i made a little sss test(ambermat) 
rendertime was 1.5hrs on 3.2ghz
this nice "BUDDAH"can be found here:
http://www.inf.uni-konstanz.de/cgip/lehre/ws04-proj/index.shtml.de
my render:
this sss material really blew me away good one mate
Looks like a toffee buddah! Wow!
great caramel buddha!!!
yeah taste good!! 
I thought it looks like candy as well… something sticky
Best regards,
Vlado
hahah caramel buddah.. spot on
Would you might sharing your material settings?