Fondant liquifying?

[simon kerr]

I have pre made my fondant for the winter months putting it in clear plastic tubs ready for the hives. I stored it sealed with cling film and a clear lid. It was made correctly and boiled to 240 degrees F (soft ball). Stored in cool place.
The problem I have is it is liquifying instead of staying solid, so when I turn the tubs upside down to put over the crown board holes it just ouzes out or collaspes onto unsuspecting bees.
Is it best made in limited batches or am I doing something wrong??

 

[Rosti]

Should be good for years.

May have been:
Too low a temperature (if you went for softball 'by eye' this could be as low as 113)
Moisture ingress during storage
Enzymic breakdown (esp if you are seeing liquified pockets)

I would gently melt at 80'C. Re-cook to a minimum 117, check consistency and re-pack (go too hard not too soft). If there is any doubt about enzymes then take to 121, accept it will be too hard and mix back in some boiled water till you hit a soft putty when warm (you can do this if 117 is looking like bricks as as well). Re-pack and use within 6 weeks [if you've added boiled water back] (or make into spring syrup). R

 

[MuswellMetro]

scrap it out of the tub and put in a thick freezer bag, then place it over the feed hole with a gap so the bees can access it from the top, then put two or three slashes with the hive tool in it so the bees can access it, wipe some of the fondant on the plastic from the slits to the feed hole

the bees don't mind it soft, some of the inverted fondants like appinvert go really soft as the fructose adsorbs a lot of water

 

[Hombre]

I played about with the amount of water to the 1kg sugar. The recommended recipe was

Sugar 1kg
glucose powder 150g
water 150ml

I varied the water between 150ml and 300ml between a number of batches and thought that around 250ml was the sweet spot, despite the experience of the original poster of the recipe.

I poured into cartons and left it. I found that over the next two weeks the higher water content was producing surface syrup which was threatening to go everywhere. I have poured the syrup off and feed in zip lock bags that I stab holes into so that the bees can get at it.

It seemed easier to get the sugar dissolved to my satisfaction at 300g, but patently I was wrong. Either that or I would have needed to reduce the water by boiling longer.

FWIW, just so you know that not everyone else gets it right every time, but I've learned from the exercise.

 

[madasafish]

When my fondant goes liquid looking, I reheat it , boil for 1 minute, switch off heat, stir like crazy to get air in and place saucepan in cold water whilst stirring. Seems to produce better firmer fondant.

 

[simon kerr]

Thanks all very helpful