of baker’s chocolate or cans of condensed milk, odds are good you’ve employed the microwave. Now, how can you possibly make decent fudge in a microwave? You can’t. But you can make a darn nice fudge-like candy. And what’s even better is that since it steers clear of the cooktop, kids, you can make it all by yourselves. If... Mom and Dad say it’s okay.
Alton: Well, I hope we’ve given you the confidence and the drive to become your very own candy man. Fudge is just the beginning, of course. Once you get used to working with thermometers and syrups and such, lollypops, toffee, pralines, even better cake frosting are right around the corner. A corner on a block on a street in a town that we call... Good Eats.
Cultural References
The episode title is a popular colloquialism. The fudge factor is that amount by which one must adjust a quantity until it is "right" - a highly subjective and variable measure! The title is somewhat ironic, since according to Alton making fudge is anything but inexact. Cooks who fail to manage the details are likely to end up disappointed.
Analysis
This is one of the episodes where Alton's particular style of "scientific cooking" shines. By explaining not only what to do, in detail, but why one does it, he demystifies fudge making.
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