Just made a new recipe for hazelnut brittle. Didn't turn out.

Sorry for the duplication, the site told me that there had been an error with the comment so I kept trying to resubmit it. I didn't mean to spam you, but can't figure out how to erase any of them.

It sounds like your brittle crystalized. It could have been from impurities in the sugar but it is also possible the sugar crystals weren't all completely dissolved and that caused the crystalization. Try stirring the mixture well up until it starts boiling. After that don't stir but do wash down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush to make sure all the sugar crystals are dissolved. That should help. A small amount of corn syrup also helps prevent crystallization. Also, I don't know if the refrigeration caused problems. I have never refrigerated my brittles. They cool fairly quickly at room temperature and don't absorb the extra moisture from the refrigerator that way.

I hope it works next time, hazelnut brittle sounds delicious.

It sounds like your brittle crystalized. It could have been from impurities in the sugar but it is also possible the sugar crystals weren't all completely dissolved and that caused the crystalization. Try stirring the mixture well up until it starts boiling. After that don't stir but do wash down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush to make sure all the sugar crystals are dissolved. That should help. A small amount of corn syrup also helps prevent crystallization. Also, I don't know if the refrigeration caused problems. I have never refrigerated my brittles. They cool fairly quickly at room temperature and don't absorb the extra moisture from the refrigerator that way.

I hope it works next time, hazelnut brittle sounds delicious.

It sounds like there were some undissolved sugar crystals that caused the whole thing to crystalize (that is what gives it the gritty texture.) It could have been because of impurities in the sugar but also could be because not all the sugar was dissolved properly. Try stirring the mixture well before it comes to a boil to make sure all the sugar dissolves. Once it is boiling do not stir, but do wash down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush to make sure no sugar remains on the side of the pan. That should work better.
Also, I don't know if the refrigeration caused problems but I never refrigerate brittle. The hot sugar should cool down quickly at room temperature and doesn't need to be refrigerated. Hope this helps. Hazelnut brittle sounds delicious, I hope it turns out next time.

drbabs - Actually the consistency of the brittle reminded me of pralines - a bit of a bite but sugary gritty. I'm going to buy some plain white sugar and try it again. I'll let you know. Thanks for the link. A friend of mine said she started making brittles in the microwave with great success, so I may also explore that, too.

I don't know if this will help you; I recently blew threw a couple of pounds of pecans trying to make pralines that didn't turn out, so I feel your pain. Here's an article about candy making that I found. Maybe add a little lemon juice?
http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/tips-techniques/candymaking-basics-how-to-work-with-sugar-065049