Connecticut Rich

Sooooo... the test with the Formulary recipe didn't work out. I'm assuming (if my measurements and temperatures were correct) that replacing thin boiling starch with Clear-Jel is the culprit. It came out of the pan gooey and never fully jelled even after drying it in the dehydrator for 48 hours at 150F. However, I went back to my previous test recipe that I'd been working with (corn syrup, sugar, corn starch, modified corn starch, flavoring and coloring) and adjusted the starch ratios a smidge. 3 parts corn starch to 1 part modified corn starch seems to be close to the magic ratio. And now I have a moderately successful batch on my hands. The batch pulled slightly from the sides of the pan upon cooling and after spending 48 hours in the dehydrator at 150F, it slid out of the pan easily. Was able to clean off the excess corn starch with a misting of water, slice it into clean squares and then roll it in sugar for another few days of room temp drying. As is, it's chewy but not overly gummy. No stretchy strings and a clean, firm bite. I'm thinking the sugar coating needs a little citric acid and the jellies themselves could probably use a pinch of salt. A few observations: 1. Too much corn starch and your product is crumbly and cloudy, too much modified corn starch and you have candy flavored canned pie filling. 2. As the mixture heats up to the 175F - 200F range, the corn starch jells and becomes very cloudy and viscous. As it rises to boiling and ultimately 226F, the mixture gets more translucent, thinner and syrupy. 3. Monitoring the cook temp of starchy goo is aggravating. The temperature can vary wildly from the bottom of the pan to the top of mix. I had one instance where there was a 10F difference in the same pan. I'll get a few more batches done before I post any more photos.

I took the Formulary of Candy Products recipe that RobertM posted and converted the percentages to grams x7 for a small batch. I’m doing a straight 1/1 substitution of Clear-Jel (cook type) modified corn starch for the thin boiling starch. 182 g Sugar 147 g Corn Syrup 42 g Modified Corn Starch 329 g Water (approx 1.5 cups) Pinch of cream of tartar packet of watermelon Kool-Aid mixed with Tbsp water. Whisked first five ingredients together in a Medium saucepan and brought to a boil. The original recipe calls for the mixture to be brought to a boil and continue cooking until it reaches a “good string”. Because of the gelling of the starch, I didn’t quite get strings, more like ropy drips. Removed pan from heat and whisked in the dissolved packet of Kool-Aid. I pressed a 1/8 inch layer of cornstarch into the bottom of a pan and poured the mixture in. Placed it in my dehydrator at 150°F for 24 hours. Will then attempt to dice, clean and sand with sugar to dry for X days until it reaches the correct dryness and bite. I’ve been cooking a number of test batches without much success over the last few weeks. Started with pectin-based recipes but settled on strictly using a blend of cornstarch and modified cornstarch. After RobertM provided this recipe I did a little online research only to find that thin boiling starch is commercially available in large amounts and is graded by viscosity that it provides. Using the ingredient list on Chuckles candies (corn syrup, sugar, corn starch, modified corn starch, flavoring, coloring) as my commercial model has brought me closer to the result I’m looking for, but finding the right ratio of these ingredients is maddening. Thank you Kerry and Robert for nudging me in the right direction. Posting two photos of the current batch and all the test batches lined up in my “lab”. Will post results.

Robert... Couple of questions... What is the source of this recipe? I'm assuming it's a commercial candy maker. Thin boiling starch? Not quite sure what that is? Either way, I'm going to scale this recipe down and substitute corn starch . I'll let you know how it goes. My drying room (a new Avantco dehydrator) arrives tomorrow for more exacting experiments.

You rock. Thanks. I'll post photos of test batches and let you know how they come out.

Kerry - I'm interested in scaling down your recipe to a 2 lb batch , but the instructions mention corn syrup ... no corn syrup in the ingredient list. Can you supply the amount of corn syrup for the 100 lb. batch? Thanks in advance.