Thread stage

Thread stage is the first checkpoint cooks use when boiling sugar syrup. According to the Exploratorium, it falls at about 230 to 235 degrees Fahrenheit, when the syrup is roughly 80 percent sugar. A drop of syrup in cold water forms a liquid thread that will not ball up.

Because so much water remains, a syrup at this stage stays thin and pourable. It does not make candy; the museum notes it gives a syrup, the kind you might pour over ice cream. Cooks use it for syrups and for the early steps of recipes that go on to hotter stages.

As a syrup boils, water leaves and the sugar concentration climbs, which is why temperature tells you the stage. The Exploratorium lists these temperatures for sea level and says to subtract 1 degree Fahrenheit for every 500 feet above sea level.