Syrup: How can I prevent homemade syrup from crystallizing?

Sheila recently e-mailed the Kitchen Shrink to ask, “in making pancake syrup, how do I keep sugar from settling on the bottom in hard form?” If your syrup crystallizes in the bottom of the bottle either the proportion of sugar to water is too high or the mixture wasn’t heated long enough to dissolve every sugar crystal in the mixture. Any sugar crystals remaining in the syrup can cause others to crystallize. Adding a little corn syrup or an acid such as citrus juice will help to prevent this. Selecting a syrup recipe that includes a little brown sugar gives pancake syrup a warm color and the acid in brown sugar helps to prevent crystallization.