What happens when we put marshmallows in vacuum chamber?
According to IS 1008 sugar boiled confectionery sold as hard boiled sugar confectionery, pan good confectionery and toffee is a processed composite food article made from sugar with or without doctoring agents, such as liquid glucose and/or cream of tartar by a process of boiling whether panned or not with or without the addition of colour, flavour, fillings (in the form of liquid, semi-solid or solid) with or without coating of sugar or chocolate or both and other edible materials and made into any desired shape and size. We will be discussing about marshmallows and what happens when we put marshmallows in vacuum chamber.
Hard boiled sugar confectionery means a supercooled solution of a combination of sucrose and liquid glucose or sucrose treated with an acid doctor such as cream of tartar (potassium acid tartrate). Pan goods or dragees are confections made by the panning process in revolving pans/drums by using either hot coating or cold coating and this process is assisted by blowing air. The goods may also be provided with a thin separating and glazing layer. These have a center (tilling) which may be in the form of the liquid, semi-solid or solid and a smooth or pearled covering (coating) of sugar and chocolate or both. The center (filling) may also be in the form of chocolate beans.
Sugar based confectioneries can be divided into two categories:
1.Sugar in crystalline form.
Ex:- Rock Candies where the sugar crystals are of large size and Fudges & Fondants where the sugar crystals are of smaller size.
2.Sugar in noncrystalline form.
Ex: – sour balls, butterscotch, and nut brittles are hard,containing 2% moisture or less. They also include chewy types, such as caramel and taffy, with about 8-15% moisture, and gummy candies, such as marshmallows, gumdrops, and jellies, with about 15-22% moisture.
Here we will be discussing the basic science behind of what happens when marshmallows are put inside a vacuum chamber.
Marshmallows are made of sugar foam with lots of tiny air pockets filled with air. A marshmallow is a sugar-based confection that, in its modern form, typically consists of sugar, water, and gelatin which is whipped to a spongy consistency, moulded into small cylindrical pieces, and coated with corn starch.
Marshmallows | parrishlearningzone.com |
Marshmallows in Vacuum Chamber
Why Does It Happen?
When you put the marshmallows in a jar and remove the air inside the jar (creating a vacuum) the pressure inside the jar decreases and therefore the air molecules inside the marshmallows want to expand. You will see this because the air tries to get out of the air pockets and causes the marshmallow to get bigger. The marshmallows will shrink again when the vacuum seal is broken and air rushes back into the container. We assume that the marshmallow will not go back to its original size because many of the air pockets will be broken and the air molecules will not be able to get back into the marshmallow. This should actually result in a smaller marshmallow than the one you started with since the full atmospheric pressure is now pushing on the marshmallow.
Hope It Explains!
Post By:
Sonali Swain
Food technologist and nature lover
Connect To Her:
sonaliswain95@gmail.com