30 January, 2023
Candy
Posted in : Freeze Dried on by : Lorrie Tags: Freeze dried candy
Freeze drying candy seems like it would be very straight forward, put it in the machine and let it go. The problem is, sugar needs a different temperature to make it look like it’s from another planet. Freeze dryers have many presets, and for most foods they work beautifully to have perfectly preserved food once they’re finished, but sugar seems to have a magic number and for some, needs to be preheated in the oven before freezing in order to have it change in structure and appearance. There are also many other candies that do not change at all, this is due to the starch content, not machine failure or user error.
I use a Harvest Right freeze dryer. My main machine is fairly new, but I do not use the preset candy mode that is available with some of the newest machines.
Candy can be tricky, it can be sensitive to heat, or it can be incredibly simple and straight forward. Things like skittles aren’t at all temperamental, they can get loaded in after a standard food load, (at the end of your current cycle simply hit add additional dry time after reloading your trays rather than defrost) add an additional dry time of 6 hours and let it go. Other candies, like starburst like to be preheated in the oven. I’m not a die hard candy maker and haven’t tried this method so I won’t go into it.
The first thing for most candies is to change your drying temperature to 145, candy likes it hot! You need it to be nice and warm to see that awesome reaction and texture change.
From your start menu select customize, this brings you to a menu that allows for temperature adjustments for both freezing and drying, as well as adding extra drying time for the end of each cycle. Select the up arrow on dry temperature until it reaches 145, select save and you’re all set.
Many candies only need a couple hours to reach perfection, others seem to want to go all day. You’re going to need to experiment and see what works for you. There are some store brands of candy that freeze dry perfectly, while other name brand candies don’t work at all. Half the fun of making the candy is experimenting and discovering new things, and kids love to sample the results! The main thing to look for is cornstarch in the ingredients, typically any candy with cornstarch in the first 3 ingredients will only successfully get stale even after hour and hours in the freeze dryer.
I’m working on a list of candy failures. So far I have found the following candy does not freeze dry or change in texture.
- Sour Patch Kids
Freeze Dried Candy
Equipment
- Freeze Dryer
- Silicone Mats I add these to each tray to prevent the sugar from hardening on the tray. I buy a roll at a time and cut to fit my trays. I've shared the link as well to make it easier to find.
Ingredients
- Candy Any flavor
Instructions
- Adjust your drying temperature on your freeze dryer to 145, this allows your sugar to heat and crystalize as it's vacuumed.
- Load your candy on trays. I find that most candy sticks to the trays and can also harden during the process. I like to use silicone mats to prevent them from sticking to my tray, this allows for easy clean up and packing once finished.
- One important thing to remember about candy is that it expands, and expands and then sometimes expands some more. Leave lots of room between pieces to allow them to grow or you may end up with one big glob.
- Place your loaded trays in the freeze dryer, close the door, and press start.
- That's it! Sit back and watch the magic, or don't because it's probably going to take a long time for anything to happen.
- Once your candy is done, you can unload your trays and package, don't touch any buttons at the end of the cycle. I use standard ziplock bags just to rapidly unload and reload the machine. I repackage later.
- Reload candy onto the trays, put them back in the freeze dryer and select the button "Add drying time". Select the up arrow until it reaches 6 hours. This method is known as piggy backing, this can be done at the end of any drying cycle, but most cycles have a much lower drying temperature so the sugar reaction will be different.At this step you can actually watch some candy change in form, marshmallows especially will begin to expand almost instantly.
- Remember when all done with the candy making to change your drying temperature back to 125.