A while back I posted instructions for freeze drying skittles. Since then, I've learned a lot of people want to know "How do you freeze dry candy?" When it comes to freeze dried candy, there are many options besides Skittles! In this post, you'll learn how to freeze dry Jolly Ranchers, Werther's Original soft caramels, taffy, and gummy bears!
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Freeze drying candy is easy to make and a big hit with anyone with a sweet tooth, whether adult or a child! It's fun to see the candy's shape expand to many times its size and the texture change from soft and chewy to crunchy and airy. Not to mention the taste! The flavor of freeze dried candy is much more concentrated!
The old way to freeze dry candy took many hours and wasted lots of energy. However, Harvest Right freeze dryers now have a candy mode! Candy mode allows you to adjust the heat setting anywhere from 125F to 150F. Candy mode skips the freezing time and goes straight to drying. This means freeze drying candy can be done in a matter of hours!
I'm using a Harvest Right freeze dryer, version V5.4.24. The candy mode setting is only available on software version V5.4.23 or higher. If you don't have candy mode, no problem! Just add 2 extra hours of drying time after you are done processing other food through your freeze dryer.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Freeze drying candy is super easy and a great beginner recipe if you're new to freeze drying.
- Freeze dried candy can be sold online or at a farmer's market, which can be a great side hustle!
- You don't need a large freeze dryer to freeze dry candy. A small freeze dryer will do the job!
- Freeze dried candy is great for gift-giving, sleepovers, and birthday parties. They're also great to take on a hike or on your next hunting trip.
Ingredients List
- Jolly Ranchers
- Werther's Original Soft Caramels
- Taffy, I used Huckleberry flavored taffy
- Gummy Bears
Helpful Tools
- mandoline slicer
- freeze dryer (I used an extra-large Harvest Right freeze dryer)
- mylar bags or quart-sized mason jars for storing your candy
- oxygen absorbers to help preserve your freeze dried Skittles
- mason ja vacuum sealer (paid link) to seal mason jars.
How to Freeze Dry Candy
Prepare trays by lining them with silicone mats or precut parchment paper. If you have dividers, you can use them to keep the candy from sticking to one another. I have these, and they were very helpful in spacing out the candy.
Prepare Taffy
Unwrap taffy, then use a sharp knife to slice each piece into 4 pieces. Arrange taffy on a tray, leaving plenty of room in between for expansion.
Pro Tip: Make sure to keep the sliced pieces separated, or they will stick to one another and be hard to separate.
Prepare Werther's Original Soft Caramels
Unwrap caramels and use a sharp knife to slice each piece into thirds. Arrange on the tray similarly to the taffy.
Prepare Jolly Ranchers
Using a large, sharp knife, break each Jolly Rancher into 2 pieces. To do this, align the knife in the center of the candy, then tap once with a mallet. Arrange on a freeze dryer tray, leaving plenty of room for expansion.
Pro Tip: Jolly Ranchers have a tendency to shatter, especially if you need to tap the candy a few times to break it into two pieces. It might take a few tries to apply the right pressure so that you can get a clean break.
Gummy Bears
Arrange gummy bears on a freeze dryer tray with a few inches of space between them or use tray dividers.
Candy Freeze Drying Instructions
Turn the freeze dryer on and select Customize. On the next screen, use the up and down arrows to adjust the drying temperature somewhere between 145F-150F. Leave everything else as-is and save. On the next screen, select Start.
You should notice the High Temperature Mode displayed under the freeze dryer name on the Cooling Vacuum Chamber screen. Cooling the chamber takes 15 minutes.
When the time is up, you will be prompted to "load trays into freeze dryer and close drain valve." You will also notice on the same screen a red bar, which needs to be toggled to the on position, turning it from red to green.
Once trays are loaded and the drain valve is closed, select Continue. You'll be given an option to Warm Trays, with an option to Skip or Start, I chose to skip. The next screen will begin counting down from 2 hours.
After 2 hours, the process is complete. Open Drain Valve to vent, then unlock and open the door. Check each tray, making sure the candy is light and airy and no moisture remains.
After sampling all four, my personal favorites were the freeze dried huckleberry taffy and the caramels. Other family members chose the freeze dried Jolly Ranchers. There were no takers for the freeze dried gummy bears.
Pro Tip: Don't forget to defrost and turn off your freeze dryer. I like to empty the water bucket when I'm done so that the next time I go to use my freeze dryer, it's ready to go!
How To Store Freeze Dried Candy
Add cooled freeze dried candy to mylar bags or mason jars and toss in an oxygen absorber before sealing. For longer storage, store freeze dried Jolly Ranchers, taffy, gummy bears, and caramels in mylar bags and keep them in a cool, dark location.
Back to Back Candy Mode Option
One thing to keep in mind if you're going to do back-to-back candy batches, particularly caramels, is that the subsequent batches can expand more than the first batch.
When I did my 2nd batch of caramels, I noticed they got significantly larger and stuck to the tray dividers. I had to use a thin, long spatula to try to pry the candy from the tray dividers. I reached out to Harvest Right regarding this issue and was told that the factors that impact candy freeze drying are:
- The starting temperature of the candy
- The starting temperature of the freeze dryer trays
- The temperature settings of the freeze dryer
It may make more sense to defrost the freeze dryer before processing more than one caramel batch or maybe use a lower setting in the candy mode options window.
Want to learn more about purchasing a freeze dryer? Check out my detailed Harvest Right Freeze Dryer Review!
FAQs
When you use the candy mode on a Harvest Right freeze dryer to freeze dry candy, the moisture is removed from the candy, leaving a crunchy, airy texture. The candy expands (puffs up) and no longer resembles the original shape and size of the candy.
Skittles continues to be a favorite among freeze dried candy connoisseurs. However, freeze dried taffy, gummy worms, gummy bears, Jolly Ranchers, and soft caramels are also gaining in popularity!
Freeze dried candy is fun to eat! The candy takes on a whole new form, blowing up to 4 times its original size. The texture goes from soft or chewy to airy, crunchy, and melt-in-your-mouth delicious!
Pro Tips
- You can run up to 5 batches of candy back to back, without having to defrost the freeze dryer; however, some candy may expand more than others (and stick to the tray dividers) if you don't allow the machine to defrost.
- I had to add additional time for the gummy bears because they were airy on the outside but still chewy in the center. Since there is no way to add additional time that I know of, I chose "Start New Candy Batch" but reduced the time to one hour.
Related Recipes
Looking for more ways to use your freeze dryer? You'll find them all in my freeze dryer recipes collection.
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How to Freeze Dry Candy
Equipment
- 1 freeze dryer (paid Link)
- mason jar vacuum sealer (paid link)
Ingredients
- 1 7 oz bag Jolly Ranchers
- 1 5 oz bag Werther's Original Soft Caramels
- 1 7 oz bag Taffy
- 1 6 oz bag Gummy Bears
Instructions
Portion Candy & Add to Trays
- Prepare trays by lining with silicone mats or precut parchment paper. If you have dividers, you can use them to keep the candy from sticking to one another. I have these and they were very helpful in spacing out the candy.
- Unwrap taffy, then use a sharp knife to slice each piece into 4 pieces. Arrange taffy on tray, leaving plenty room in-between for expansion.
- Next, unwrap caramels and use a sharp knife to slice each piece into thirds. Arrange on the tray similarly to the taffy.
- Using a large sharp knife, break each Jolly Rancher into 2 pieces. To do this, align knife in the center or the candy then tap once with a mallet. Arrange on a freeze dryer tray, leaving plenty of room for expansion.
- Finally, arrange gummy bears on freeze dryer tray with a few inches of space between them or use tray dividers. I've found gummy bears tend to need extra drying time.
Candy Freeze Drying Instructions
- Turn freeze dryer on and select Customize. On the next screen, use the up and down arrows to adjust the drying temperature somewhere between 145F-150F. Leave everything else as is and save. On the next screen, select Start.
- You should notice High Temperature Mode displayed under the freeze dryer name on the Cooling Vacuum Chamber screen. Cooling the chamber takes 15 minutes.
- When the time is up, you will be prompted to "load trays into freeze dryer and close drain valve." You will also notice on the same screen a red bar, which needs to be toggled to the on position, turning it red to green.
- Once trays are loaded and drain valve is closed, select Continue. You'll be given an option to Warm Trays, with an option to Skip or Start, I chose to skip. The next screen will begin counting down from 2 hours.
- After 2 hours, the process is complete. Open drain valve to vent, then unlock and open door. Check each tray, making sure the candy is light and airy and no moisture remains.
Notes
- Make sure to keep the sliced taffy pieces separated or they will stick to one another and be hard to separate.
- Jolly Ranchers have a tendency to shatter, especially if you need to tap the candy a few times to break it into two pieces. It might take a few tries to apply the right pressure so that you can get a clean break.
- Don't forget to defrost and turn off your freeze dryer. I like to empty the water bucket when I'm done so that the next time I go to use my freeze dryer it's ready to go!
- You can run up to 5 batches of candy back to back, without having to defrost the freeze dryer, however, some candy may expand more than others (and stick to the tray dividers) if you don't allow the machine to defrost.
- I had to add additional time for the gummy bears because they were airy on the outside but still chewy in the center.Since there is no way to add additional time that I know of, I chose "Start New Candy Batch" but reduced the time to one hour.
Anonymous says
Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Tricia Littlejohn says
Hello, was wondering if you freeze dried all the different candies that you mentioned above all at the same time
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Tricia,
Yes, I did. Each on their own tray as shown in the post photos. I had to add additional time for the gummy bears because they still had moisture in them, but that's really easy to do!
Kim says
I tried the freeze dried candy. Really good and you don't have to eat an entire candy since they are cut into halves, thirds or quarters before freeze drying. Brilliant.! Thanks again, HIlda.
Hilda Sterner says
Thank you kim! As always, I REALLY appreciate your reviews!