Jawbreakers Ingredients

A jawbreaker is a hard candy shaped like a small ball. Jawbreakers cannot be bitten until the candy has been sucked on for some time. Common jawbreakers are the size of a hazel nut, but some come as big as golf balls. Jawbreakers come in a variety of flavors and colors. Even though Jawbreaker is a trade name, it has become the common name for other candy of this type. The main ingredient in jawbreakers is sugar, but there are other ingredients.

History

• The jawbreaker was released in the mid-nineteenth century. Then, jawbreakers were held in clear glass jars and sold individually. Today, jawbreakers are individually packaged, but sold in bags containing around 10 or more pieces. Candy was first made in Europe in the sixteenth century and by the eighteenth century, candy-making machines were introduced to the world. More complex types of candies were made, including jawbreakers.

Sugar

• Sugar is the main ingredient in jawbreakers. Most candy is distinguished according to the hardness. The level of hardness is achieved by the temperature at which the sugar is heated. Low temperatures result in chew candy, while the higher temperatures result in hard candy. This is because the sugar is completely crystallized. The term "jawbreaker" was given to these types of candies because the sugar was cooked at the highest temperature of any other candy, making them one of the hardest candies in the world.

Other Ingredients

• The rest of the ingredients only form a small percentage of the candy. These ingredients include corn starch, gum arabix, artificial flavoring, artificial coloring and carnauba wax. The wax is used to give the jawbreakers a polished, shiny surface. The color and flavoring are not added to the jawbreakers until they reach almost their finished size. Only the outer layer of a jawbreaker is colored. Other candies of this type color the inside layers as well.

Manufacturing

• A process known as the hot pan process, is used to make jawbreakers. Small pants are used in copper kettles. These pans consistently rotate over a hot flame, which causes the sugar to tumble. Workers, called panners, work to crystallize the sugar. The panner fills a beaker with the liquid sugar. As the sugar adheres to the grains, the candy begins to grow. As the pans rotate, the panner adds liquid sugar at regular intervals over half a month. After the candies are manufactured, they are inspected by a quality team.

Quality

• Since the sugar in jawbreakers is the main ingredient, close to 100 percent of the candy is sugar. This means defective Jawbreakers cannot be melted and remade. The sugar is completely crystallized. There is a small amount of waste during the process of making jawbreakers. Quality control watches the manufacturing process of the jawbreakers, keeping watch for candies that do not form correctly. Several candies are removed from the line and broken to make sure the inside of the candy reveals symmetric rings. They team also performs a taste test.