104 



AGRICULTURE HANDBOOK I'M, U.S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



PN-4813 



Figure 117. — A french-fryer blanching assembly pro- 

 vides a practical means for crystal coating maple candies 

 on a small scale. The candies are placed in the basket for 

 crystallizing in the thick sirup and are left in the basket 

 to drain. The drained sirup is caught in the sirup pan 

 and is used for making other lots of candies. 



PN-4814 



Figure 118. — A large crystallizing pan for use in a con- 

 stant-temperature cabinet. Hangers are attached for 

 suspending baskets for draining candies after crystal 

 coating. 



After the sirup has drained from the candies 

 (one-half hour), the candies are dried by remov- 

 ing all remaining drops of sirup. Failure to do 

 this results in areas having a glazed (noncrys- 

 talline) surface that is not a water barrier and 

 that permits the candies to desiccate (dry out) 

 during storage. Desiccated spots appear as 

 vk^hite areas. 



The drained candies can be freed of any 

 remaining drops of crystallizing sirup by two 

 methods. In one method the candies are spread 

 out (one layer thick) on a sheet of paper and 

 each piece is turned over at intervals of 1 to 2 



hours. In the other method each piece of candy 

 is wiped with a damp sponge to remove any 

 moist areas. The dry candies are placed on 

 trays (fig. 119); the bottoms of the trays are 

 made of V4-inch hardware cloth. The trays of 

 candies are set in racks to complete the air- 

 drying process at room temperature. This usu- 

 ally requires from 4 to 7 days. After drying, the 

 candies are ready for packaging. Candies 

 should not be crystal coated on humid or rainy 

 days because they will not diy properly. If 

 candies are not thoroughly dried, their coating 

 will dissolve when they are packaged. 



The packages have two functions: (1) To 

 make the candies as attractive as }x)ssible and 

 (2) to keep them in good condition (fig. 120). 

 Boxes, individual wrappings, and candy cups 

 can be obtained from a confectioner's supply 

 house. The net weight of the candies must be 

 stated on the outside of the package. This 

 requires that the weight of the box (tare) and 

 the net weight of the candies be determined for 

 each box. 



Candies that have been crystal coated have 

 relatively good shelf life; they do not tend to 

 take up moisture or to dry out. Candies that are 

 not crystal coated may do either, depending on 



PN-4815 



Figure 119. — After the candies have teen removed from 

 the cr>-stallizing sirup and wiped, they are put on wire 

 screen trays and placed in racks for air drying before 

 packaging. 



