 If you take a pot of sugar and water and heat it, the sugar will pass through several stages as the water boils off. Here I'm going to illustrate each stage and its properties because these stages are useful for making candy. The first stage is called the thread stage. The thread stage begins at the temperature 102 and goes all the way up to 113. When you take a spoonful of the heated sugar mixture at this temperature and drop it into cold water, it forms threads. Sugar heated to this temperature is good for making syrup. The second stage is the softball stage. Between 116 and 118, the sugar forms a softball when dropped into cold water that flattens readily in your hand. Fudge is made with sugar that's heated to this temperature. Firmball is the third stage. At 118 to 121 degrees Celsius, the sugar mixture makes a malleable ball when dropped into cold water. It will flatten if you squeeze it. Caramel is made with sugar at this stage. At the fourth stage, the hardball stage, the sugar will create a hardball when dropped into cold water. This happens at 121 to 130 degrees Celsius. It won't flatten, but you can still alter its shape by squishing it. Gummies are a good example of candies made at this stage. In the next two stages, as the moisture content drops, the sugar will change its properties. At 132 to 143 degrees Celsius, the fifth stage, called softcrack, takes place. The sugar develops flexible strands when dropped into cold water. These strands will bend slightly before they break. Taffy is made from sugar heated to this temperature. At 149 to 154 degrees Celsius, we reach the hardcrack stage. This stage contains the highest concentration of sugar at 99%. Dropping this mixture into cold water will create hard brittle strands that break when bent. This stage, which uses hard candies, such as the lollipop. So there you have it. These are the six stages of sugar that we use for candy making. It's not going to get any better than that.