Making Pop Rocks candy at home

Here I show how I made gassified candy (eg Pop Rocks) in my home shop. The basic procedure is to heat sugar water up to 280*F, carbonate it with 600 psi CO2 and vigorous mixing, then cool the mixture while it is still under pressure. After the mixture has solidified, rapid depressurization causes the candy to burst apart into small fragments. Each fragment has lots of tiny CO2 bubbles embedded in it. When placed on the tongue, the bubbles burst open as the candy dissolves and a popping sensation is felt.

The main difficulty is building a high-pressure chamber that allows precise temperature control as well as thorough mixing of its contents while under pressure. I've built something that meets these requirements, and I've finally made a batch of candy that would pass as Pop Rocks, but they are pretty weak. I still need to adjust the temperature and mixing times to get a better product.

[AppliedScience]

In the time since I made my video on pop rocks, I've been working on a self-contained pressure chamber that uses co2 cartridges (portable and easy). The original goal was supercritical extraction of food flavors, but it would work well for pop rocks too. Should I do a video on it?

[PurpleLion]

You're on Bon Appetits newest video about making pop rocks!

[radnukespeoplesminds]

you should hit up BA, they watched your id on their vid trying to make pop rocks

[TheSenorTuco]

Giving success story in the beginning and not forcing you watch the rests makes me even more to watch the rest. And I love no intros, no "like, subscribe and that stuff". Right on point every time. Other youtubers should be more like you.

[devicraft]

Instructions unclear: accidentally made crystal meth

[Geraffel]

When making those pop rocks... Make sure 1. No one comes in and sees you inspect blue crystals on the table... And 2. Do not try to sell them on the street

[yorgle]

I really love that you include the "failures" as a part of showing us what you've done. I think they're almost as important, if not as important as the successes. Cheers to ya! :D

[ejwissner]

My son asked how pop rocks worked and that led me to your video. Very interesting. I appreciated learning both what worked and what didn’t. Thanks for sharing!

[PedanticNo]

Why is it that the most skilled among us are often the most humble? This is awesome!

[CatboyChemicalSociety]

bald guy with glasses, blue rock candy
Heisenberg or coincidence

[skivvy]

Imagine a channel that starts by listing and showing the end results, without a scummy sleazy clickbait cliffhanger teaser like even channels we all love like practical engineering And tech ingredients are so guilty of <3 by far the best most humble honest channel in existence

[rjmackenzie]

Hey all from BA! This channel is amazing, browse around for some other food related (and non food related) stuff. The Vinyl record one is absolutely mindblowing.

[didaloca]

I love the little chuckle you do when you try all your food experiments.

[phillifighter]

this is the most brutal way of making candy i have ever seen O.o

[astrid]

Great video! My children are homeschooled and we found this very helpful in our lessons on gases/liquids/solids.

[StefanLopuszanski]

How many other people are here thanks to Claire (Half Sour Saffitz) over at Bon Appetit's Gourmet Makes?

[snorksonforks]

You dont stir the product .. you make the candy under pressure increasing the temp of the boil to 295 and PUSH the candy out of the pressure vessel into a cooling tunnel that pushes the candy stream 45 degrees into a catch pan ... and you need something to catch the globs the wind wont push

the secret is a small diameter ejection orifice nozzle .. gas valve brass nozzle size 063 or 082 would be my first thought

but the candy MUST be spit out slowly via dip tube siphon reduced in pipe size to decrease velocity until the candy product arrives at the sprayer nozzle head at EXACTLY 280* F

liquid CO2 is what they use to push the superheated liquid sugar into the expansion chamber to make the dots that spit out.

fans cool the whole mess.

1/16 od cap tube is yer buddy

[rfldss]

I was really happy to see this video featured in a bon appetit video :)

[adhaanizamm]

Jesse, I have terminal cancer we need to cook

[newtekie]

I love the face you make when you taste something from your childhood that you have recreated yourself. It looks like your inner child coming through.