Hard Candy portion that comes in contact with the candy mass. The tube is situated inside the batch roller and runs almost the entire length of its body, finishing up near the first sizing Filled Hard Candy group of the rope sizer. This tube is pivoted at the inlet side of the batch roller and is allowed to move up and down via a counter-pressure spring (part of the batch roller), thus cor- he topic of this paper is filled the form of filled lollipops, fruit responding to the changing size of the batch within the confines of the hard candy. The most common- filled hard candy, medicated cough T batch roller. ly asked question from those out- drops and now, even filled snack There are various pump systems side the industry is: How in the products. This presentation will cover: which can be applied to the produc- world do they do that? The process tion of filled high boiled sweets. • Production Methods is more complicated than most lay- Some of these include piston pumps, • Process Aspects men would think and once the mono pumps and gear pumps. Addi- • Liquid Filling Types details are presented, most people tionally, the use of an extruder • Dry Powder Fillings lose interest very quickly. Neverthe- pump can be considered for items • Forming Systems less, being confectioners you have to such as chewing gum filled lollipops • Honeycombed Center Filled Candy perform the behind-the-scenes or high boiled chewy/toffee masses. work involved with this manufactur- PRODUCTION METHODS Generally with the use of an extrud- ing miracle. er, the die head portion of the Over the years, center filled hard A brief overview of the equip- extruder is fitted to a stainless steel candies have been a novelty more ment used to produce traditional Teflon-coated tube. commonly found in European mar- center filled hard candy (Figure 1) Figure 2 shows a typical gear kets. Until recently, filled hard would include a filling pump, batch pump system. A good example of candy in the U.S. was a seasonal roller, rope sizer, die former and such a system is the pump placed on item, only enjoyed during the winter cooling tunnel. a base with wheels. The wheels holidays. Today, however, there is a There are two different types of enable the pump to be moved to growing popularity with various forming systems available in the and from the production area. This filled products. They can be found in marketplace for the forming of filled can be especially helpful when it candy pieces. These include chain comes time to wash the unit. Where and rotary die forming. Both can space savings is always a considera- perform the task adequately; howev- tion, the design of the pump illus- er, we feel that the chain system is trated here features the body of the better suited for the job, especially pump drive situated above the base, when it comes to high-percentage with the double jacketed feed tank filled pieces. The reason for this is situated above it. The feed tank that that with the chain system, the form- holds the center filling has a homog- ing is done in a straight line (Figure enizing agitator including surface 8). The rope is not bent as would be scrapers with Teflon blades. This the case in a rotary system. feature is particularly useful with As noted in the diagram we have products such as chocolate or incorporated a filling pump. With peanut paste. Utilizing the agitator the production of filled candy the system in conjunction with the jack- filling pump is supplied with a flexi- eted tank, the operator can proper- ble food grade rubber tube. This ly control product temperature and Fred Hintlian tube is connected to a stainless steel viscosity, which are so critical in the Varick Enterprises pipe, Teflon-coated on the outside filled candy process. From the feed Presented at the National American Association of Candy Technologists Technical Session The Manufacturing Confectioner/October 1995 61.