I'm assuming that the goal is to make peanut brittle for Christmas. Therefore, this is longer than some might like in the interest of being complete. But thanks for asking the question - I got more candy out of the deal! My wife is a very serious baker/cook, and I asked her your question. She laughed her "Glendna, The Good Witch of the North" laugh, and said: Here, watch. Its not that hard. From here on, the words are hers, not mine. (She took out a copper candy pot, which has a pouring spout, and poured in a cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of honey, and 1/2 cup of water. She set it on low heat, and slid a candy thermomemter onto the pan.) For candy in general, 293 F is just not hot enough for a real "brittle". "Hard Crack" only just starts at 290 F. For a (non-honey) peanut brittle , I'd go for at least 300 F. Soft Crack is 270 - 290 F Hard Crack is 290 - 310 F The "soft ball/hard ball/soft crack"/"hard crack" terms were used in candy making before thermometers were common. You drip some of the hot candy into icewater, and then compress the cooled candy between your fingers, and break the candy with your fingers. How the candy acts is where the terms came from. (At this point, the mixture started to foam and headed towards boiling over. She turned down the heat and lifted the pan from the burner to cool it a bit.) If you are using honey: First, you have to go well into the 300-310 F range. Only stay there for a minute or so, no more. A maximum of 293 F just won't cut it with honey - you will get "sticky, soft" candy rather than true hard candy. (In general, if you get "sticky" candy, you needed a higher temperature.) Second, you will find yourself heating the mixture for a loooong time to attain a true hard crack temperature, as there is much more water in honey than one would have in the usual sugar mixture one would prepare for candy. (This may also explain the need for a temperature over 300 F.) Third, you need a low-humidity day or a industrial-strength dehumidifier to dry out the kitchen. Honey will reabsorb moisture from the air on a damp day even while you are heating it. If that happens, you will never stop evaporating water from the mixture, and you will caramelize some of it before you get the water out of all of it. If you are going to make candy often, you really need a good kitchen wall thermometer and hygrometer, as "room conditions" can make or break you. Last, if you are going to use honey, use 100% honey rather than a mix of corn syrup and honey. You want a consistent reaction to the heat, and a mix of corn syrup and honey may not react consistently. The corn syrup gives off water faster, and will not try to reabsorb as much water as quickly as the honey. (She heated the mixture up to 305 or so, and then added a tablespoon of butter and about 1/2 cup of toasted seasame seeds, stirred, and then poured it out onto a Sil-Pat in a half-sheet tray to cool. [A Sil-Pat is a slicone pad made in France for bakers, and a "half-sheet tray" is the size of the largest cookie tray that fits in a normal home oven.] The mix just about covered the tray.) All of the above took 40 minutes. When the candy was cool, it was clearly not sticky, and made loud sounds when broken. The mouth feel was much like peanut brittle. She also said: The baking soda is important to peanut brittle to make the candy form air holes. This candy has no air holes, and should be thinner than peanut brittle, so I did not use and baking soda. Thus spoke the woman who was only happy with the kitchen when it was expanded to occupy half the ground floor. I get to eat what she cooks, so she can have as many square feet as she wants. jim (Who made "The Quiche Of Death" last week) :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and other info --- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::