How to Soften Gummy Bears? (5 Different ways)

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I always enjoyed having gummy bears.. I have a major sweet tooth!

Most of the time I used to make Gummy bear candy at home.

But once I bought cheap gummy bears from the store. They are not hard rock, but it was a little hard to chew.

I don’t want to throw them. So, I decided to make them softer.

After applying easy tricks, they become perfect to chew and enjoy.

Let’s get to know here how I soften the gummy bears and make them more enjoyable.

Who Invented Gummy Bears and What Are They Made Out of?

Did you know when and who was invented gummy bears candy?

Let me tell you German Entrepreneur Hans Riegel started his own company Haribo and invented gummy candies in early 1920. Nowadays they are the world’s top manufacturer of gummy candies.

The Haribo’s first gummy candy was shaped of bear and the base ingredient was gum Arabic. So, the candies known as gummy bears.

The main ingredients of gummy bears are corn syrup, sugar, water, food coloring, gelatin, and flavorings.

The most popular flavors of gummy bears are orange, lemon, strawberry, pineapple, and raspberry. The regular gummy bears contain high sugar but you can also find healthy varieties of gummy bears nowadays.

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Homemade Easy Gummy Bears Recipe

Ingredients:

½ cup fruit juice like grape, lemon, orange

2 tsp unflavored powdered gelatin

2 tsp sugar

Little oil for spraying mold

Gummy bear molds

Small liquid measuring cup

Recipe:

1.Pour fruit juice, gelatin and sugar in a saucepan. Cook the mixture on low flame and stir it often till it dissolves completely.

2.If you notice foam starts while stirring switch off the flame and transfer the mixture into a small liquid measuring cup.

3.Put the gummy bear mold on even or flat surface. Spray little oil on gummy bear mold and wipe excess oil.

4.Fill each cup of mold till the top. Lightly shake the mold ensuring all mixture settles at the bottom.

5.Refrigerate it for about 10 minutes and let mixture sets. Once they are set store it at room temperature.

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Why Gummy Bears Gets So Hard?

As you know gummy bears are essentially made up of water, gelatin, sugar, food coloring, and some additives.

The gelatin’s gel strength is depending on its concentration. So, the hardness of gummy bears is depending upon the gelatin concentration.

If the gelatin concentration is more, the candy gets harder.

Gummy candies left sitting around lead to losing water content due to the evaporation process. This results in more concentrated gelatin, so it gets harder.

The loss of moisture also shrinks gummy bears.

These are the causes of gummy bears getting so hard.

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How to Soften Gummy Bears?

If your gummy bears are hard, you can soften it easily. The following are some easy and quick ways to soften your hard-gummy bears.

A Bowl of warm water

For softening gummy bears, you need to re-hydrate them. Place gummy bears in a bowl of warm water. Don’t use cold water as gelatin is soluble in warm water.

Around 20 minutes they will reach desired consistency. As you keep them in water for longer, more water they will absorb. They will grow also more and become softer as you keep them for longer.

Microwave Method

Take a microwave-safe plate and place a paper towel on a plate. Keep gummy bears on a plate arranged in a row.

Sprinkle gummy bears with warm water. Microwave them on low for 10 seconds. Check the softness of the gummy candies.

If they are not getting soften to the desired level, heat them for an additional 5 seconds.

Allow it to cool for 10 minutes. Store it in a plastic bag zipper.

Keep Gummies with bread

Take a bag and a piece of bread. Keep the piece of bread and gummy bear candies into the bag.

Clip the bag and make sure it locked properly.

Place it somewhere in a warm place. It will get soft within a day just like fresh.

You can also soften the hard cookies like this way.

Spray with warm water

Spraying with warm water also works to soften hard gummy bears. You just need to spray the warm water on gummy bears.

Place the gummy bears on a plate. Spray them with warm water twice. Just two or three sprays will work. But spray them till you reach desired consistency.

Keeping in a backpack or pocket

You can also try a simple trick to soften the gummy bears. You can just put it in a pocket or backpack. They will get warm and squishy after about 5 minutes. Depends upon the hardness and your desired softness, time may be varying.

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