For this Christmas, we wanted to do a particular packaging for biscuits using cotton candy.
We have a machine to make it, and flavours to do different colors and flavourings.
Now, the problem is that it will shrink over time, in few hours, probably because of air humidity or other reasons.
We tried to make some cotton candy and place it in a closed box (one in paper and one in plastic), but it shrunk in few hours (less than 12).
Now, we need to find a way to preserve it from shrinking for at least 24 hours, but more would be better… And we should find a do-it-yourself solution which does not involve particular equipment or materials.
A way to preserve cotton candy is to freeze it, but obviously you have to eat it frozen, or it will melt.
We thought of two other ways:
- Use hot hair to reduce the amount of water in the box, and then seal the box. I am not a supporter of this idea, because I believe that hot air will just melt the cotton candy (and I do not think that humidity will be reduced that much).
- Use CO2, which can be easily and cheaply fabricated at home (vinegar + sodium bicarbonate). Since it should be heavier than air, one could produce it in a large container, then pour the CO2 in the box containing the cotton candy, and then seal it. I think that CO2 will replace air in the box and this will reduce the amount of humidity, allowing conservation of the food.
What do you think? Have you ever tried something similar? Have you any other idea?
Best Answer
It seems the best thing to do is to have a sealed container with little air in it. CO2 has proven to be useful, but its presence is not as important as sealing.
So, if you want to preserve cotton candy, my experimental results show that a sealed container is preferred. I obtained a conservation of 24 hours, but probably it will least 48h or even more.
EDIT: Well, sealing seems to work pretty well, but I have to report a pair of failure... 2 out 5 packages did not preserve the cotton candy for more than 24 hours, while the remaining did. On the plus side, the first experimental sealed package preserved cotton candy for more than a week.