I also say kar-mel on occasion.

I say "Carmel" when I'm talking about the chewey candies and "Car-a-mel" when I'm talking about the sauce applied to icecream, or its flavor in a context other than "those little chewey candies"

If I pronounce it with the same 'a' sound as in 'car', I give it only two syllables ('kär-m&l)

If I pronounce it with three syllables, I use an initial vowel slightly closer to the 'a' in 'cat' than to the 'a' in 'care'.

*looks it up* Mirriam-Webster online gives

'kär-m&l
'ker-&-m&l
'kar-&-m&l

...or any of the above with the ending -"mel

as valid pronunciations.

To-ma-to
To-mah-to

Why worry?

Either car"-mel or care"-uh-mel. Pretty randomly interchangeable, but if there's a trend at all, it's similar to dirkjcelli's statement:

car"-mel coloring (ingredient in cola) and car"-mel candies
but care"-uh-mel syrup and therefore care"-uh-mel sundaes.

That is to say, care"-uh-mel coloring sounds really weird to me at the moment...I think my tendency might be to occasionally use car"-mel where I usually say care"-uh-mel but not the other way round.

I'm a Brit so

ka-ra-mull

Depending on mood, either car-mel or care-mel. I apparently skip a syllable.

I said care-a-mel, but that's not really how I always pronounce it. I kind of go back and forth between the two... but it always has 3 syllables. Car-mel drives crazy.

Huh, I rarely say it. I'm more likely to sing Suzanne Vega - so care-a-mel.

But it is carmel apples.

"Care-mel," two syllables. "Car-mel," also two syllables, if you're all hoitsy-toitsy; I use that one to annoy Texan rednecks. "Care-uh-mel" strikes me as very Yankee; I've never heard anyone combine the broad a with the schwa in the middle.

I say car-mel too. Almost never care-a-mel (unless it's for emphasis) and never car-a-mel.

car-mel... very fast