Induction Cooktop Insane Easy Caramel

With the holidays rolling around, people are FB posting all their favorite sweet recipes. My cooking buddy was excited about her cousin Bobby's crock pot caramel recipe. She tried it with great result. There were many variables that made no logical sense to me. Things I've been told one must never ever do, unless you're TRYING to make somebody's day a little less bright. After a quick search of internet recipes to see what the common points and not so common variations are, I learned this:

Don't make yo shit harder than it needs to be. Science can be simple.

Hold your questions till the end, kids.

It goes like this, here it go:

Set the temp on your induction cooktop to 195.  Put an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk into a pot and fill the pot until you have covered the can with at least a 1/2 inch of water. Put the lid on and set the cooktop for 6 1/2 hours. Once the cooking cycle is complete, let the can sit in the covered water bath for another hour and a half. Transfer unopened can to fridge until you're ready to do something with your caramel.

Seriously, that's it. When the caramelish stuff has chilled, it will have a thick texture and lovely colour. The texture is not quite as stiff as the cellophane wrapped caramel candies and the colour is just a bit darker than those. It's not a chewy stringy substance, it's more spreadable like a thick Nutella. 

Questions and concerns:

1. This isn't really true caramel, it's dulce de leche. My unrefined hippy tastebuds can't tell a difference. It's yummy. I swear.
2. Quite a few blogs say that you MUST use Eagle brand. All I had in the cabinet was Great Value and it turned out just fine.
3. The caramel is quite thick once it's cooled. Feel free to add stuff when you use it... butter for a more caramel-y flavoured caramel. Salt for a salted caramel. Vanilla... you get the picture. Don't be skerred, it's just minor tweaks to make it groove for you.
4. Yes, Beavis, take the label off the can before you cook it.
5.  If your can seeps condensed milk into the pot, you're boned - start over with a new not-jacked-out can.
6.  No, the can will not explode (when you cook it at 195 degrees) and leave your kitchen a sticky horror. I was worried myself. We even talked about cooking it outside in case of splosion. Nope. Green lights all the way, man.
7. If your stuff turns out lumpy, you probably cooked it at too high a temperature. Since we can set the temp with an induction cooktop, that's not a problem.
8. If you MUST see what's going on in the can during the cooking process, use ball jars with the lid and all that.
9. This is NOT shelf stable, it must be refrigerated. It's milk.
10. You may need to thin it down with milk or cream to make it more easily pourable when warmed. Play around with it to get the texture you want.
11. Keep an eye on it while it cooks. The water must cover the can at all times.

Enjoy, y'all!

Side note: I am not responsible for the dimples on your behind once you get addicted to this super easy caramel. Heh!