Pull Candy Recipe - making candy the old fashioned way (2024)

FAQs

Why do candy makers pull candy? ›

During the pulling process, the taffy is stretched and folded repeatedly. The pulling process aerates the taffy, incorporating tiny air pockets into the stiff candy mixture. The taffy is transformed into a light, fluffy, and easy-to-chew candy.

It was created by Ruth Hanly Booe and Rebecca Gooch, who were both substitute teachers from Louisville, Kentucky that opened their own business named "Rebecca Ruth Candies" in Frankfort, Kentucky. Ruth Hunt from Mt. Sterling, Kentucky also started making the candy in her basem*nt in 1921.

Sugar, mainly sucrose from sugar beets or sugarcane, is the major constituent of most candies. Other sweeteners employed in candy manufacture include corn syrup, corn sugar, honey, molasses, maple sugar, and noncaloric sweeteners.

GooGoo Clusters are native to Tennessee. Rumor has it they were named after the Grand Ole Opryland, but in reality the company is over than the Opryland. Made by the Standard Candy Company in Nashville (since 1912), the disc-shaped candy bar contains marshmallow nougat, caramel, and roasted peanuts.

Vinegar lowers the pH of the candy (i.e., makes it more acidic), so that when one adds the baking soda (basic) carbon dioxide is released from the reaction between the two. These carbon dioxide bubbles are forced through the liquid sugar that's been cooked to hard-crack stage.

Butter is added in the final stages to add flavor and smoothness and inhibit large crystal formation. Use unsalted butter so you can add a small amount of salt (¼ teaspoon per stick of butter) to the sugar/liquid mixture. Salt tends to stabilize the mixture and keep it from foaming as much.

Corn Syrup: Solid sugars aren't the only sweeteners used in candy making. Liquid sweeteners like corn syrup are incredibly common for making hard candies since using corn syrup creates a smooth texture. Invert Sugar: If you're making candy in bulk, consider using invert sugar, a sugar made primarily of sucrose.

The idea of candy began by the caveman who ate honey. The first candy was used by the Ancient Egyptians for cult purposes. In ancient times, Egyptians, Arabs, and Chinese made candies with fruits and nuts that caramelized with honey. The two oldest candy types are licorice and ginger.

Before sugar was readily available, candy was based on honey. Honey was used in Ancient China, the Middle East, Egypt, Greece and the Roman Empire to coat fruits and flowers to preserve them or to create forms of candy. Candy is still served in this form today, though now it is more typically seen as a type of garnish.

What is the purpose of pulling candy? ›

Pulling candy is the most crucial step during the manufacturing process. The process is necessary for the addition of air into the batch. The incorporation of air bubbles makes the candy lightweight for easy chewing.

As it turns out, pulling taffy aerates it, or incorporates many tiny air bubbles throughout the candy. This makes it lighter and chewier. Taffy isn't the only candy out there that gets pulled this way. We saw molten lollipop pulled by a machine at a local lollipop factory.

Pulling hard candy is one of the oldest meth- ods of changing the basic characteristics of the hard candy texture. Pulling incorporates air by hand or mechanical means with the intention of a uniform distribution of air to change the “bite” or crunch when eating, as well as to change the appearance.

The process of pulling taffy adds air to the taffy mixture, which in recent years has been made from corn syrup and sugar. The process of adding air to the taffy is important to keep it soft. Adding the aeration to the taffy will also make it lighter and chewier.