I never used a thermometer... it was my mother's recipe (she was a pretty good cook/baker even though
she could not eat many of our baked goodies) comprised mostly of sugar (both white and brown?) and
butter, with either milk or water (not sure after all these years). After boiling however long (LOL), it
would get mixed with a electric mixer until it reached that certain perfect consistency, then into
the pan it would go, quickly, because it set very fast after that. My dad liked my fudge so much
he had me make multiple pans/flavors of it on Thursday nights to sell at the farmer's markets
we attended as merchants over the weekend, selling apples, potatoes, maple syrup, and honey
year round, with special fruits picked up seasonally, the main one being summer peaches ..
Speaking of celiacs: this was so long ago my mother had to order her rice flour from the pharmacy! .
This talk of fudge is sounding very delectable right now.
I like farmer's markets! I especially like when the yellow meated watermelon is in season. If I didn't have a toxic thumb I'd grow my own.
I've made peanut butter fudge without a thermometer a heap of times...peanut butter fudge, because my dad and I find it very tasty. I had to stop making it though as we found it to be a bit too tasty.
I had gotten a candy thermometer for a chocolate fudge recipe that highly recommended a thermometer be used, then next came the melted thermometer
Oh, another thing I use a thermometer with is homemade marshmallows. Homemade marshmallows are sooooooo good. A good friend of mine, who has sadly passed on, gave me some of her homemade marshmallows one time and my tastebuds were beyond amazed. When she became to ill to cook, I decided to make them myself. Their taste is far superior to the store bought marshmallows.