CRYSTALLIZATION
Sugars are wonderfully robust materials!Unlike proteins that easily denature andcoagulate, unlike fats that are damaged byair and heat and go rancid, unlike starchchains that break apart into smaller chainsof glucose molecules, sugars themselves aresmall and stable molecules. They mix easilywith water, tolerate the heat of boiling, andwhen sufficiently concentrated in water,they readily bond to each other and collectthemselves into pure, solid masses, or crys-tals. This tendency to form crystals is themeans by which we obtain pure sugar fromplant juices, and it’s the way that we makemany kinds of candies. Sugar crystallizationis described in detail on p. 682.