Halloween is a spooky and exciting holiday, but it often leaves you with more candy than you know what to do with. Others in your family may even hate some of this candy (we're looking at you, candy corn and caramels!) An easy and fun way to use up your Halloween candy is by freeze-drying it to make a new and delicious treat.
Here at That Sweet Lyfe, we consider ourselves experts on the freeze-drying process and all its delicious results. During the freeze-drying process, candy is rapidly frozen, turning the water inside into ice. Then, exposing the candy to high temperature and low pressure causes the ice to sublimate, skipping the liquid stage and rapidly becoming a gas. This causes the candy to lose all its moisture, enhancing the flavour particles and creating a crunchy, delicious treat.
Add Some Excitement to Your Halloween Candy
Just because Halloween is over and done doesn't mean the fun is too. After you and your children have returned home from venturing out into the spooky night to collect their treats, you may find yourself in need of something exciting to do to fend off the post-Halloween blues. Luckily, you can easily freeze-dry your Halloween candy for an exciting twist on your favourite treats.
Freeze-drying can be done at home using a freeze-drying machine or dry ice. With dry ice, you must first break up your candy into bite-sized pieces and put it in a freezer bag in your freezer. Then, wait until it freezes all the way through. Once frozen, place your bagged candy in a cooler lined with dry ice and wait 24-48 hours for your perfect freeze-dried treats. During the freeze-drying process, make sure to leave the lid of your cooler slightly open. The process is done when almost all the moisture is removed, leaving freeze-dried candy that is sweeter, lighter, and crunchier than its normal state.
Everything from your favourite Skittles and gummies to the candy corn and tootsie rolls that everyone leaves for last can be freeze-dried and made into a fun and perhaps more delicious alternative. Check out our blog on Freeze-drying Candy 101 for more information and tricks for freeze-drying your Halloween candy.
Make Your Candy Last
Now we know that most children will eat through their Halloween candy in only a week or two, but those who wish to make their Halloween stash last a little longer can freeze-dry their candy for a sweet, long-lasting alternative. Freeze-drying removes 99% of the moisture from food products like candy, extending its shelf-life for years. So if you want to prevent your children from eating all their candy at once, you can freeze-dry it and keep it fresh for months.
Reduce Food Waste and Gift Your Unwanted Halloween Candy
Every year, millions of dollars worth of unwanted candy is thrown into landfills in the month following Halloween. Now we're not saying you should force yourself to eat candy you hate, but you can repurpose it as freeze-dried candy and maybe learn to love it. Freeze-drying enhances the flavour and changes the consistency of candy to a point where the original and freeze-dried versions of different kinds of candies are almost completely different kinds of treats.
Freeze-drying might make you fall in love with candies you dislike, but if it doesn't, you can always share them. Candy you don't like can be freeze-dried, wrapped up, and even gifted in the holidays following Halloween, such as Christmas, New Year's, and even Valentine's Day!
Have Fun With This Spooky Experiment
However, if you're not sure about gifting your experimental freeze-dried candy to friends and family, you can check out all the delicious freeze-dried candies offered by That Sweet Lyfe in our online shop.
This November, why not try and freeze-dry your Halloween candy? If you fail, you can always turn to That Sweet Lyfe to provide you with an exciting twist on ordinary candy. Check out our current products page now and introduce yourself to your new favourite way to eat candy.