Confectionery

Air It Well!
Key Steps in Extruded
Marshmallow Production
There are many ways to make marshmallows. For extruded
marshmallows, careful control of the sugar solution and aeration mixing
head are vital to make a product that is firm and flavourful.

By Robert Luiten glucose or dextrose is dissolved in a vacuum may reduce the cooking
little water and this solution is heated temperature under pasteurisation and

M
ARSHMALLOWS consist to a temperature of approx 110-116˚C. that may influence the shelf-life of the
of aerated sugars with an The final cooking temperature product.
agent that holds it all together. determines the residual moisture in this After cooking we add the whipping
This agent has the function of solution and of course this is dependant agent. But because the molecular
improving the whipping (or aeration) on the added moisture (with the structure of most whipping agents is
characteristics and at the same time gelatine) after the cooking in relation damaged at these high temperatures, we
affects the gelling properties of the with the moisture we like to keep in should cool down the sugar solution to
confection. For that purpose gelatine the finished marshmallow product. The under 70˚C, prior to adding the gelatine
is most commonly used, but other higher the cooking temperature, the less solution.
texturising ingredients such as gums, moisture the boiled batch contains.
gelatinised starches and algins can also These boiling points are applicable The gelatine solution
be considered. at sea level (see table below). At higher The gelatine solution has to be
The final texture and appearance of altitudes the boiling point reduces with prepared in advance, since it needs time
a marshmallow is determined to a great approx 1.6 ˚C (3.0 ˚F) per 500 meters to gel in warm water. To avoid lumping,
extent by how it is produced. Apart Boiling under vacuum is possible. the best way would be to make a
from variations stemming from recipe This means that the boiling point goes gelatine paste in cold water, followed
control and experimentation, producers down as well. In case you consider this, by letting it swell in warm water of
can also shape the marshmallow by you must realise that the viscosity of approx 50-60˚C.
selecting the desired final step in the the mix will be higher and therefore If high counts of moulds or bacteria
production process. In this respect, the stirring becomes more complicated. in the gelatine powder can be expected,
marshmallow can be either extruded or Besides, cooking under substantial one should consider pasteurising the
deposited onto the moving gelatine by boiling the warm
belt, or deposited onto a Boiling temperature Dry solids Moisture water and mixing the
starch bed (mogul). This of the sugar solution content (%) content (%) gelatine paste in the hot
article will explain about (at sea level) water while cooling the
some aspects of making an boiled water. Cool down this
˚C ˚F
appealling multi-coloured hot gelatine mix as soon as
extruded marshmallow. 106 223 72.4 27.6 possible to the indicated
108 226 77.2 22.8 gelling temperature of 50-
The sugar solution 110 230 80.9 19.1 60˚C.
Preparing the warm Generally we make
sugar solution is done in 112 234 83.4 16.1 enough gelatine solution for
most cases batchwise. This 114 237 85.7 14.3 a few hours of marshmallow
means that according to the 116 241 87.4 12.6 production and take a little
recipe, sucrose bit from it with every sugar
118 244 89.0 11.0
(crystallised sugar) with batch we have prepared.

FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA JUNE/JULY 2005

Confectionery
Extruded 4-colour marshmallows.
Continuous sugar cooking
At higher capacity marshmallow
production lines, a continuous sugar
cooking system may be considered.
After the ingredients have been
premixed, the sugar mass is pumped
under pressure through a heat
exchanger to increase the temperature
to the required boiling point. This heat
exchanger could be a coiled pipe in a
steam chamber or a shell-and-tube type
heat exchanger. After the heat
exchanger the mass is subjected to flash
evaporation to remove the moisture.
The advantage of the continuous
cooker is that the sugar mass resides
for only a short time at the high
temperature, so undesirable side effects
in the sugar mass are limited. However
at these relative low capacities for
aerated products, the investment cost
are higher than for batch processing.
After the sugar mix with the
gelatine is ready for aeration, the warm
liquid is fed to a pump to start its
continuous journey through the aerator,
flow split, injection with colours/
flavours combined with in-line
blending and all the way through the
final extrusion onto a starch bed.
The continuous aeration
system
The design of the mixing head in
FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA JUNE/JULY 2005
the continuous aerating system is
important. The sugar mix is subjected
to a high shear mixing step in a pressure
room and for this application several
types of mixing heads have been
designed. In this respect it is important
to be able to control the following
parameters during the aeration:
• Capacity of the marshmallow
production by an accurate pump control
• Mass of air in relation to the liquid.
This will determine the density of the
marshmallow.
• Pressure inside the mixing head
• Shear inside the mixing head
The capacity of the marshmallow
production is set by the pump that is
mounted just before the liquid
marshmallow enters the aeration
mixing head. Generally this pump is
Mixing head of the continuous
aerating system with the special
premixing zone in the mixinghead.
frequency controlled to easily
synchronise its speed with other
parameters in the process, such as air
dosing, flavour & colour injection.
Since the air volume fluctuates
greatly with the temperature and
pressure in the system, it is not a very
accurate indicator for the final density
of the product and therefore one is
advised to use a mass-flow meter for
the air dosing in the mixing head. Since
the mass flow is measured
electronically, it is very easy to
synchronise this meter with the pump
speed, meaning that once the desired
density has been set and the pump
speed increased, the air inflow will
automatically be adjusted to maintain
the pre-set density.
Mixing head control
The pressure setting inside the
mixing head influences the residence
time of the liquid component in the
mixing head. This is an important
parameter that determines whether a
finer or courser structure results in the
final foam. This pressure is set by a
special back pressure valve after the
mixing head. This valve setting
determines the mixing head pressure
and makes it independent from back
pressure built up from downstream
machinery in the closed system.
Shear in the pressurised mixing
head makes it possible to create a
marshmallow foam at a low density
with a very fine air bubble structure.
We are looking for an optimum in shear
that is sufficiently high to create the fine
foam structure, but not too high to
prevent damage to the long delicate
gelatine molecules that so perfectly
hold the micron-size air bubbles and
stabilise the fine foam. For this purpose
the use of a low-shear premix chamber
in the high-shear mixing head has
proven to be very useful.
Flow-split and extrusion
After the marshmallow foam leaves
the mixing head, it moves through the
optional flow-split in case we like to
 Confectionery

A continuous
aeration system
for marshmallows.

make a multi-coloured marshmallow from a single

source aeration system. Each individual stream is
injected with water-based colour or flavour, immediately
followed by an in-line gentle static blending of the
injected liquids in the marshmallow foam.
In case only a single colour is needed, this colour
can be injected directly into the mixing head as a second
component and the flow-split with in-line blenders is
not necessary.
Eventually the pump pressure provides enough
pushing power to extrude the marshmallow in a certain
shape and size onto a starch belt. At this point it is
important that the marshmallow can maintain its shape.
The strength of the gelatine (Bloom count) in
combination with the temperature at extrusion are what
affect the outcome.
The extruded product can emerge as single colour
ropes, or as fancy multi-colour static or twisted shapes.
At the point of extrusion, the product is too delicate
and soft to be handled and therefore it needs to be aged/
cooled on the belt. Besides we also like to withdraw
some more moisture by covering the marshmallow
strings with starch dispensed on top of the product. After
the ageing time (at the end of the belt) the marshmallow
will maintain its shape if we touch it and this is the right
time to cut it in pieces of the desired length (by setting
the frequency of the guillotine cutting knife). After the
cutting, the product goes through a vibration sieve and
if necessary also a rotating drum to remove excess starch.
The finished marshmallow product is ready to be packed
after some more additional ageing time in an air-
conditioned buffering room. Enquiry No: 015

Robert Luiten (rgf@wxs.nl) has a BSc degree in

Chemical Engineering. He has worked in the Food
Processing Industry for more than 25 years and
particularly in the processing and continuous aeration
of viscous products in the Dairy, Confectionery and
Baking Industry in the Asia Pacific.

FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA JUNE/JULY 2005