Steps/methods
1, raw materials: 400g of fine sugar, 200ML of water and 50ML of fresh lemon juice.
2. Prepare a stainless steel pot (don't use an iron pot or aluminum pot) and put the sugar in the pot. Add water, stir it a little with chopsticks, and let the sugar and water mix. Heat it on medium heat, then please don't stir it to prevent the sugar from sticking to the pot wall.
3. After the sugar water is boiled, there are no white sugar particles, and fresh lemon juice is poured. After boiling again, turn to low heat and cook slowly. From this time until the end of boiling syrup, remember not to stir the sugar water again. If some sugar water sticks to the wall of the pot. In order to prevent this part of sugar from producing sugar crystal particles, you can take a brush with water and brush it on the wall of the pot. When the water flows down the pot wall, the sugar on the pot wall can be washed into the pot.
4, always simmer slowly with a small fire. Boil for 40 minutes to 1 hour. The longer the boiling time, the darker the color of the syrup.
5. After the syrup is cooked, turn off the fire. After the syrup cools, find a sealed jar or bottle with a lid, put the syrup in it, and leave it for 1 day. The longer it is placed, the better it will be used. Inverted syrup has a strong anti-corrosion ability. You can make a little more at a time. You can't use it all this year, and you can use it the next year.
6, because the syrup will be thicker after cooling than when it is hot. Therefore, if the consistency is thinner than honey when cooking, it will be fine, and it will become thicker after cooling. If you find that the syrup is too thick, you can add some water appropriately.
Precautions editing
1, when boiling syrup, turn on a small fire. If the fire is too big and the water evaporates too quickly, the syrup may thicken in less than 40 minutes. Because the minimum fire of each stove is different and the caliber of the pot is different, it will affect the evaporation of water. Pay attention to the color and consistency of syrup when cooking. As long as it's almost done, turn off the fire. In addition, if the water evaporates too fast, the water in your syrup has almost evaporated in a short time, but the color is not in place yet. You can add more water to cook it. Don't let the water evaporate completely. The temperature of syrup is too high, but it will harden after cooling. If your house has a large firepower, you can cover it when cooking to prevent excessive evaporation of water.
2. If you don't want to cook so much syrup at one time, you can halve the amount of sugar and lemon juice, but the amount of water can be slightly reduced as appropriate, so you don't need to halve it, because no matter how much sugar you use, you must boil it for a certain time. If the water is halved, the water may dry up in less than 20 minutes.
3, because the syrup will be thicker after cooling than when it is hot. Therefore, if the consistency is thinner than honey when cooking, it will be fine, and it will become thicker after cooling.
4. Many syrups are said to be stored for 1 week or even 15 days before use. However, if it is made according to my formula, it can be used after 1 day. Of course, the longer the syrup is cooked, the better the effect will be. Inverted syrup has a strong anti-corrosion ability, and can stand being placed. You can make a little more at a time, and you can use it the next year.
5. Different people have different habits of cooking invert syrup. According to different syrups, the moon cake formula used will be different. Generally speaking, it is recommended to cook invert syrup to a consistency similar to that of honey or slightly thicker. Mooncakes made with this syrup can basically return oil the next day!
6. The lemon juice in the formula refers to the original juice squeezed with fresh lemon. If there is no lemon juice, vinegar is not recommended to replace it. The boiled syrup will taste bad. I have tried it. When cooking, people thought they were making sweet and sour pork ribs. In addition, the acidity of vinegar is not consistent with lemon juice, and I haven't studied the specific conversion ratio. In short, it's not very reliable!
7. The cooled syrup should be thick and fluid. If the syrup hardens after cooling, it means that the water volatilizes too much. You can add some water and boil it again, and then stir it evenly (if the syrup has been boiled black, then there is nothing to do).
Summary editing
We know that when sugar and water are mixed, heated and boiled, the water will slowly evaporate and the concentration of sugar water will be higher and higher. When the concentration of sugar water reaches a certain level, sugar will crystallize out after cooling. In order to prevent this phenomenon, we add some acidic substances (citric acid, tartar essence, etc.) when boiling sugar water. Sometimes lemon juice is used instead), some sugar will be decomposed into monosaccharides which are not easy to crystallize by acid. This process is called sugar transformation.
Inverted syrup can be divided into fully inverted syrup and semi-inverted syrup according to the degree of conversion. Different syrups are different in color and consistency. Including the major mooncake manufacturers now, many of them are masters who cook their own syrup, and almost every syrup is different. After cooling, the syrup is clear in color and has no crystallization. Similar to or thicker than honey. However, different invert syrups have different requirements on moon cake formula, scooping water concentration and dosage.