If you’re part of the freeze-drying world, you know that gummies are notoriously hard to freeze-dry. Whereas other candies and snacks come out mouth-wateringly delicious every time, freeze-dried gummies are either completely wonderful or completely awful.
If you’ve been following along on our blog, you know what we’re talking about. Our freeze-dried gummi experiments have been pretty hit or miss. While our freeze-dried gummi bear experiment was a huge success, the freeze-dried jelly beans came out almost exactly the same as the original candy and the freeze-dried Starburst candies were pretty disappointing.
Overall, freeze-dried gummies are simply inconsistent. Some gummies turn out amazing, and others are duds. But why is this the case? Why are gummies so hard to freeze dry and why do they fail a lot of the time? Keep reading to find out.
The answer to the question that has stumped freeze-drying fanatics for years lies in the process of freeze-drying itself. As you know, freeze-drying works through a three step process: freezing, sublimation, and adsorption. The water in the food or candy is frozen into ice and then removed by lowering the pressure and raising the temperature inside the freeze-dryer. This three step process is able to remove almost all of the water content in a piece of food or candy – and the removal of all the water is what gives freeze-dried candies that light, airy, and deliciously crispy texture.
But different gummies have different reactions to the freeze-drying process, which is why results can be inconsistent. For example, gummies that already don’t contain a lot of water (like jelly beans) aren’t really affected by freeze-drying, as they don’t have enough water in them to be changed through its removal.
On the other hand, other gummies might have too much sugar to properly freeze-dry. Sugar tends to bind to water molecules. So, with gummies that have really high sugar content, the freeze-drying process becomes more difficult. The sugar binds on to the water molecules, which prevents it from being removed during the freeze-drying process.
But sometimes the answer comes down to simple user error. Freeze-drying can be a somewhat tedious and time-consuming process. Many people get impatient and start to change the settings to speed up the freeze-drying time, which can lead to inconsistent results.
As you can see, there are many factors at play that can make gummies hard to freeze-dry. But hey, that’s why we’re here! That Sweet Lyfe is changing the world of freeze-dried candy in Canada, one candy at a time. We’ve tested which gummies work and which ones don’t, so you can save yourself the hassle of experimenting with different candies. Plus, you can order a batch of our favourite freeze-dried candies right to your doorstep. We do the freeze-drying, and all you have to do is sit back and get ready to snack.
Looking for your next freeze-dried gummi snack? Be sure to check out our freeze-dried gummi bears – trust us, this is one gummi treat you’re not going to want to miss.