Cooking Sugar

I'm not telling you anything until you promise to be very very very careful when cooking sugar. It gets insanely hot. Hot enough to burn lumps of meat right from your bones. So before you begin half fill your sink with cold water and lots of ice cubes, just in case. Okay?

stage	temp	uses
Soft-Ball	115°c / 240°f	Fudge, fondant, italian meringue
Hard-Ball	125°c / 257°f	Nougat
Soft-Crack	140°c / 285°f	Butterscotch block
Hard-Crack	150°c / 305°f	Toffee
Light Caramel	160°c / 320°f	Spun sugar, sugar cages, creme caramel, toffee apples
Darker Caramel	170°c / 338°f	Praline

A degree or two either side of the given temperature is fine but you really need a sugar thermometer. You can but one here or here.