r/CandyMaking

I keep trying to make crystal candy and it always turns out like this. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I used this recipe https://msshiandmrhe.com/kohakutou/

Hi! Novice confection-maker here. Looking to share the process of making watermelon-rind confection and get some advice because I'm not sure I did it right. I followed this recipe by Sara Leana Ahmad adapted from Nawal Nasrallah, except that I omitted the honey and (on the advice of a Turkish friend) used cloves instead of cardamom.

Photos:

1. Final result
2. Step 1: Removed the dark green part of the rind of a watermelon with a grater.
3. Sliced the melon, gave the flesh to eager neighbors, cut the rind into approximately 1-inch rectangles.
4. Weighed the rind; it completely filled a 1-gallon bag and weighed 4.5 lb.
5. Simmered the rind 1/2 hour until tender. Removed rind but reserved liquid.
6. According to the proportions in the recipe, I brought to a boil 7 cups of the cooking liquid, 7 cups of sugar, zest of one large lemon, and seven cloves [in future I would use a lot less cloves].

Not shown: Simmered the rind in this mixture for 1/2 hour, then turned it off, covered the pot, and let it stand overnight.

7. At this point I was supposed to simmer again until the syrup thickened, and here's where I'm uncertain. I tried something like this once before and ruined it at the final step by cooking it until the syrup was dark, hard, and strong-flavored. This time I may have gone too far in the other direction. I noticed that the syrup was darkening a little and took the rind out right away though the syrup was barely thick. Not sure how to catch it right.

8. The final result was a lovely golden color but not as chewy as I expected. Isn't the syrup supposed to give the texture a little "bite"? It was chewier than when it had been cooked in just water, though.