How to Make Lollipops: A Definitive Guide

 

Did you know that lollipops are also called suckers and have a rich historical background? Also, lollipops are simple to make at home and commercially. Lollipops are essentially hard candy and have a stick at the end made of different materials that can range from wood, and plastics, to hard paper, wound up into a stick. The modern name lollipop comes from a candy and confectionery maker, George Smith, who termed the name Lolly Pop after a racehorse that he favored.

 

Ingredients of Lollipops

The first step to making lollipops in a commercial setting or at home it's by gathering all the materials needed and including the ingredients. It’s important to know that the ingredients can vary by each manufacturer of the candy, and the recipe for lollipops can be customized for your liking. Essentially, the ingredients in a basic lollipop include water, flavorings, corn syrup, centric acid or malic can be used. It's important to know that, concerning the flavorings, it can be either artificial, natural, or a combination of the two. Other things that you will need include sticks, clear cellophane wrappers, or waxed paper. The cellophane wrappers or waxed paper can be printed with your logo or other designs.

 

 

The Process of Making Lollipops

Did you know that most manufacturers and people at home make lollipops and specific quantities? Manufacturers and factories make lollipops in larger quantities, whereas specialty confectioners can make them in smaller numbers. If you’re planning to make lollipops, a number of raw materials will need to be purchased in bulk.

1. The first step involves using dry granulated sugar and if it is manufactured and large quantities are brought in by large rail cars, also called gondola cars. The gondola cards are attached with a liquidizer. You should drop the sugar into a bath of water with a temperature of at least 180° f or 82° c. The sugar should stay in the water until it is dissolved and made into a syrup. This process can take a while and may take up to 9 hours or more to melt 180,000 pounds( ca. 3,095 kg). This is because a real car typically brings in this amount at once. After the sugar has been dissolved in the hot water, it is pumped into the pre-cooker.
2. Did you know that corn syrup is a key ingredient in making lollipops? This ingredient is delivered by huge trucks and then pumped in liquid form to the pre-cooker. This will make the recipe at least 55% liquid sugar and 45% corn syrup to be heated.
3. After the corn syrup and sugar mixture is in the pre-cooker, this solution will be heated to about 228° Fahrenheit, which is also 109 degrees Celsius. In the pre-cooker, there are sets of coils that are used to send the sweet mixture through. The coils are heated with steam in the pre-cooker.
4. The mixture is heated and then pumped from the pre-cooker station and sent to a cooker for another step. The mixture is cooked through a special vacuum for about 45 minutes to achieve a temperature of 290° Fahrenheit. The vacuum is used to remove all of the SS moisture and heat from the lollipop mixture. It's important to know that the large cookers are used to make up to 150 pounds of lollipop mixture in each batch.
5. After the lollipop mixture has been cooked in step four, it is imperative to mix in the colors, malic acid or citric acid, and flavors are added. It is important to know that one lollipop flavor is made at one time. The colors and flavors are in liquid form. Everything will be pre-measured and this is vital before adding the ingredients to the mixture. After these ingredients have been added, it’s thoroughly mixed using specialized equipment that pushes the candy and either a clockwise or counterclockwise motion and lifts it up. It is designed to mimic a kneading motion.
6. After the fifth step, the mystery can be formed into lollipop candies. The cooling lollipops are sent to a batch roller. Also, during this step, the batch of lollipops is sent to different sizing wheels. This is where the lollipops are reduced to a smaller specific size.
7. Now, the lollipop candy roll is sent to a forming machine. If you can imagine it, this is where the Kenny roasts are pressed into different spiritual shapes for the lollipops and inserted with a stick simultaneously. Some machines can produce up to 1,000 lollipops every minute or more. The candies are cooled on a cooling drum and then rotate while they are exposed to cooler air. The lollipops are cool after 4 to 5 minutes. After the lollipops are cooled, they will be at room temperature and will eject out of the cooling drum.
8. When the lollipops are cooled to a specific temperature, they are moved by conveyor belts that drop them into a wrapping machine. This can be automatically done with a special machine that also sends it either to a boxing operation or a bagging operation, depending on how the company decides to retail the lollipops.

The last step of manufacturing lollipops is quality control. Many operations have laboratories at the plant to check for the quality of all the ingredients, and this is how lollipops are made in a manufacturing setting.