The boys and I decided to try our hands at making rock candy. I can't remember the last time I made this.. I actually think it was in church camp when I was around 10 years old.. Yep.. loooong time ago!
If you want to skip right to the video its at the bottom!!
Here is what you need..
I bought some mason jars that were long..
so there would be plenty of room for the rock candy to grow..
I am also using some clear kitchen glasses too!
This is just a kitchen funnel to make it easy when putting it in the jars.
Food coloring..
Any kind will work..but i like the gels!
Lots of sugar..
some bamboo skewers ( pipe cleaners will work too! )
Clothes pins to balance them in the glass jar.
I also got some big zip locks to store them in.
First measure the skewers with whatever glasses you are using.. You want them to not touch the bottom,
and make sure to remove the point..
I just tried to balance the skewers with the clothespin to make sure it would work.
For some of the jars, I decided to do 2 smaller ones
and neither are touching the sides or the bottom.
See how the clothes pins work..
Once you have them measured and cut dip them in water..
and roll in sugar.
This job was great for the kids..
and let dry completely.. this will give the crystals something to grab onto.
And be sure to coat them really well.
Dry Completely
While the boys were doing that, I got busy on the sugar mixture. I was making a lot.. so equal parts of water and sugar in a pot on med-high heat until dissolved. Then continue to add sugar until you have AT LEAST a 2:1 ratio. You can also do a 3:1 ratio.We used 8 cups of water and 16-18 cups of sugar and it made a lot. In fact, I used two pots. I brought it to a boil for a few minutes to be sure the sugar was all dissolved.
I then filled the jars up..
and moved on to letting the boys carefully stir in
the food coloring with a skewer.. we also added some kool aid to a few for flavoring at this point.
We then balanced the skewers in the jars and in the window sill they all went.
You will want a warm sunny location..
We have pets I didn't want any hair floating into a glass, so I covered them up with paper towels..
Don't use plastic wrap.. you want them to breath..
Here is how they are looking after a couple of days..
As you can see there is crystallization on the top and bottom of the mixture.
But check out how the they are sticking to the skewer.
I also knocked down the crystals into the glass so they could attach too.
After 5 days..
and after 6 days most of the rock candy was done..
How cool is that!?
I took each one out a little a time and let them dry some and in the baggie they went.
I took each one out a little a time and let them dry some and in the baggie they went.
Check out the video if you are wanting to try these! They might cause a sticky mess in the kitchen the day you are making them but they are so good! They are great for kids to make and watch grow.. then eat or you could even serve them up with tea to sweeten or with coffee.. Tons of uses for these tasty treats!
So have you tried to make this ever?? If you do try it send me a picture of your finished product!
I would love to see it!
K Jaggers
♥
