A time variation like this is dis-
turbing to people who like preci-
Licorice Technology
I n general, licorice-type candies
are candies that contain wheat
flour as a major ingredient. There
are licorice-type candies that do not
use wheat flour as an ingredient but
these candies are made to resemble
the wheat flour candies in texture.
While I cannot find the words to
clearly describe licorice-type tex-
ture, the people who consume
licorice-type candies have specific
texture expectations. Traditional
licorice candy is dark brown or
black and is flavored with molasses,
Jim Clark
Mederer Corporation
Presented at the National American Association of Candy Technologists Technical Session
anise oil and licorice extract. Today
the artificial and/or natural fruit fla-
vored licorice-type candies outsell
the black in the U.S. by more than
10 to 1. The fruit flavored product is
growing in sales volume in Europe.
There are some quality issues in
working with flour as an ingredient.
I think that every bulk flour ship-
ment and bagged flour lot should be
tested for enzyme damage, smell
and taste before being unloaded or
used. Using flour that has been
enzyme damaged can result in a
mushy final product. Mildew and
onion flavors can come through in
the finished candy.
Open kettle cooking is the tradi-
tional method for making licorice-
type candies (Figure 1). A slurry is
made of water, syrups, flour, corn
starch and sugar. The slurry is about
40 percent moisture. The slurry is
dropped or pumped into a cylindri-
cal, steam jacketed kettle with a
strongly built agitator and a power-
ful drive motor. As the slurry is
stirred and heated, it thickens and
then swells and develops a dull,
mashed potato appearance. With
further cooking, the volume
decreases and the cooked candy
develops a shine. Cook time for a
2,000 pound plus batch is usually
between 21⁄2 hours and 31⁄2 hours.
The Manufacturing Confectioner/October 1996 31
sion. A decree that the candy should
be cooked for 3 hours and 5 minutes
and no more and no less would be
catastrophic for a plant cooking
licorice-type candies by the tradi-
tional method. Variations in the
cooking properties of the flour
requires flexibility in cook times. If
there was control over the type of
wheat seed planted, soil fertility,
sunshine, rain and temperature, a
set cook time might be possible.
Proper cook time, in many plants, is
a judgement call by an experienced
cook. Corn starch is far more pre-
dictable in cook properties and is
frequently added as an ingredient to
buffer the variations in the cooking
properties of wheat flour.
When a batch is judged to have
reached the proper cook, the steam
is shut off and other ingredients are
added. Some of these other ingredi-
ents, which include vegetable oils,
salt, and color, could be added to
the original slurry. The acids like cit-
ric or malic or lactic are added after
the end of the cook because they
can weaken the wheat starch if
added sooner. The artificial flavors
are added at the end of the cook to
reduce loss of volatile flavor compo-
nents. Usually a small amount of
mold inhibiting ingredient is added
to open kettle cooked candy. This is
because the candy will need to be
dried. If the candy is not dried
enough, mold can grow on the sur-
face of the candy when it is in the
package. The mold inhibiting ingre-
dient is some insurance against this
potential quality problem.
The mix, now at about 30 percent
moisture, is stirred enough to mix in
the final ingredients and then the
candy in the kettle is emptied into
tubs that hold a little more than 100
pounds of candy. The candy in the
tub is covered with a sheet of plastic
wrap to prevent a skin from forming