Cotton candy is made by turning crystallized sugar into fine fibers that resemble cotton candy. Familiar to pilgrims, cotton candy cannot be made at home without special equipment to make this confection.
This apparatus consists of a large conical hopper, an extruder with holes in the sides, and a heating element. The extruder resembles a rotating metal cylinder.
The candy floss mixture is primarily crystalline sugar, coated with coloring to make it more attractive in appearance. This loose mixture is poured into the bottom of a conical hopper, from which the car is transferred to an extruder. Thanks to a nearby heating element, the crystalline mixture is heated until it becomes liquid. The cylinder of the extruder then rotates at high speed, causing the sugar liquid to be ejected from the cylinder through an opening in the side of the cylinder. Since the ambient temperature is not affected by the heating element, a large temperature difference occurs here.
Because the sugar solution cools very rapidly, thin filaments are formed and accumulate in the pans surrounding the extruder. The strands must not coagulate and must not have too much moisture.
In the production of fluff, this process is the visible part. The fibers of the sugared confectionery are gathered and rolled around the pan on skewers or pieces of cones. Because the fluff is still sticky in this state, it sticks together like one big cocoon on the skewer.
However, this production process must take into account that the fluff must be fed immediately for consumption, as the aforementioned humidity in the air may cause the fluff to collapse .
In automated mass production of cotton candy, the humidity problem must be solved. Either an inert atmosphere can be provided, or a complete vacuum package can be provided to allow for long-term storage of the cotton candy. For factory production of cotton candy, see
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