Chewy Confections

[Confections] Vol. 14 No. 9 September 2004 ww Chewy Confections By Peter Dea, Contributing Editor Gumdrops and lemon drops -- although both are candies, a gumdrop eats differently than a lemon drop. While you may chew on the former, you probably wouldn't the latter. Part of picking candy is based on how interactive you want it to be. That is -- at least for this discussion -- do you want to chew it? When it comes to satisfying our need for a bite-sized sweet treat that also fulfills our desire to chew, it's chewy confections that meet these requirements. Excluding chewing gums, the most common chewy confections include jellies, caramels and nougats, and taffies. Within these groups lie a wide variety of shapes, flavors, textures and sizes. In addition to their broad appeal as traditional confections, chewy treats also find popularity in additional segments as a delivery means for vitamins, minerals and other nutraceutical ingredients. And with the current trend of low-carb lifestyles, sugar-free chewy confections are enjoying new interest. The technology for producing these sweet treats has existed for a long time. But, to implement the knowledge for new applications, it's beneficial to have a good understanding of the basic formulae and processes for each type. Back to basics According to Henry Nonaka, senior technical sales support manager, Corn Products International, Bedford Park, IL: "Combinations of three sweeteners -- sucrose, 42 DE, and 63 DE corn syrups -- are the basis for about every cooked confectionery product. To a lesser extent, high-maltose and high-fructose corn syrups (HFCS) can be used." In combination with moisture content, confectioners vary the amounts of these ingredients to begin creating candies with different textures and eating characteristics. "The range of sucrose to corn-syrup ratios can be very wide, depending on the product characteristics targeted and often on the other ingredients and their interaction with the sweeteners," says Nonaka. "For most applications though, the range is probably from 60:40 to 40:60." Formulations tending toward higher sugar ratios are designed for grained confections. These products have a portion of the sugar purposely crystallized out, creating a candy with a soft, short texture. Nongrained confections have higher ratios of corn syrup to sucrose, to inhibit the sucrose's crystallization. A stable nongrained candy will have all the sucrose in solution in the product's syrup phase throughout its shelf life. Besides creating stability to crystallization, corn syrup also provides a degree of chewiness to candies. The majority of chewy confections exist as nongrained candies. Gelling the concept From the ubiquitous jellybean to the old-fashioned licorice whip, we're all familiar with the wide array of jelly candy products. They're created with different gelling agents and offer characteristic textures. Most of us relate to gummy candy's unique firm, yet springy, texture when thinking of these candies. Like all jelly candies, gummy candies, such as gummy bears or gummy worms, begin with corn syrup and sugar. To give these cooked liquid saccharide ingredients structure, they are combined with a gelling agent to entrap the liquid syrup in a matrix and thereby give form to the confection. Gummies traditionally use the protein material, gelatin, as the gelling agent. In addition to the basic ingredients of corn syrup, sucrose and gelatin, they typically also contain an acidulant, flavorings and colors. www.foodproductdesign.com Page 1 [Confections] Vol. 14 No. 9 September 2004 To control crystallization, gummy candies usually have a ratio of 60% corn syrup to 40% sucrose. While 42 DE corn syrup offers better control against crystallization, 63 DE corn syrup, with a higher percentage of reducing sugars, offers better protection from drying out. To compensate, when using 42 DE corn syrup, manufacturers may add small amounts of reducing sugar in the form of dextrose, fructose or HFCS to enhance humectancy. However, don't be too liberal with these ingredients, as excess amounts of some of these monosaccharide ingredients may lead to sweating, stickiness and softer products. Nonaka further cautions: "It is critical when working with any of these syrups, one needs to be aware of the chemical and physical properties of the syrup and how it impacts the final product. For example, changing from a 42 to a 63 DE syrup generally results in a slightly sweeter, softer product and, if used with protein ingredients, will yield a darker product." Many commercial gummy candies include sorbitol, a sugar alcohol commonly used in sugar-free candies. "Sorbitol acts as a humectant and doctoring agent (anticrystallizing), which keeps the sucrose from crystallizing in the gummy candy to promote better shelf life and texture," says Peter Jamieson, research scientist, SPI Polyols, Inc., New Castle, DE. Gelatin choices Gelatins for gummy-type confections come in many different varieties, including animal origin, granulation size and bloom strength. Type A gelatins, derived from pigskin and pig bones, usually are favored over Type B gelatins, derived from calfskin and beef bones. Type A has an isoelectric point around pH 7 to 9, while Type B has an isoelectric point about 4.7 to 5.0. Since most gummy candies have an acidic flavor and thus require a low pH, using Type B gelatins, with an isoelectric point in an acidic range, may result in a cloudy gel. Gummy candies typically contain 175 to 250 bloom gelatin. All else being equal, the higher the bloom strength, the stronger the gel formed. Selecting different bloom strengths affects the finished product's texture and flavor. Lower bloom-strength gelatins tend to produce softer, stringier gels while higher ones result in firmer, tougher and more-brittle gels. "Bloom strength affects flavor release. The higher bloom gives a tougher texture," says Carter D. Foss, applications and culinary manager, Mastertaste, Inc., Los Angeles. "The tougher a texture, the slower the release of the flavor; so a lower bloom would release its flavor faster due to its breaking down faster. However, lower bloom strengths can have an off-taste and aroma, so higher-bloom gelatin is generally preferred." "High process temperatures and low pH can adversely affect gelatin strength," says John Fenstermacher, senior market development specialist, PURAC America, Lincolnshire, IL. "Adding a buffer prior to cooking or to the acid solution will raise the pH without affecting sourness, thus minimizing the loss of gel strength. When a gummy is well buffered, you could even reduce the amount of gelatin in your recipe or use a lower bloom." Since gelatin is heat-labile, manufacturers normally don't cook it with the sweeteners. Rather, they'll first soak gelatin in heated water, about 130° to140°F, to fully solubilize the protein. This process also deaerates the gelatin to produce a clear solution, important for producing candies with good clarity. To prepare the candy, manufacturers cook the mixture of sweeteners to a solids content in excess of the desired solids of the finished product and then cool it to less than the boiling point of water. They then add the clear gelatin solution to the cooked syrup. The gelatin solution's excess water dilutes the cooked syrup to achieve a solids content of about 2% to 3% lower than the desired solids of the finished candy. Manufacturers then add and mix in acid flavoring ingredients, such as citric, malic or lactic acids, along with other flavors and colors. After flavoring, they deposit the finished slurry into starch molds, and the jellies are allowed to set completely over a 24-hour period, allowing the gelatin to set. Since gelatin is thermally sensitive, the jellies must set in the molds at room temperature. Moisture is drawn into the dry starch mold to achieve the desired finished solids of 80% to 82%. The jellies are removed from the starch mold, cleaned by brushing and oiled in www.foodproductdesign.com Page 2 [Confections] Vol. 14 No. 9 September 2004 a light coating of a tropical fat, such as coconut or palm kernel oil, or food-grade mineral oil and beeswax. For flavor enhancement, Foss suggests, "if having a problem getting the flavor to come across up front, then add an oil-based flavor to your coating oil." In addition to varying the type or amount of gelatin, another means of modifying texture in gummy jellies is by combining gelatin with another hydrocolloid, such as starch or pectin. Typically, this shortens the candy's texture and offers a softer bite to the piece, which is common in "fruit snack" type jellies. Also, although gelatin by far is the preferred colloid for gummy-type candies, for consumers who prefer not to eat candies formulated with this animal-based protein, confectioners can look to other colloids to approximate the eating qualities of gelatin gummies. Indeed, gummy-like candies are available using agar, pectin, starch or gellan. Caramels milk the system Caramels, like jellies, start off with corn syrup and sugar, but now include two additional basic confectionery ingredients: fat and milk. As we'll see momentarily, caramels are really an emulsion of fat droplets in a syrup solution of sugars and hydrated milk proteins. Traditional caramels are nongrained confections with about 6% to 12% water and should not have a crystalline dry phase. Ratios of corn syrup and sugar are usually at about equal proportions to inhibit crystallization and provide chew. Adding milk to a caramel recipe contributes to their distinct characteristics in several ways. "Milk is considered the most-important ingredient in caramel," says Joanne Sullivan, confections R&D project leader, Kraft Food Ingredients Corp., Memphis, TN. "Milk contributes protein, which provides body or 'stand-up' properties." While chewy caramels typically are cooked to a higher temperature than jelly candies, (typically from 235° to 250°F or higher), the absence of a gelling agent in a basic caramel formula means nothing will hold the syrupy mass together.

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