seizing

Seizing happens when a smooth ingredient — like chocolate or sugar — suddenly tightens up, turning thick, grainy, and clumpy instead of staying silky. It usually happens when a tiny bit of moisture sneaks into something that’s not supposed to mix with water, causing the whole texture to change instantly.

You’ll mostly hear about seizing when working with chocolate: even a drop of water can cause melted chocolate to stiffen into a gritty paste. But sugar work (like caramel) can also seize if the wrong conditions hit — like sudden temperature shocks or unexpected moisture.

In every case, seizing is the ingredient’s way of saying, “Nope, I can’t handle this.” Sometimes you can fix it with careful re-melting or by adding more liquid, but often it means starting over.

You can see chocolate seizing — and how to avoid it — in The Chocolate Lab.