What child, going to the park with his parents for a holiday, will not ask for cotton wool? Many kids like this white airy mass of sugar. And for a feeling of fun and good mood always accompanied our children, parents can prepare such a delicacy on their own. How to make cotton candy at home is described in this article.
Making cotton candy using improvised means
1. Prepare the syrup, and for this you will need: sugar (300 g), water (100 g) and half a teaspoon of vinegar. Mix all ingredients, pour the mixture into a small saucepan and place it on low heat. To make the cotton wool bright, you can add a natural dye, for example, beet juice or raspberry jam.
2. Be sure to stir the contents so that the sugar does not burn. When the syrup boils, remove the pan from the heat and wait 5 minutes for it to cool. Repeat this procedure 4 times. The syrup will be ready when it begins to stretch and turns golden brown.
If the mass is undercooked, then the cotton wool will end up not airy, it will be heavy and wet, and it will begin to stick to the teeth.
And if you overcook the syrup, the delicacy may ultimately turn out to be tough, even a little prickly.
3. Let’s move on to forming a familiar figure: take 3 regular forks. Place two of them in glasses at a distance of about 5 cm from each other. Dip the third fork in the hot syrup and start moving it around the other two cutlery so that the sugar web wraps around them. Be careful not to get the hot solution on your hands and burn them. Your DIY cotton candy is ready, and now you can enjoy this delicate and pleasant delicacy.
Preparing dessert using a special device
Device for cotton candy You can buy it at a hardware store, although not everyone can afford such a unit. Its price ranges from 10,000-20,000 rubles. But if you are lucky enough to have purchased such a device, then making cotton candy with it will not be difficult. special labor. This delicacy is made as follows:
1. Pour 1.5 teaspoons of sugar into the middle of the rotating container, and then turn on the device.
2. After a minute, white sweet threads will begin to form inside the bowl, so you need to catch them. To do this, take the stick on which you will wind the cotton wool, place it vertically above the container and wait until the threads begin to cling to it. Then, in a horizontal position, continue winding the sweetness onto the holder.
One serving of cotton wool using this method of preparation requires only 1.5 teaspoons of sugar. If you want to make a treat for two sweet tooths (or even more), then you need to clean the bowl so that the syrup does not stick to it later.
Now you know how to make cotton candy at home using a special device for making dessert. Now find out how you can make such a delicacy without using a special unit. Or rather, there will still be a device, but you will make it yourself.
List of elements for making a homemade device
If you can’t afford a special device for making sweets, then you can make it yourself, armed with the following materials:
1. Plastic vessel with a volume of 5 liters.
2. Engine (no need to bother, a regular engine from any children's toy will do).
3. Metal lid from a jar (its size should be slightly larger than the neck of the bottle).
4. Power supply from cell phone. The charger power should be within 12-20 V.
5. Cardboard box. The bottle should fit in it.
How to make cotton candy at home using this homemade device? Detailed instructions presented in the next section.
Detailed instructions for making the device
1. Connect the plastic and metal caps and make a hole in each of them, and then insert the motor so that its sharp end comes out through the hole. The plastic cap must be on the bottom so that the bottle can be screwed on.
2. Connect the power supply to the motor.
3. Place the device in the box.
The homemade device for cotton candy is ready. All that remains is to find out how to get the sweetness.
Preparing delicacies using a homemade machine
1. Lubricate metal cover sunflower oil. This is necessary to ensure that the mixture does not stick to the cap.
2. Take out a steel mug and pour 4 teaspoons of sugar and 1 spoon of water into it. You can add food coloring if desired.
3. Place the cup on the fire and constantly stir its contents. You need to keep the dishes on the burner until the sugar in the mug is completely dissolved. The mass must acquire brown tint and ductility.
4. You need to cook quickly so that the caramel does not have time to harden. Quickly start the unit and start pouring the mixture in a small stream onto the metal lid. The caramel will fly in different directions and send out cobwebs.
Now you can easily answer the question: “How to make cotton candy at home without a special machine?”
1. You need to consume cotton candy right away, because after a while it becomes dense and not so tasty.
2. To make this delicacy not only tasty, but also bright, you can add food coloring.
3. To prepare such a yummy you need to use only crumbly dry sugar, but refined sugar or a wet product is not suitable.
4. The hardened remains of the syrup should not be thrown away - they make delicious golden sugar candies.
5. Before starting the process, it is advisable to cover the floor and table in the kitchen with cellophane. Because drops of syrup will scatter, and removing them from the surface is not so easy.
6. During cooking, you need to take the children out of the kitchen so that they do not get burned by drops of syrup that accidentally fall on their skin.
7. You can use forks, whisks, Chinese chopsticks.
Making cotton candy is a difficult process, but if you strictly follow all the recommendations, you will have a wonderful dessert. And with the presence special device In general, you can make this delicacy every day without any problems.
We present to you blueprints homemade apparatus for making cotton candy(“Feshmak”) and the technology of its preparation. You won't need much time to make it.
Feshmak is a caramel-type product, popularly called “cotton candy”, usually in the form of a bundle of elongated thin white threads.
One kilogram of sugar produces up to 80 servings of the finished product.
The simplest design for preparing feshmak at home with a capacity of approximately 160 servings per hour consists of a 220 V electric motor with a power of 50 to 300 W with a rotor speed of 1250 - 1500 rpm and a disk made of sheet aluminum with a diameter of 170 - 180 mm and a thickness attached to its shaft 0.2 - 0.3 mm. To make a disk, you can use tin from a herring can. At a distance of 350 - 400 mm from the center of the disk, a fence made of plastic, linoleum, etc. is installed.
If you seriously decide to start making a feshmak, we recommend using the design shown in Fig. 1.
For its manufacture it is necessary to use materials specified by GOST for the food industry.
Drawings of a machine for producing cotton candy
Rice. 2 Apparatus for making cotton candy “feshmaka”:
1 - electric motor; 2 - power cord; 3 - disk fastening bolt; 4 - the resulting layer of cotton candy.
Note.
The design of the apparatus we propose reflects only the basic principle of the production of “cotton candy”; it is elementary and easy to manufacture. If you wish, you can improve the device yourself by mechanizing some of the manual labor.
Method for making cotton candy.
First you need to prepare the caramel mass. It is prepared without making molasses, which simplifies the cooking process. The mass is not candied due to the formation of invert sugar under the influence of vinegar essence added in the middle of cooking. So, granulated sugar is dissolved in a small amount of water (about 3 parts sand to 1 part water) and boiled for 10 minutes, after which vinegar essence is added (3 ml of essence per 1 kg of sugar) and the mass is boiled again for 10 - 12 minutes. After this, the mass is heated over very low heat for 25 - 30 minutes. until a strong caramel sample is obtained with a moisture content of 1.5 - 1.7%. Humidity is determined by the boiling point of the mass. At the beginning of boiling it should be 100 - 105?, and at the end - 135 - 145?. Without allowing it to cool, pour the finished mixture in a thin stream onto the edge of the rotating disk (2 - 4 mm from the edge). To do this, it is convenient to use a small enamel ladle. Hot syrup, breaking into thousands of thin threads, hardens at room temperature, forming a layer of “cotton wool”.
At high humidity ambient air it is impossible to obtain a high quality product. In this case, you can close the device with a lid with a hole for pouring caramel mass. Turn off the electric motor and separate the threads from the body. Cut the finished product along the diameter line and roll the resulting semicircle into a tube on the table. Do the same with the second semicircle. Then cut the cotton wool into the required number of servings. The product should have White color and a pleasant sweet taste. When using food coloring, the product takes on a more attractive appearance.
To maintain the high quality of the “cotton wool”, it is necessary to clean the disk from adhering syrup after each working cycle. Feshmak cannot be stored for a long time. outdoors- it is his significant drawback. Sealed packaging and refrigeration will keep it for a day or more.
Do not despair if you are not satisfied with the quality of the product the first time. The main condition for success is the accuracy of each operation.
Cotton candy is quite a tasty delicacy, but the apparatus for making it is very expensive and therefore it should be purchased for home use not advisable.
However, almost everyone can make their own homemade cotton candy machine. To do this, you will need a simple saucepan and some accessories that are likely to be found in every pantry. Manufacturing home device It won’t take much time, but it will cost mere pennies. With a little work, you can make cotton candy from simple sugar at any time and in any quantity.
Cotton candy machine at home
For the machine to work successfully, you will need a container that will be filled with sugar. This container will be heated, causing the sugar to melt and rotate. As you rotate, thin strands of melted sugar will be ejected through the holes in the container. The container must be placed inside a large pan to contain the ejected threads.First you need to select everything you need for. These include components and tools.
Prepare the following tools:
- Drill and several drills. A thin (no more than one millimeter) drill is required.
- Soldering iron.
- Set of files.
- Tin scissors and a can opener.
Components of the cotton candy machine:
- Jet lighter. These lighters are characterized by a blue flame and produce heat that is higher than the temperature of conventional lighters. At the same time, no soot is released during combustion. The lighter must be able to burn on its own, this is due to the fact that placing your hand with a lighter in a pan with flying sugar threads is somewhat inconvenient.
- Electric motor direct current powered by low voltage (for example, nine volt).
- The power source for the electric motor can be a simple battery.
- A small tin can, preferably a tall one, for canned vegetables.
- Small cap for installing lighter, you can use milk cap.
- Large saucepan or bucket.
- A relatively long stick, longer than the width of the pan. Any wooden plank or metal rod will do.
- A rod or tube about fifteen centimeters long.
- Bolt, nut and washer small sizes.
After completing the configuration, we proceed directly to production:
1) We secure the lighter.
We prepare a stand for the lighter. It is necessary to wrap the lighter with cling film in at least two layers. Then mix up some epoxy glue, pour it into the milk cap and place the lighter in the cap. After the glue has hardened, you need to remove the lighter and clean it from the film. The removable lighter stand is ready.
2) Installation of the motor and rod.
The motor is connected to the tin can by a short rod or tube. One hole must be drilled at the ends of the rod. One hole is intended for connection to the motor shaft, so the drill is selected accordingly. After drilling, insert the shaft into the hole and secure it with a drop of superglue. You can also use a locking screw to secure the shaft in the hole, but this will require drilling another hole and tapping threads, although it will provide the ability to remove the motor if necessary. Think for yourself what you like best.
After this, we drill a second hole to attach the tin can. The can will be secured with a bolt, so the drill must match its diameter.
Finally, we attach the engine to the crossbar. This is quite simple to do; drill two holes in the center of the bar and secure the engine with two screws.
3) Installation of the can.
The tin can is the container in which the sugar will be melted. To do this, you need to pour sugar into it, hang it over a fire source and spin it, and sugar threads will begin to fly out of the holes in its sides.
You should start by cutting a hole along the top edge of the can. Using a can opener, remove the top lid of the can completely and file the edges to remove any burrs. This will prevent wounds during the cotton candy making process.
After this, you need to drill a series of holes on the sides of the can, at its lower edge. The holes should be as small in diameter as possible, even with holes one millimeter in diameter, some sugar can pass through them without having time to melt. So use the smallest diameter drill you can find. Drill holes at a height of approximately one centimeter from the bottom seam of the can.
4) Securing the can
Drill a hole in the can to attach it to the rod. Secure the can with a bolt and nut. In principle, the can can simply be soldered to a metal rod or nailed if the plank is wooden. But the mounting option with a bolt and nut is better, as it allows you to remove or replace the can.
Pay special attention to the fact that the can, attached to the rod, is conveniently located above the fire source inside the bucket or pan.
Making cotton candy at home
The installation is ready. Let's start preparing cotton candy. Light a lighter, place some sugar in a can and start the engine.
Place the lighter inside the pan. Once the jar is warm enough, the sugar will begin to melt and fly out of the holes in the sides of the jar in the form of cotton candy. After a certain amount of cotton wool has formed, collect it with a bamboo stick.
Cotton candy (or cotton candy) is a cool, but rather expensive thing. And it seems completely crazy to buy a cotton candy machine in order to treat yourself to this delicacy only occasionally. This DIY project can be put together very quickly from an intact pan and whatever you may have lying around in your bins.
The main part of the machine for making cotton candy is a container with sugar and holes, which will heat up and rotate, and threads of melted sugar will fly out into these holes. This container will be placed inside the pan to prevent the sugar strands from flying all over the kitchen.
Step 1: Materials Needed
To make a device for making cotton candy at home you will need:
- Turbo lighter - such lighters burn with a blue flame, the temperature of their fire is much higher than that of ordinary ones gas lighters, and there is no soot from them. You need a lighter with a lockable switch.
- Small electric motor (8 V possible).
- Battery for the engine (I used a pp3 battery - a crown).
- Battery connector.
- Tin Can – I used a bean can. Of course, a can of canned fish would be better, but then the cotton candy would also have a fishy smell.
- To install the motor in a mini cotton candy machine, use milk bottle caps.
- Deep Pot or Clean Bucket - The one in the first photo wasn't big enough, so I ended up replacing it with a larger one.
- A long stick, longer than the width of the pan. I used the guide from the old one dishwasher.
- Threaded rod for the stem (about 15 cm. I used a 10 cm rod, it should be longer than the height of the tin can.
- Small nut, bolt and washer. I took a steel bolt, it screws perfectly into the soft brass tube.
Consumables:
- Sugar
- Bamboo skewers
- Fast acting epoxy
- Cling film
Tools:
- Drill with a set of drill bits (including 1 mm and smaller)
- Soldering Station
- Files
- Tin snips or can opener
Step 2: Stabilize the lighter
The lighter I used in the machine was very unstable. And because it was filled from below, I couldn’t just put it on epoxy.
In order to make a lighter stand, you need to wrap it in a couple of layers of cling film. Then mix up some fast acting epoxy and fill a bottle cap with it and insert the lighter into the epoxy. After a few minutes, take out the lighter and remove the cling film from it. You now have a removable lighter base.
Step 3: Install the motor on the guide
The motor is connected to the pan using a threaded rod; for this purpose, a hole for the motor shaft is drilled on one side of the rod. Such a hole is very convenient to drill with a tabletop drilling machine, but I did it manually. Check if it fits drilled hole to the motor shaft.
On the other side of the stud, drill a hole slightly smaller than the diameter of the bolt you prepared. Secure the motor shaft in the hole with superglue.
Now you need to attach the motor to the rack. There was a hole in my dishwasher guide that just needed to be slightly widened with a file. Drill two holes on the sides for the motor mounting screws.
Step 4: Preparing the Can
Sugar will heat up and melt in this jar, which means it must be filled with sugar, fixed above the flame and quickly rotate around its own axis so that the melted sugar scatters around the jar.
First, cut a hole in the lid. I used tin snips and a file. To prevent the sugar from falling out over the edge, I left a small edge. Practice has shown that there is no need for it, which means the lid can be cut out with a bottle opener.
In any case, the edge of the cut must be processed with a file to avoid cutting yourself. Then you need to drill holes in the wall of the can along the bottom. I used a 1mm drill bit for this and sugar crystals fly out into the holes. Therefore, it is advisable to use an even smaller drill. I drilled the holes about 1cm apart.
Step 5: Install the jar
Now screw the machine screw into the drilled hole in the end of the threaded rod. If you have a cutting tap internal thread the right size, that's great, but if not, it's okay - brass is a fairly soft metal, you can just screw a screw into the hole.
Drill a hole in the bottom of the can and insert a pin with a motor into this hole. Screw the nut to secure the can to the stud, so it will rotate with the stud-motor shaft.
The can attached to the shaft must be located at a sufficient distance above the lighter flame when installed on the pan.
Step 6: Making Cotton Candy
The device for making cotton candy is ready, now turn on the lighter, pour a couple of spoons of sugar into the jar and turn on the electric motor. Place the lighter under the rim of the tin can. As the jar heats up, the sugar will begin to melt and fly out through the holes in the jar and into the pan. Once a few sugar strands have accumulated, collect them on a bamboo skewer.
Cotton candy is a favorite treat not only for children, but also for adults. Many people associate it with magic, celebration and, of course, an amusement park. Professionals use a special unit that allows you to create sweet balloon in a matter of minutes. Hoping to replicate the cooking technology, housewives resort to various tricks to please their family. As it turns out, you can make delicious puffed sugar at home, all you need to do is be smart and find a little time.
Homemade unit for the production of cotton candy
It is not necessary to purchase a professional device; the device can be made at home using available materials and tools. Let's look at the steps step by step.
- To assemble a miniature machine, prepare 2 tin lids (a sample from baby food jars will do).
- Wash the lids, put them on protective gloves, sharpen them sandpaper or a file. When processing the product, you need to remove all the paint so that it does not get into the product later. cotton candy.
- Now start creating holes on both covers. Use an awl or a thin nail to poke many small holes in the first lid, from there the final product (sugar threads) will come out. Make one larger hole in the second lid; granulated sugar will be poured into it.
- Connect the lids together to form an impromptu cavity inside. Secure the result with aluminum wire or other in a convenient way.
- Take any small motor (from a hair dryer, blender, mixer), attach it to the lids with nuts.
- Now you need to prepare a solid base to which the structure will be attached. This can be a smooth, turned board or a piece of plywood.
- Take crown batteries and connect them to the motor terminals, observing the polarity. On one side, place a thick cardboard sheet or whatman paper, folded in half to form a partition.
- Pour 40 grams into the lid hole. granulated sugar, heat the rotating cavity with matches or a lighter.
- The composition will begin to melt and settle on a solid partition; all you have to do is collect it with a stick or screw it onto any other thin object (cutlery handle, cocktail straws, etc.).
- Ultimately, you will end up with fairly dense, but not very fluffy, cotton candy. To make it as close as possible to store-bought, pour into the machine not granulated sugar, but isomalt, a powdered sweetener.
The miniature unit can be ordered online and will provide you with an unlimited amount of cotton wool. This advice is especially relevant for those who often host guests with children or organize themed parties.
The design of the device is quite simple: on a stable base stand there is a metal disk that tends to heat up, as well as a bowl.
Principle of operation
- After purchasing, place the unit in the bathroom or on a tray, turn on hot water and rinse the device in the shower. Wash it with dishwashing detergent, dry with a towel, and leave to dry.
- After final drying, plug in the device and warm it up for 7-10 minutes.
- Place 1.5-2 tablespoons of sugar on a metal disk. At this time, it will begin to melt from the rotating heating disk, forming sugar weaves.
- After this, lower the stick into the main bowl on which the composition will be wound. If the sugar mixture has settled on the side walls, collect it in a convenient way. The cotton wool is ready!
The pricing policy of the device is quite objective, so if you plan to prepare delicacies often, it makes sense to purchase a professional unit. It does not stain the kitchen, is easy to clean, is compact to store and convenient to use. The disadvantage of a cheap device is considered to be low efficiency, the unit quickly overheats, so it becomes necessary to constantly cool it.
Making cotton candy without using a device
Don't be upset if you don't like making a device or buying a professional device. Cotton candy can be prepared in normal conditions, while it will not lose its properties and airy structure.
Required Tools
Prepare a whisk, ceramic container, saucepan or frying pan with a thick bottom. Take care of some kind of frames to wind the sugar threads. These can be cocktail tubes, Chinese chopsticks, bamboo canes, a fork or a spoon.
Required Ingredients
Regarding the components for making cotton wool, white or granulated cane sugar is suitable, calculate the amount based on the serving size (usually 2-5 tablespoons are enough). You will need purified water, the proportions of which in relation to granulated sugar are 1:3. For example, if you take 150 grams of sugar, then there should be 50 ml of water. Prepare a table solution of vinegar in advance (concentration no more than 6%), you will need 5-7 ml.
- Mix granulated sugar and water into one mixture and mash with a fork.
- Pour in the vinegar, stir again and transfer the mixture to a saucepan/pan for subsequent heating.
- Now you need to prepare sugar syrup. To do this, turn on low heat on the stove, simmer the mixture and stir constantly. Carefully collect the syrup from the walls so that it does not burn.
- When the composition becomes completely homogeneous, turn off the stove and cool to a temperature of 30-35 degrees. At the same time, constantly stir the syrup so that it does not sugar again.
- When the mixture has cooled, put it back on low heat and boil, then turn off the stove again and cool.
- Repeat simple manipulations 4-6 times until the composition becomes viscous. In this case, the syrup should have a pronounced golden hue.
- When you bring the product to desired color, check it for viscosity. Dip the edge of the spoon into the syrup and lift it up, ready mix It should stretch well and not tear immediately after lifting the device.
- Now build a frame for the production of threads. Place Chinese chopsticks or tubes vertically and secure them in a convenient way.
- Dip a whisk into the viscous syrup, then pass it around the homemade frame.
- Repeat the steps until you reach the desired amount of cotton wool. Don't scoop too much syrup to keep the strings thin.
Making cotton candy using syrup is not difficult. To make a treat using the device, involve the head of the family in the production of the unit. If desired, you can add food coloring to make the cotton wool pink, yellow, blue or purple. Multiple syrups are also allowed different color, in this case the cotton candy will be in the shape of a rainbow.
Video: how to make cotton candy at home