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Freeze dried candy has become popular. Businesses freeze dry all the different types of
candy. From Airheads to Zagnut, everything has been tried. It is such a popular idea
that some people are purchasing freeze dryers specifically for making candy.
Unfortunately, the market is saturated and those people are having a hard time selling
what they make.
Instead of making candy with the intention of selling, make candy for personal reasons:
Birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, housewarming gifts, etc. Personally, I have made a lot for
my nieces and nephews, and I give them away at various church functions. I also bag
them and sell them as part of fundraisers for my nieces’ homeschool co-op. I also have
quite a few stored for special occasions in the dead of winter when we are snowed in, or
other situations arise, and we can’t celebrate an important event, such as a birthday. Or,
we have an insane sweet tooth and nothing else will work.
What is special about freeze dried candy?
Unlike regular food, candy isn’t usually full of water and excess moisture. Have you ever
tried to squeeze the juice out of a Jolly Rancher? It doesn’t work, because there is no
water. There is a tiny bit of moisture that keeps the candy from being so hard that it’s
inedible. The freeze dryer uses that bit of moisture to expand the sugar in the candy and
blow it up, much like popcorn.
It is rather fun to watch the candy expand as the vacuum chamber pulls it apart and
make delicate sugar poofs or while the hard candy shell splits open as the gooey or
chewy center swells and puffs. Sometimes, nothing happens to the candy. Every candy
has different preparation methods or rules. Some doesn’t work because of the high fat
content. Even something that seems unimportant, such as the humidity and
temperature of the room the machine is stored in can change how a candy will freeze
dry. Experimenting with different candies and methods can be fun. There are so many
twists and turns with candy, that this will be a three part article. First are the easy candies.
Easy peasy
Skittles must be the easiest candies to freeze dry. They are very straightforward. Simply
pour them on the trays, hit start, and five hours later, everyone can enjoy some Popped
Skittles. Skittles come in several flavors, including sour, and each of them come out
exactly the same. Occasionally, one or two skittles won’t pop, but they are just being
stubborn, so enjoy them while packing the skittles that followed directions. Anything
similar to Skittles will work in a similar way. Off brand or all natural candies that are
similar will react similarly, but will need a little trial to understand exactly what will happen.
Skittles are the most popular candy because there is a lot of candy with
minimal effort. They have a great flavor and people with dentures or other dental issues
can enjoy them without fear of damaging their teeth. People without teeth can also
enjoy freeze dried Skittles without any issue.
Jolly Ranchers are the easiest to freeze dry after Skittles. They are only slightly more
difficult due to being individually wrapped and the need to place them in rows on the
trays. Some candy makers will cut them in half using high end pruning shears but
leaving them whole is perfectly acceptable. Jolly Ranchers expand beautifully into an
amazingly sweet, perfectly crunchy candy ball. They range from 1-3” depending on
which shelf they are placed. In my machine, the second shelf makes the biggest, but
also causes the center candies to grow into the shelf above, so I leave the center of that
tray empty. Each shelf will expand candy differently, and each machine is different. The
bottom shelf of my machine creates small Jolly Rancher poofs, so I usually do Skittles
on the bottom shelf while doing Jolly Ranchers on the other three because Skittles
always work, no matter which shelf I use.
Jolly Ranchers are easy to separate by flavor, too. Once freeze dried, they can be
crushed and added to a small amount of baker’s sugar, which is a granulated sugar that
is very fine for better baking. Use the measurement of three parts Jolly Ranchers to one
part sugar (i.e. 3/4 c +1/4c). Once this is mixed well, it can be used to make cotton
candy. Since Jolly Ranchers become a delicate poof ball, this option is quite handy for
the less than perfect poofs.
Candy is one of the foods that should never be stored with an oxygen absorber. Due to
the chemical process that begins when oxygen is introduced, the packets become quite
warm, which can cause the sugar to melt, and the candy to turn into a hard, ugly mess.
When storing freeze dried candy, use mylar bags with no windows and moisture
absorber packets. Make sure to store them in a very cool place to prevent outside heat
from melting the sugar.
Both Skittles and Jolly Ranchers are popular because of the flavor options, their finished
texture, and how easily they are made. There are so many candies on the market that
just making these two candies will become boring. Check out the next installment of this
series for slightly more difficult candies.
Click here to read Part 2 of Freeze Drying Candy
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Photos courtesy of Michele Mead
