What are marshmallows made of? The marshmallow principle

Cotton candy refers to a kind of soft candy on the market. It is loose and porous, with a certain elasticity and toughness. It is named because its taste and texture are similar to cotton. Cotton candy has many flavors, including strawberry, sweet orange, grape, banana, pineapple, mint, blueberry, etc. It is colorful and very beautiful. Many friends are concerned about whether cotton candy is junk food? Why not open it to find out.

Contents of this article

1. What are marshmallows made of?

2. Marshmallow Principle

3. Is marshmallow junk food?

What are marshmallows made of?

White sugar. Pour white sugar into a cotton candy machine to make sugar threads, then use a stick to wrap the sugar threads together. They melt in your mouth and are named because they are very similar to cotton wool.

There are two main types of cotton candy machines on the market. One type is the familiar "drawn" cotton candy machine, which can make cotton candy threads into a colorful ribbon 5-13 cm wide, and then pull the threads out of the basin 3 to 10 meters away, like an art performance. However, since the cotton candy threads produced by this type of cotton candy machine cannot be shaped, most cotton candy sellers make the cotton candy threads into simpler cotton candy balls. The price of this type of cotton candy machine ranges from a few hundred yuan to several thousand yuan, with different prices and different qualities. The better the "drawn" cotton candy machine, the longer and wider the threads it draws, and it is not easy to break.

The other type is the "artistic flower-shaped" cotton candy machine, which can make cotton candy silk into various shapes of flowers through exquisite technology, which are colorful and very beautiful. This type of cotton candy machine is specially used to make cotton candy in various shapes, such as: umbrella, hat, gourd, etc.

Marshmallow Principle

The cotton candy machine is a bowl-like machine with a very high temperature heating chamber in the center. The heat breaks down the crystal structure and turns the sugar into syrup. There are some holes in the heating chamber that are smaller than the size of granular cane sugar.

When the sugar rotates at high speed in the heating chamber, the centrifugal force sprays the syrup from the small hole to the vicinity of the "big bowl". Because the speed at which a liquid substance solidifies when it is cooled is related to its volume, the smaller the volume, the faster it solidifies.

Sucrose molecules have a specific melting point, and the temperature does not change when they are heated and melted; however, cotton candy threads do not have a specific melting point, and the temperature gradually rises when they melt. The high-speed rotating sucrose passing through the thread outlet will turn into long filaments, which are like cotton when wound together.

Is Marshmallow Junk Food?

Marshmallows are actually sucrose, which has been machined to change its molecular arrangement and become cotton-like. Sucrose is a high-calorie, low-nutrition food. If children eat too much, it will affect their normal diet, causing malnutrition, growth retardation, etc. It may also cause obesity in children or increase the risk of diabetes.

The pigment ingredients used in colored marshmallows are unknown and are harmful to the human body after consumption. Moreover, if children eat too much food containing pigments, they may lose their appetite and may even have serious effects on their nerves and development.