MAPLE SIRUP PRODUCERS MANUAL 



103 



PN-1811 



Figure 115. — A continuous candy beater of simple desig^i. 

 The cooked sirup is run in a small stream from the 

 cooking kettle to the beater, which consists of a rotat- 

 ing worm in a metal trough. The worm beats the sirup, 

 crystallizes it, and then drives the semiliquid sirup to 

 the drawoff cock that controls the flow of the sirup into 

 the molds. {Beater designed by Lloyd H. Sipple, Bain- 

 bridge, N.Y.) 



large crystallizing pans. To retard surface crys- 

 tallization (caused by rapid cooling of the sur- 

 face), the sirup should be covered with a piece 

 of damp cheesecloth or paper (preferably the 

 same kind used as a sirup prefilter, since it has 

 a high wet strength). The cloth or paper must 

 be in contact with the entire surface of the 

 sirup. If crystals form, they will attach them- 

 selves to this cover and can be removed along 

 with the covering. The sugar crystals can be 

 recovered by rinsing the cover in hot water. 



The candies to be coated should be dry (24 

 hours old). They can be coated by either of two 

 methods. In one method, the candies are loosely 

 packed two or three layers deep in a tin pan, 

 such as a bread tin, which has a piece of V2- 

 inch-mesh hardware cloth in the bottom. The 

 covering is removed from the cool (70^ to 8(F F.) 

 crystallizing sirup, and any crystals not re- 

 moved with the cover are skimmed off. 



In the other method, the candies are loosely 

 placed in wire mesh baskets of such size as to 

 permit submerging both the baskets and the 



PN^812 



Figure 116. — Crystal-coated candies: Left, Freshly made, 

 uncoated candies; center, uncoated candies that have 

 been stored 3 months at room temperature — the unat- 

 tractive appearance is caused by drying; right, these 

 candies, made at the same time as those in the center, 

 were coated with sugar crystals, which prevented loss 

 of moisture. They have kept the appearance and char- 

 acteristics of fresh candies. 



dried candies below the surface of the crystal- 

 lizing sirup (figs. 117 and 118). A fresh cover is 

 placed directly on and in contact with the entire 

 surface of the sirup and left at a temperature of 

 65" to 80P F. for 6 to 12 hours, or overnight. This 

 is the crystallizing period. The major part of 

 the ci-ystal coat forms on the candies during the 

 first few hours. Therefore, the time the candies 

 are left in the crystallizing sirup beyond a 6- 

 hour period is not too critical. Actually, the 

 most important factor is the Brix value of the 

 crystallizing sirup; if too high, coarse crystals 

 result. Sugar comes out of the thick sirup and is 

 deposited and grows on the millions of tiny 

 crystals on the surface of the candies. The best 

 density of the sirup should be determined by 

 trial runs. When sufficient sugar has been de- 

 posited on the candies, the paper or cloth cover 

 is removed, and the wire baskets of coated 

 candies are lifted out of the sirup and supported 

 above the trays of sirup until the candies have 

 drained. 



