FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS At Hammond’s, we pride ourselves on using only the best ingredients and traditional methods in preparing our candy. When possible, we use local, natural ingredients.
My hard candy looked beautiful when I bought it, but it now looks runny. Why?
Like all hard candies, Hammond's candy is hygroscopic and begins to degrade when moisture is allowed to enter the sugar structures. We are fortunate in Denver to have relatively low humidity because it keeps our candy dry and shiny. Once hard candy is removed from its protective, plastic coating, it will begin to degrade in humid environments. Even in our storage facilities, where the humidity is typically lower than 40%, we experience some degradation.
What allergens are in your candy?
Our hard candy does not contain any known allergens except certified and exempt (natural) colors (such as red 40, yellow 5). Some people with sulfate allergies have negative reactions to specific salts in certified dyes. Typical food allergen proteins, such as gluten, soy, and nut proteins, are commonly used in our soft candies (caramels, chocolates, popcorn, etc). Because we are a small company with a small kitchen, we sometimes share equipment used in making candy with allergens and candy without. If you have severe allergies to wheat, nut, soy, and dairy ingredients, we do not recommend that you eat our candy. What is the difference between Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate and White Chocolate? Milk Chocolate and Semi-sweet (dark) Chocolate actually contain chocolate in a bitter form called chocolate liquor (there is no alcohol in this product). Milk chocolate has milk as an ingredient. Semi-sweet has no milk and has half the sugar as milk chocolate. White chocolate contains no chocolate liquor--in other words, it's not a chocolate product. It does contain cocoa butter which gives it a chocolate flavor. The higher the cocoa butter content, the more yellow the appearance and the better the flavor. If the color is a strong white color it probably does not contain cocoa butter, just artificial flavoring.
What is used to color your All-Natural line of candies?
Developed for the demand of a gourmet candy with no artificial colors or flavors, Hammond’s has developed a line of All-Natural candies. Following is a list of the ingredients used to color this delicious line of all natural candies:
Red & Pink Colors - Red Beet Powder
Purple Colors - Red Cabbage Extracts
Orange Colors - Orange plus Other Fruit Extracts
Yellow Colors - Tumeric Powder (a spice) Are there any non-disclosed processing ingredients in your hard candy?
Yes, there are two. We add about 1 ounce of a partially hydrogenated vegetable oil blend (palm, cottonseed, palm kernel) to each batch of candy as an anti-foaming agent. This oil is completely used up in the manufacturing process. We also use glycerin, 99.5% USP, (C3H5(OH)3) as the carrier for our colorants. A 70 pound batch of candy typically has about 50 grams of the color/glycerin blend.
Why does the candy coal turn my mouth blue? Is it harmful?
Our candy coal has more dye added to it than any other candy we make. We use a blend of Blue 1 and a certified black shade which is made of blue 1, yellow 5 and red 40. We add more dye to this product so that it looks exactly like real coal. Because we use water-soluble dyes in our candy, the dye dissolves in your mouth as well. Although it gives you an odd look, it is not harmful and will eventually fade. This also makes it easier for the adults to pick out the naughty boys and girls.
Do you use any artificial preservatives in your candy?
No. We do, however, use citric acid, a natural preservative, to give tartness to our fruit flavored hard candies and to help breakdown carbohydrates in some of our soft candies, like chocolate covered cherries.
Do you use titanium dioxide for your whites in the hard candy?
No. We simply pull our candy long enough to mix in tiny air bubbles, which gives the candy its white appearance. We don't even have titanium dioxide in the building!
What is the white packet that came in my candy bags?
We use silica packets to desiccate the air inside the bags. Our hope is to trap whatever moisture there is in the air in that packet, rather than the candy. The silica packets are FDA approved, but don't eat them!
What are the ideal storage conditions for my candy?
Hard candy should be kept dry! It's not terribly sensitive to temperatures, although if you expose to high heat, it will eventually melt. If you have small pieces of candy, keep them in an airtight, plastic container with the desiccant that came with it. It's best to keep hard candy at room temperature. Don't store our products in the refrigerator! The moisture will ruin the hard candy and bringing chocolates out from the cold into ambient temperature can cause sugar bloom, which is when moisture condenses on the outside of the candy and causes the fats to separate from the sugars. Keep your candy in its original packaging as long as possible. The air in there is probably drier than your own and it will help lengthen the good looks of the candy. |
