All,

        There was plenty of good advice from Richard Yarnell and Richard Bonney on
candy formation but I wanted to add my 2 cents.  Temperature is the critical
variable to watch but watch it you must.  As any good Maple Syrup producer
knows, the temperature required to reach syrup,  soft ball or hard ball,
hard crack, etc. varies according to barometric pressure.  This can be the
result of elevation or weather. Even minor changes can effect a major
change. For this reason most maple producers will boil water and note the
temp. at which it boils prior to finishing any maple product.  Each product,
has a specific temperature over the boiling point of water at which it must
be finished.
This way you will get a consistent product.  The danger in using a set
temperature is that what works for you one day may not work at all the next
time as the barometric pressure may be totally different.  I hope this helps

Thanks for listening!