The jawbreaker is a show-stealer in the world of candy. From its scary sounding
name to its trademark white coat and rainbow paint, we've got all the sweet
details for you to munch on. So let’s dive deeper into how they’re really made.
“In some cases, just the name of the candy is intimidating like, jawbreakers.”
Though these candies seem to last forever, you probably remember getting to the sweet,
sour center of a jawbreaker and feeling that sense of a job well done.
For classic jawbreakers, that hard candy center is where candymakers start their work.
Weighted tumble blocks are placed into an industrial-sized panner.
These tumble blocks crush and mix the candy center ingredients together into a fine powder.
Dextrose, powdered coloring, flavoring, and fruit acids are added to the panner
along with the blocks. The powdery mixture then gets transferred to a custom pill-press device.
There, a high-powered piston molds it into the round tangy candy center we all know and love.
We can't forget what goes into making the center of another popular kind of jawbreaker: the ones
with bubble gum in the middle. Bubble gum centers require a different process in the beginning,
though the layering process is roughly the same as with hard-centered jawbreakers.
Candymakers blend synthetic rubbers with powdered resin to dissolve the rubber. Then,
thickeners and preservatives are added. After a four-hour steaming and mixing process,
the mixture is placed into trays for cooling. The batter cools for 24 hours,
and then corn syrup is added for softness and sweetness.
Finally, sugars and flavors are added to the gum as well as icing sugar, which makes the gum easier
to chew. Several machines are used to slice and shape the gum into ball centers for jawbreakers.
Once these gumballs are cool, they're ready for building on layers to create a jawbreaker.
Creating those layers is actually the most
time-consuming part of the jawbreaker-making process.
Once the hard candy centers are finished, they're taken to a room with rotating panners.
This room is where the candies are spun in while the syrup is added to create multiple
layers of flavoring and color. Next, more dextrose powder is added to help build up those layers.
Then come multiple stages of flavored coloring, like cherry, lime, lemon, and blueberry.
Each layer must have two hours to set before another layer can be added,
so you can imagine how long this process can take. The coating increases the size
of the candies into the big jawbreakers we're used to seeing and chomping on.
We know it's a classic jawbreaker the second we
see that classic white coating and rainbow paint splatter.
Some think that the origin of the white coating came from an
Italian treat called Confetti or Jordan Almonds.
It may have inspired the confetti-like paint splatters we see on jawbreakers today.
Once all flavored coloring has been added, two more layers of white coating are added
to the candy. A glaze is poured onto the candies to seal in all the layers.
Finally, candy makers use spray bottles of coloring on the candy while the
panning machine rotates to ensure an overall paint splatter effect.
They call them gobstoppers across the pond, like the Everlasting Gobstoppers
in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, but they're not just everlasting to eat,
they’re everlasting to make! While some jawbreaker candies take just a few days,
other versions can take more than three weeks to complete.
Take, for example, the Jaw Busters brand of jawbreakers.
The company starts with a tiny, single granule of sugar and adds liquid sugar to build it up to half
the size of a Jaw Buster. Just creating this sugary center takes about 21 days. The company
then follows up with colors and flavoring in a traditional jawbreaker layering process.
If you've had Jaw Busters before, you know these aren't even the biggest jawbreakers around.
Can you imagine how long it would take to make those huge jawbreakers you see in candy stores?
“Our giant, two in a quarter inch bruiser jawbreaker took about twelve days to make.”
While we don't know when jawbreakers were invented,
we do know the older methods of making similar coated candies were very labor-intensive.
Early coating pans were just kettles suspended on a chain that a person had to manually swing
over an open fire. Candy making advanced somewhat in the early 1800s when pans fitted with shafts
were invented. However, these pans still had to be manually turned during the coating process.
In 1860, the Industrial Era enabled the manufacturing of industrial pans and introduced
panning techniques that candy makers still use today for coated candy. Today,
we have updated versions of industrial pans that are automated and capable of
making large batches of jawbreakers at a time.
Bruisers look just like classic jawbreakers, with white coating and paint splatter designs,
except they're humongous. They measure up to over three inches in diameter.
That’s bigger than your average golf ball!
Before you start eating a Bruiser though, make sure you've set aside plenty of time
and energy. The standing official world record for the time it takes to eat a
Mega Bruiser Jawbreaker is 17 days, four hours, eight minutes, and 19 seconds!
Another variation of the jawbreaker is the popular Atomic Fireball. These fiery candies are
a bright red color to match the spicy taste. Since candies like these are meant to last a long time,
we recommend that only spicy food lovers try these flaming fireballs of sweetness.
Jawbreakers have been around so long that myths and stories about them abound.
You may have heard the same urban legend we came across, which is that some jawbreakers
have exploded and injured people before. Unfortunately, this is one urban legend
that turned out to be true, as shown by an episode of Discovery's MythBusters show.
Police records confirm that a jawbreaker exploded when a young child took just one
lick at the candy after microwaving it. Another nine-year-old's jawbreaker exploded
when she licked the candy, which left severe, painful chemical burns on her face and arms.
The hosts of MythBusters decided to look into what conditions caused these
jawbreaker explosions. They confirmed that the combined effect of keeping it in the
plastic wrap and leaving it out to sit in the heat made the candy molten and hard.
Clueless is a popular '90s throwback movie, but have you heard of its darker,
campier cousin, Jawbreaker? Starring '90s goth queen Rose McGowan,
this black comedy is often compared to other famous movies, such as Heathers and Mean Girls.
In the movie, a group of well-dressed, popular girls always celebrate each other's birthdays
with a frightening prank. The prank takes a fatal turn on their ringleader's birthday when
they gag her with a giant jawbreaker that ends up choking her to death.
The rest of the movie involves the gang trying to cover up their accident in a
web of blackmail, deceit, and of course, head-to-toe makeovers.
Though this movie wasn't loved by critics when it came out, it has since become a cult classic
and an important remnant of '90s-era retro aesthetics. The literally killer
story remains a source of inspiration for costume designers and moviemakers alike.
In fact, the slowed-down hallway walk from Mean Girls bears a striking resemblance to the scene
in Jawbreaker. And, of course, this story gives the jawbreaker even more notorious cult status
as an edgy and decorative candy for the ages.
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