Post #348693 by The Gnomon on Mon, Dec 10, 2007 7:18 AM

When I make RCS, I keep it in the large canning jar where it's made and decant portions into a separate bottle for dispensing.

When you have a fairly unstable solution (highly supersaturated with sugar), here's what happens to the inside of the dispensing bottle after it's been refilled a few times.

As you can see, there are about one or two more pours left before it needs to be refilled. There's about ¼" of rock candy formed on the bottom and RC crystals are forming like barnacles all over the inside. It is rather decorative. I'll keep refilling this one until it glazes over to the point that it loses the scintillation effects.

In the canning jar, the RC mainly crytallizes on the bottom (unless you suspend something inside it). That's because the jar is air tight and there's no water loss to speak of.

The barnicular formations are brought on by the drying of the inside wall of the bottle as RCS is removed. In the dispensing vehicle, with all the opening, closing , and pouring, there is a fair amount of water loss. When water evaporates from the syrup coating the sides it hastens the formation of RC crystals. So they create a candy jewel studding. Eventually, it gets so thick that it loses the effect and just glazes over. That's when it's time to dissolve the RC coating and start over.

RCS is so much more powerful than simple syrup. This is just a visual reminder of that fact. No reason to settle for anything less than superior quality since it's so easy to make.

English is just my native language

[ Edited by: The Gnomon 2007-12-10 09:49 ]