Cooking Peanut Brittle

by Margaret
(Avinger, TX USA)

When cooking peanut brittle, you add peanuts to the cooked liquid and it starts to set up. It is so thick that you can not get the mixture up to the next heat stage. What is happening?


I cook the water, sugar and karo to 280 degrees, then I add the peanuts brown. But the mixture is so thick it never returns to the liquid state in order for it to reach the next heat stage.


The peanuts get so brown that you can not put the thermometer back in to get to the next stage.


I tried to add a little more butter but this did not help. I went ahead and added the salt and baking soda stirring to let the salt and baking soda to cook in, then poured it out into a pan, and it setup hard, but was not airy and tasted mostly of salt.


My girlfriend and I believe that it is the sugar we are using.

Please help!