Please someone educate me on these. I'm using isomalt, cooked to 340 degrees, shocked in cold water, poured them, popped them out as soon as they were cool which was only a minute or so cuz they are tiny. As I'm working on them, I'm noticing they are losing all their beautiful definition and are melting into little clear blobs of sugar. Acckkk! It's super humid here, so I'm thinking that is the culprit. Gotta go turn on the a/c. Anyone have any other suggestions? I'm running low on isomalt and don't have time to reorder. How long should they remain in the molds before I can take them out?

I don't know on that one. I buy the sugar diamonds but they are not very lustrous at all either. I would love to know how to get them to keep their shine!

Here is a bump for you.

I run a de-humidifier in my workroom when I work with sugar/isomalt. You could also place your gems in an airtight container to help protect.hth

Well, I worked as quickly as I could when I saw they were starting to melt. I picked out the best gems and placed in an airtight gladware container with a little bag of dessicant. Hope that helps em. But I lost sooo many others. They were just beautiful when they first came out of the molds. And I so wanted these to work.

You can re-melt Isomalt so unless it became cloudy from the humidity you can re use it. I think it's the humidity. Humidity is the culprit in a lot of sugar mishaps!

GOOD LUCK!

Beth in KY

Thanks Beth, didn't know I could remelt the isomalt. It's still crystal clear, just real sticky lil blobs of goo. Just checked the weather, and the humidity is 87%! It's gotta be that. Think I'll try again in a few days. Thanks for all the help.

cib - check the posts down in the pulled sugar section, I had a terrible time too, and never did get pretty clear jems. K8memphis has some good advice on them - good luck to you.

Ah Loucinda. I had already read all your posts days ago. That's why I started practicing now. This is for my dd's wedding in 4 weeks. If I can't get this right, I've got to design something else real quick. My gems were clear, but lost all their definition due to the humidity, I think. But, today is only the first day, and perhaps they will turn cloudy as well. Don't know. I'll let you know if I can get them to turn out. Thanks for the help.

Oh, forgot to add I tried the hard candy mix that Leahs suggested. That didn't work either.

You can store leftovers or make them ahead of time and just melt them in the microwave.

I have read that you can brush your gems with a tiny bit of vegetable oil and that will make and keep them shiny. Hope this helps!

Totally, rub oil on the gems. I kept some on my kitchen counter for 6 weeks and they were still lovely. Had to reoil them a couple of times.

Yes thanks Leah I had done that with some I made the other day, those are now completely hard, I don't have a problem with the shine, it's there. What I do have a problem with is the gems losing their shape with all the humdity. Is this something I can't make unless the air is superdry without humidity? Soo frustrating!

I too oiled mine (as per Leah) and likd cib - they shined, just were still cloudy and not so pretty. If you get it figured out....please post about it! I am taking a pulled sugar class with Keith Ryder this weekend, and I will see what I can find out from him - I'll let you know what he says!

Thanks Loucinda. Yes, please post about your sugar class and if B keith has any suggestions. I'm in full blown panic mode right now.

maybe we should contact the producers of the "Ring Pop"

Loucinda, could you ask B Keith if spraying the gems with edible lacquer would help? I've been wondering if I used that right after unmolding if that would seal in the shine and keep out the dreaded moisture. Let me know.