Confectionery products are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. We differentiate sweet baked goods and sugar confectionery products. Sugar confectionery items include chocolate, candies, lollipops, candy bars, and other sweer items of snack food.
CANDY
Candy production begins with cooking the candy mass. The sugar is dissolved in water and starch syrup is added. If the internal water content of the candy is too high, appear will be grains of sucrose. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor the amount of added water. The homogenized sugar-syrup solution is boiled under vacuum to reduce amount of moisture at 0.5 – 2.5%.
For the moisture determination Hanna Instruments offer the HI903 Karl Fischer Volumetric titrator.
The HI903 Karl Fischer Volumetric Titrator is an automatic titrator that complements our wide range of products dedicated to efficient and accurate laboratory analysis. The HI903 analyzes for water content ranging from 100 ppm to 100%. This powerful titrator automatically dispenses the titrant, detects the endpoint, and performs all necessary calculations and graphing.
After boiling under vacuum, the mass is cooled to a shaping temperature of 80 – 90 ° C at which it is optimal properties of plasticity and high viscosity, and the danger of crystallization of sucrose is excluded. After kneading, a homogeneous candy mass is inserted into the bowl of the elevator that will use additional rollers to thin and serve above the roll appliance. After shaping the candies are immediately cooled in refrigerators with a stream of cold air on temperature of 30 – 35 ° C.
For mesure temperature of candy mass you should use Checktemp® 4 Folding Thermometer – HI151.
The HI151 Checktemp® 4 is a folding thermistor thermometer that can measure temperature up to 300 °C (572 °F). These thermometers offer many advanced features including CAL-Check for an internal verification of the electronics and a motion sensor which eliminates the need of closing and reopening the probe when the meter enters a power saving mode. The Checktemp 4 is available in six different colors which can be assigned to different products to avoid cross contamination in the restaurant, kitchen or production facility.
CHOCOLATE
The production of cocoa products includes the production of cocoa mass, the production of cocoa powder and cocoa butter, the production of chocolate mass and the shaping of chocolate and other cocoa products.
Cocoa mass production involves roasting cocoa beans for 10 to 20 minutes at temperature 70-140 ° C. Immediately after heat treatment, roasted cocoa beans should be cooled to a temperature of 40-50 ° C in order to stop the process of thermal decomposition of cocoa beans. The cocoa beans are then crushed and added to the mixture to make a chocolate mass. The chocolate mass then goes through rolling and conching processes. During conching, the content of water decreases, but also some undesirable substances such as acetic acid and aldehydes. After conching, an important process in chocolate production follows, and that is tempering. During tempering, the centers of the solid fat crystals in the melt are transformed into the desired stable crystalline form. The tempering process involves heating the mass to 50 ° C, then cooling to 29 ° C and reheating to 32 ° C.The last significant process in chocolate production is cooling in molds where solidification into a constant form occurs.
For measuring temperature during production of chocolate you can measure it with Foodcare Thermistor Thermometer – HI93501
Designed with user functionality and performance in mind, the HI93501 is a waterproof thermistor thermometer that measures temperature from -50.0 to 150.0°C (-58.0 to 302.0°F). The included batteries provide up to 4500 hours of continuous use. CAL Check™ and the Battery Error Prevention System (BEPS) ensure the highest level of accuracy and confidence. The probe is replaceable and works with an assortment of specialized probes. This meter can be certified as traceable to NIST standards upon request.
If you need to measure pH value during the chocolate making process to optimize your procces use Chocolate pH tester-HI981039.
The HI981039 Foodcare Chocolate pH tester is an application-specific designed pH tester for the measurement of pH during the chocolate-making process. This meter offers many advanced features including a pH electrode designed specifically for chocolate.
Very often, in confectionery products, you should know the concentarion of sugar. It can be easily measured with our HI96801 Digital Refractometer for Brix Analysis in Foods.
The HI96801 is a rugged, portable digital refractometer for food products designed to report the sugar content of aqueous solutions as % Brix. The HI96801 report the results with an accuracy of ±0.2% Brix. The operation of the meter is simplified with only two buttons: one button is to calibrate with distilled or deionized water and the other to take a measurement. All readings are automatically compensated for temperature variations according to the ICUMSA Methods Book standard and displayed within a 1.5 second response time. The sealed flint glass prism and stainless steel well are easy to clean. Just wipe with a soft cloth in preparation for the next sample.
Author: Tajana Frančić, mag.nutr.
