I received a few responses on the kitchen forum - one suggesting checking to see if he used unsalted or salted butter (no idea, need to check). Salted butter is recommended.

DH may have saved one batch of fudge with a little experiment he did after I posted (he didn't toss the fudge as I thought, just poured them into glass casserole pans). He'll repeat the same technique on the other batch tomorrow night and see if it works.

We
kept thinking it had to have something to do with the pan and the way
it heated up and retained heat differently than our old Farberware. He
thought that maybe the pan hadn't cooled down enough when he put the
chocolate chips in. I'm not so sure about that. It's a heavier pan but I
don't think the pan gets as hot as it did on gas, even with our old
Farberware.

Anyhoo, he put tonight's batch back in the 5 qt
pan and turned the heat to med low and stirred and stirred and was
able to get it to emulsify back into a creamy state. Yay! It's a
different consistency than normal - denser, which isn't necessarily a
bad thing - but no longer greasy and grainy.

I have to say
that I'm relieved. I was really feeling bad about talking him into
induction if it meant that his fudge making days were over. 'Course,
I've no doubt that our friends and neighbors who look forward to his
fudge all year would have gladly offered up their gas cook tops and
cheap pans for him to use. =) But still, it will be nice for him to make
fudge at home.

My mom used to make fudge, honest to goodness
fudge from scratch. I think she used a double boiler but it's been so
long since I watched her make fudge that I can't remember for sure.
Tomorrow marks 10 yrs since she's been gone. Still miss her so much.

I'd still welcome advice and tips. TIA!

My guess is the pans, retaining too much heat.......or perhaps he's not cooking it long enough to evaporate as much moisture from the evap milk as it should? Tell him to try a batch timing the boil as he used to do....maybe that will shed some light. Meanwhile, enjoy the mistakes!

Lisa, I make the same fudge, the old Fantasy Fudge recipe. I've found that my new cooktop has a "high heat" burner and if I cook the fudge on that burner it comes to the softball stage too quickly and the sugar doesn't dissolve properly, leaving my fudge greasy and grainy. So I use another burner, make sure my heat is on medium and stir. I even went so far as to mix the sugar/milk/butter mixture, melting the butter first, and let it sit for 10 minutes or so hoping to dissolve the sugar.

Anyway, cooking lower and slower worked for me.

Enjoy the fudge.

Annie

Oh, shoot, Linda, you're saying he's right and I'm wrong. =) I don't think he does a timed boil, just watches the candy thermometer.

annie, it's crazy how good this fudge is, given how easy it is. Do you have an induction cook top, too? He used the front right burner last night and the big center burner tonight with the same results. I thought that maybe the right front burner was just a little too small for the pan and that might have thrown things off but it doesn't seem to have made a difference. I didn't ask him what heat setting he used. I'll pass your advice on to him, thanks!

Annie's right. Slow down. Induction isn't like gas or electric. You don't turn to the highest number to bring something to heat, unless you're after a fast boil. With the fudge you need to be more delicate. Try lowering the number by 2.5-3. Really. If it's sluggish, it's easy to turn up, but it sounds like the pot is just heating up way too fast.

I also make the same fudge recipe using induction. My cooktop range is from 1-9 and I always set mine at 5. Haven't had a failure yet using the candy thermometer.

Who will share the recipe for this great fudge? Thank you.

Yep, it seems low and slow is the way to go. Thanks for the advice, everyone! I'll relay it to DH and hopefully his next batch will be perfect.

pinkwarmmama, here's the recipe. This is the original recipe, not the new one listed on the jar of Marshmallow Creme. The new one has less sugar but more milk and chocolate chips. DH doesn't like it nearly as well as the original version.

Fantasy Fudge

3 C sugar

3/4 C butter (salted, not unsalted)

2/3 C evaporated milk

1 12-oz pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 7-oz jar Kraft Marshmallow Creme

1 Tbsp vanilla

Combine sugar, butter and milk in a heavy 2 1/2 qt saucepan; bring to
a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Continue boiling 5 minutes
over medium heat, stirring, until candy thermometer reaches 234 degrees F
(soft ball stage).

Remove from heat, stir in chocolate chips until melted. Add
marshmallow creme and vanilla, stir until blended. Pour into greased 13 x
9 pan. Let cool and serve.

Makes about 36 pieces.

Note: DO NOT substitute sweetened condensed milk for evaporated milk.

Here's a pic: greasy, grainy batch on the left, salvaged batch in the 2 pans on the right (ignore the color differences, blame the photog, I do (that's me).

lisa: Thank you so much for the recipe. I shall follow instructions exactly! Cheers and Happy Holiday. Pink

Yuuuummmm! I am going to try this as I am salivating just looking at the pics.

I've made fudge on my induction cooktop without a problem but brought it to boiling at medium heat instead of high or PB (power boil). As folks above said, I think that's the way to go.

Thanks, amck2! Pretty sure he didn't use the PB feature. That would be kinda crazy. But hey, he's done crazy things before, lol.

lisa, I don't have induction, but I do have a new cooktop and I'm adjusting. My old and slow gas stove at the last house was, well, old and slow. The new one has different burners for different uses but since the owner was elderly and passed away, there was a learning curve (and no paperwork or instructions, LOL). I found that if I cooked it too fast on the higher burner, well, it just didn't work well. And, funny, it looked JUST like yours on the left, go figure.

Annie

I can't help you on the induction question, but a while back, I was doing a search for fudge recipes on this site, and came across this info that may be helpful:

What
Maida has to say about rescuing fudge batches:

If you're fudge turned to sugar, or if it is
stiffened in the saucepan, or
if it crumbled when you cut portions (because you beat it too long), add
2 tablespoons of cream and stir over very low heat (cutting up the fudge with a
wooden spatula while you stir). Cook and stir only until warm and slightly
softened but not until hot or thin.

Remove
from heat, beat again until smooth and thick, and them turn it out of the
saucepan again. (Some cooks think that this twice cooked fudge is creamier and
more smooth than otherwise.)

If
you have the opposite problem of fudge that did not set, you didn't cook
it long enough or you poured it too soon. If you think that you did not
cook it long enough, add 1/4 cup milk or cream, then cook and stir constantly
until it reaches 236 degrees again. Cool
as above, and beat again.

But
if you think that you cooked it enough and simply poured it too soon, transfer
the mixture to a marble, tile, or formica countertop. Then squeeze it between
your hands and knead it as though it were bread dough until it is firm enough
to hold a shape. Then roll it into a sausage
shape, or form it into a square about 1 inch thick. Let stand for just a few
moments and them slice the sausage shape or cut the square into portions.

Unless
someone wants to lick the pan, the fudge that remains can be scraped
out, kneaded with your hands until it’s smooth and creamy, and rolled into
marble size balls

Yep, Annie, it sounds more and more like low and slow is the way to go (hey, I rhymed!)

Awesome info, Sooz, thank you!

DH put the grainy fudge back on the burner, at a low temp, and it did melt and become creamy again. He didn't think to add cream (neither did I) but I'm sure that would help.

He's now rescued both batches of fudge, using that method. He said it's heavier and richer than usual, which isn't a bad thing. The first batch still had some butter separate out but so much less than the first go-round. He's really happy that he was able to salvage the fudge.

btw, someone on the kitchen forum said that another culprit could be the removal of trans fat from chocolate chip, which I'm guessing happened sometime in the last year or so. The person who suggested this wrote that when she used the newly formulated chocolate chips, the texture was grainier.

Glad to be of help and happy to hear that DH was able to save the fudge!

Smiles,

Sooz

He was, too!