How to Make Gummy Bear: The Ultimate Guide

Today you’re going to learn how to make gummy bears.

Whether you want to learn about the best ingredients, gummy manufacturing process or gummy bear making machine – you will find everything here.

Keep reading to learn more.

What are Gummy Bears

Gummy bears are confectionaries that have a sweet taste consisting of sweeteners and gelatin among other ingredients.

Gummy bears assume the shape of the bear thus the name gummy bear candy even though you can have other shapes.

Gummy bear

Advantages of using Gummy Bears

There are numerous benefits that you will enjoy just by using the gummy bear confectionaries.

Here are the main benefits that you will experience by using gummy bear confectionaries.

• Apart from the bear shape, you can have the gummy candy in quite a number of different shapes.
• Gummy bears also have a very sweet taste and scent that is quite attractive to the consumers.
• In addition to that, there are very many colors of gummy bears that you can choose from.
• It is a perfect supplement that you can take whenever you are low on energy.
• Gummy bears are also available for every individual even for those who have dietary restrictions and limitations.
• Gummy bears have essential nutrients such as vitamins that are beneficial to the body.
• Due to the sweet taste, you can easily convince toddlers to consume their multivitamins through gummy bears.

Limitations of Using Gummy Bears

Well, as much as you may enjoy consuming gummy bears, you must be very careful with the risks.

Here are some of the limitations that you should look out for when using gummy bears.

• Too much sugar gummy bears can lead to serious health effects on your body.
• You might get an addiction to gummy bears and that might affect your insulin levels.
• Chewing of the gummy bears might also affect your dental formulation and leave you with cavities.
• In addition to that, the artificial dyes for making gummy bears may also lead to particular skin allergies.

In other words, you should consume gummy bears in moderation to avoid the detrimental health effects.

Ingredients for Manufacturing Gummy Bears

Depending on the target market, you will choose the ingredients for making gummy bears wisely.

Implying that the ingredients for making gummy bears for vegetarians is different from that of the non-vegetarians.

Generally, here are the main ingredients that you will use in making gummy bears.

Starchless gummy bear

· Gelatin

You will use edible gelatin as an ingredient for gummy bears especially for people who consume animal products.

Gelatin is a substance that you can derive from boiling animal parts such as the skin and the bones.

· Citric Acid

You should add citric acid to the mixture to increase the shelf life of the gummy bears.

It is a good preservative that will maintain the freshness of the gummy bears for a very long period.

· Water

Water is a universal solvent that will come in handy when mixing all the gummy bear making ingredients.

Apart from being a solvent, it also acts as a lubricant and you should consider adding it in smaller potions.

· Starch

Addition of starch to the mixture, will also increase the volume and bulk of the gummy bears.

Apart from that, starch will also increase the nutrient value of the gummy bears thus developing the body.

· Sweeteners

To improve the taste of the gummy bear candy, you will add sweeteners because gelatin is often odorless and tasteless.

Most sweeteners come from beets and sugarcane or substitutes of sucrose such as fructose.

· Corn Syrup

Corn syrup is an essential ingredient that will help in the retention of moisture within the gummy bears.

It also improves the texture of the gummy bears by making them softer while increasing the volume.

It will also increase the taste of the gummy bears and prevent crystallization of sugar within the mixture.

· Dye or Color

There are numerous colors and shades that you will choose from to improve the pigment of the gummy bears.

Food color is a perfect ingredient that you can use to change the colors of the gummy bears.

· Flavors

You need to include different flavors to give the gummy candy a unique taste and aroma.

Make sure that you match the fruit flavors with the natural colors of the fruit.

For instance, red colors should match well with the raspberry flavor while yellow matches with lemon flavors.

Choosing Gummy Bear Manufacturing Machines

You must have the right equipment to assist you in the manufacturing process of gummy bears.

Having knowledge about the equipment specifications will help you make proper machine choices.

Here are the main specifications to look at when choosing gummy bear manufacturing machines.

Gummy bear making machine

· Production Capacity

Your production capacity has a great impact on the type of gummy bear manufacturing machine you will choose.

Large scale gummy bear production requires you to use the fully automatic gummy bear manufacturing machine.

Small scale gummy bear production is most appropriate for semi-automatic gummy bear manufacturing machines.

· Machine Dimensions

Gummy bear manufacturing machines are available in different dimensions.

Implying that, you will choose your gummy bear manufacturing machine depending on the production capacity.

The bigger the gummy bear production capacity, the bigger the dimensions of the gummy bear manufacturing machines.

· Power Requirements

You must have the power ratings within the production area in mind when shopping for the gummy bear manufacturing equipment.

With that in mind, you will purchase equipment that will work well with the power requirements ratings of your area.

· Depositing Time Rates

Depositing time is the period it takes for gummy bear manufacturing machine to produce and deposit specific gummy bear quantities.

The depositing time rates will go hand in hand with the production capacity of the gummy bear manufacturing machine.

You may consider purchasing a gummy bear manufacturing machine with depositing time rate of 45 – 60n/min.

· Operation Condition

In this case, you will look at the other factors such as the temperature and humidity requirements within the production plant.

This includes the pressure requirements which include steam consumption, steam pressure and compressed air consumption rates of the machine.

· Materials

The main material for making the gummy bear manufacturing equipment id stainless steel.

It has high tensile strength and does not corrode thus making it a healthy option for the machine.

Supplementary Manufacturing Equipment for Gummy Bears

The gummy bear manufacturing machines work together with other machines to form a complete production line.

The supplementary manufacturing equipment that you should use in this case include:

Gummy bear making machine

· Weigher Machine

The weigher machine is responsible for controlling the quantity of the ingredients that you use in making gummy bears.

It weights the right quantity of ingredients that you will mix to make specific number of gummy bears.

· Coil Cooker Machine

Just from the name, you will note that this machine is responsible for pre-cooking and dissolving of gummy making ingredients.

· Jet Cooker

Just like the coil cooker, you will use the jet cooker to cook the starch and jelly ingredients for making gummy bears.

Blending System

The blending system will mix all the ingredients to form a homogenous mixture for making the gummy bear.

· Gummy Bear Candy Cleaner

You will use the gummy bear candy cleaner to get rid of the debris and dirt that might reside on the gummy bears.

· Oiling Drum or Oiler

The oiling drum is responsible for the addition of polishing agents onto the gummy bears to make them attractive.

· Sander

The sander is responsible for sugar coating of the starch molded and soft-boiled gummy bear candy.

In short, these are some of the most important gummy making equipment you will need.

Techniques of Manufacturing Gummy Bear

Well, there are quite a number of gummy manufacturing techniques in the gummy bear production industry.

Among these techniques is the starch molding technique which produces the best types of gummy bears.

It is less complicated and will also cost you less in terms of expenditure in the production process.

It also allows you to add more runner materials during the production process of the gummy bear candy.

Preparation of Gummy Bear Ingredients

The manufacturing process of gummy candy often begins with proper preparation of the ingredients.

The process involves measuring the ingredients in specific quantities and adding them in a particular order.

Apart from that, the preparation stage also involves checking the status of the machines.

In addition to that, you will also program the machine with the production specifications that you want.

Compounding Gummy Bear Ingredients

As soon as the ingredients are in place, you will power the machine to begin the production process.

The production process begins with compounding of all the ingredients which involves mixing and cooking.

Cooking of the ingredients will melt them down as the mixer stirs and homogenously mixes all the ingredients.

It might take about one to three hours for the machine to complete the compounding process depending on the quantities.

As soon as it is complete, you will test the quality of the final product to ensure it adheres to the quality specifications.

Molding of Gummy Bear

The machine will transfer the mixture to the molding station where the gummy bears will take their bear shape.

You can use the bear shape or any other shape that you would like your gummy to have.

Alternatively, you can use the Mogul which is a different type of machine to add starch to the mixture.

Starch will prevent the mixture from sticking to the walls of the machine and also hold the candy in place.

It will also absorb excess moisture from the candy allowing it to have the right texture.

The mogul comes complete with the moulding structure which will shape the mixture to different shapes.

Cooling and Setting of Gummy Candy

As soon as the gummy making ingredients start taking shape, the machine will pass them through a cooling system.

You should set the coolers at 65⁰ F and allow it to settle for about 24 to 26 hours as the slurry sets and cools.

Unmolding of Gummy Candy

After 24 to 26 hours in the molds and cooling chambers, the slurry has taken the shape of the bears.

After that, you will remove them from the molders through the unmolding process.

Drying of Gummy Candy

You will dry them at the drying station to get rid of the excess moisture from the gummy candy.

It is important to set the drying temperatures and time to avoid unnecessary complications on the gummy bears.

The time as well as drying conditions for the gummy candy will ultimately depend on the climatic conditions.

Using a drying machine, you will allow the gummy bears to take approximately 72 hours to properly dry up.

Here, you will split the drying time by allowing the gummy bear to dry on its back for about 48 hours.

You will then turn it and allow it to dry for another 24 hours to make them as chewy as possible.

Cleaning of Gummy Bear

You must ensure that the gummy bear you are making is clean and does not have debris on them.

This works best with the gummy bear cleaner which will brush and dust off the debris from the gummy bears.

Tumbling of Gummy Bear in Oil

You will transfer the gummy bears into the tumbler with food grade oil to absorb the remaining starch from the candy.

Apart from that, the food grade oil will lubricate the gummy bears and give them a shiny and soft attractive look.

Sorting of Gummy Bear

The production process proceeds to the sorting stage where the machine will sort the according to size and color.

Sorting is important to assist in proper packaging to avoid confusing the customer.

Apart from that, you can also mix different shapes and sizes to explore the versatility of the gummy bears.

Packaging of Gummy Bear

Finally, you will package the gummy bears into different package sizes.

Ensure that the packages are properly labelled according to the quantity of gummy bears inside the package.

Seal the packages and then transport them to the storage area awaiting preservation and subsequent distribution.

Preservation of Gummy Bear

Addition of citric acid to the mixture of ingredients will help in the preservation of the gummy bears.

Apart from that, you can maintain the freshness of gummy bear by ensuring that the packages are airtight.

In addition to that, the packages must be dry and eliminate the possibility of moisture entry into the package.

What’s more, make sure that you store the packages in a cool and dry environment.

Common Problems and Solution in Gummy Bear Manufacturing Process

Gummy bear production will run smoothly but you should expect a few hitches in the production process.

Here are some of the hitches and how you can solve them:

· Sticking of Gummy Bear

This might happen due to adhesive forces between the sugar and other key ingredients in the production process.

You should sprinkle powdered sugar and corn starch on the gummy bears to get rid of this problem.

· Failure of Ingredients to Bloom

It usually happens when you fail to add enough water during the mixing process of the gummy bear ingredients.

You can sort this out by using the right type of ingredients and measuring the right quantities for the ingredients.

· Premature Gelatin Settings

This happens when the temperatures within the production process are too low thus leading to premature gelatin setting.

Ensure that you have proper configurations of the manufacturing conditions to avoid this problem.

· Weight and Size variation

The problem often arises in the depositing and molding process where the machine deposits excess of less ingredients.

You can sort this out by having proper configurations of the machine to allow proper depositing of the ingredients.

Optimization of Gummy Manufacturing Process

You should ensure that you get the best out of the gummy manufacturing process by optimizing the production process.

In such a case, you will optimize the production process by:

· Increasing the Flexibility of Starch Molding Process

Increasing the flexibility of starch molding process allows you to explore and produce different varieties of gummy bears.

You will also produce gummy candy in different shapes, sizes and flavors thus exploring the flexibility of the machine.

In addition to that, you can also come up with various colors of gummy bears which represent different flavors.

· Addition of Proper Finishing Touches

You can employ the seasoning technology which will automatically coat gummy bears with sugar.

In addition to that, you should explore other recipes and ingredients that will capture a wider market.

· Using Proper Packaging

You should consider maximizing on the packaging technique of the gummy bear to attract more customers to the product.

Apart from that, the packaging must also preserve the freshness and integrity of the gummy bears for a long time.

· Choosing Best of Gummy making Machines

You should follow the machine specifications when purchasing a gummy bear making machine.

Here, you will look at the best specifications that will match your production requirements.

You must also consider the flexibility of the machine in terms of adapting to future technological prospects.

· Use Experienced Gummy Bear Production Technicians

Make sure that you hire technicians with more experience in the gummy bear production industry.

Such individuals will know how to handle the machine and optimize the gummy bear production process.

· Proper Gummy Bear Manufacturing Machine Maintenance

You must also maintain the gummy bear manufacturing machines on a regular basis to ensure it works smoothly.

Maintenance involves cleaning and lubricating the machine on a regular basis.

You should also have a replacement of parts of the machine in case the parts are worn out.

· Consulting with the Supplier

You must remain in constant communication with the gummy bear manufacturing machine supplier for updates.

Your supplier will also help you in getting the right maintenance services by supplying you with the machine parts.

Quality Control of Gummy Bear Manufacturing Process

You will begin the quality control process by evaluating the raw materials.

It involves testing of the raw materials to adhere to the set quality standards of gummy bear production.

In addition to that, you should take samples at every production stage and test them.

Ensure that these samples adhere to the quality specifications of the gummy production process.

Finally, you should also inspect the packaging process twice or thrice to ensure the quality of the gummy bears are intact.

In short, before you start making gummy bears, you must choose ingredients carefully, understand the process and choose the right manufacturing equipment.

Contact SaintyCo team today for all your gummy bear manufacturing solutions.