The Sweet Spot: Moisture and Texture in Candy and Confectionery

f the moisture isn’t right, the circus peanut—a soft orange candy that tastes like bananas—is a confectionery failure. Too high, and the candies all stick together in the bag and turn mealy. Too low, and they become a rock-hard adhesive that welds jaws together. Getting the moisture measurement right is critical for nearly every confectionery product. Water activity is the most powerful way to measure and monitor moisture. This guide will show you how to use it. Texture & Taste Many candies have a distinctive texture - chewy, crunchy, smooth, grainy, sticky, or soft—and this texture is a key...

Shelf Life Moisture migration isn’t the only factor that affects shelf life. Case in point: single serving packages of Laffy Taffy, which seem to have been born with a wrapper on. As the Laffy Taffy ages, it loses moisture through the wrapper, eventually becoming rock solid. We can understand and predict what will happen over this product’s shelf life by measuring the Laffy Taffy’s water activity and the wrapper’s vapor transmission rates. In fact, because water activity is tied to many of the factors that end shelf life, it is an excellent predictor of shelf life. It can also be used in formulation...

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