When you have the sweet job of making candies, efficiency is everything. Developing and testing recipes, organizing and running your production line, and packaging your products all require care and precision. Effective use of time, owner or employee, helps strengthen margins and scale business.
For candy manufacturers, efficient demolding is as high a priority as the perfect recipe and optimized depositing. A bottleneck at the demolding stage slows down your entire production line, and over time, slower demolding decreases output and shrinks margins. The more efficient your kitchen is, the more candies you can produce, and the lower the cost per piece becomes.
In this blog, we’re sharing some insider tips and tricks to get your candies out of the mold and into your customers’ hands as efficiently as possible.
Use high-quality, food-grade silicone molds.
Not all molds are created equal. Those that are either too thin or too rigid can be cheaper, but also create more work down the line. Thin molds can lose sturdiness causing shapes to collapse, fold, and stick. Rigid molds prevent the ability to flex the mold cavity inside out for removal, requiring tools which are likely to compromise the overall shape and finish of the gummy itself.
Instead, using a high-quality, food-grade silicone mold designed for high-volume production offers the best solution. They are firm enough to hold their shape when hot candy mixtures are poured in, and flexible enough to easily ‘pop’ the candy out once set. Bonus: these molds are BPA-free, ensuring your product remains safe for consumption.
Optimize your recipe.
Sugars, chocolates, and gelling agents are notoriously finicky. Exact measurements, blends, and temperatures are critical for producing the desired look and texture of the candy, and these also affect how easily the candies release from the mold.
Perfecting your recipe is crucial to easy demolding. If a recipe isn’t dialed in, gummies may turn tacky or sticky, making demolding a frustrating process. When ratios and temperatures are optimized, candies gel or solidify at a predictable rate and result in the expected texture, dramatically easing the demolding process.
Start with clean, fully-dry molds.
Even with perfected recipes, small issues can cause demolding challenges. Remnants of recent batches, tiny water droplets, or even finger prints left in molds alter the balance of fresh mixtures, leading to inconsistent texture and sticking.
A simple solution: always ensure molds are properly cleaned and dried.
Apply a light food-safe oil coating.
Silicone is naturally a non-stick surface, but complex shapes may benefit from a thin coating of food-safe oil. This choice must be made carefully, because too much or the wrong type of oil can alter the ingredient ratio and therefore the flavor, texture, and appearance of your candies.
Flavorless oils such as MCT oil, vegetable oil, or Vegalene are ideal, whereas olive oil could add a bitter or robust flavor to delicate sweets. Ensure a very light coating is evenly applied, as pooling in the mold could distort finished products.
Allow candies to set properly.
Gummies should set and cool for at least 2 to 3 hours at room temperature, or at least 1 hour in the refrigerator. Keep in mind that some recipes may require up to 24 hours to become fully-set. Double check that gummies are firm before attempting to demold them.
Chocolates should set more quickly – about 15 to 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Proper tempering is crucial, as this will allow the candy to contract slightly away from the mold for clean release. Be careful not to chill the chocolates for too long, as doing so could create condensation and damage the glossy finish.
Ensure ambient humidity is less than 50%.
Pouring and setting candies in higher humidity levels can result in sticky gummies or grainy chocolates. Working at lower humidity levels preserves the desired texture and leads to easier demolding.
Give gummies a quick freeze.
Gummies may still be slightly sticky if set at a warmer room temperature – above 72°F. Pop them in a freezer for about 15-30 minutes, but not too long as it can denature the gelatin. This practice should be similar to that of a blast chiller — quickly cool without freezing completely, and the gummies should demold a bit easily.
Use a demolding machine.
Demolding machines are like a cheat code to speed up the demolding process for any type of candy. Rather than popping each mold cavity by hand — one at a time – a demolder allows an entire tray of candies to ‘pop’ all at once. Place a full mold of set candies upside down onto the tray, pull the lever, and all the candies pop out with just a couple pumps.
Use an automatic demolder machine.
For maximum effiency, an automatic demolder not only pops an entire tray of candies at once, it does the work without any need for manual assistance. Simply place a full set mold upside down onto the tray, slide it into the machine, and watch as each candy is popped out for you!
Make Demolding Sweet & Easy With Truffly Made
At Truffly Made, we proudly offer tools that simplify the entire candy-making process. Our Universal and Automatic Depositors are compatible with all Truffly Made molds, or can be customized to fit with any other professional candy molds.
We also offer recipe development assistance and chemist consultations to help ensure your formulation is optimized for clean, consistent, and easy demolding.
Have questions about improving your recipe, production flow, or demolding efficiency? Reach out to the Truffly Made team at info@trufflymade.com.