Candy melts is a very delicious ingredient often used for baking and decorating. These things are also known as summer coating or confectionery coatings. Sugar, oil (mostly vegetable), powdered milk, additives, colors, and sometimes chocolate are used for making them. Some even love eating them raw!
People who use candy melts often get frustrated as they find it hard to melt them down properly, but it’s not that hard really, you just need to know some techniques.
We would like to share with you some simple ways to thin candy melts. Read on to know more.
Simple Ways to Thin Candy Melts
Before thinning the candy melts, you need to melt them properly. You can melt them by using your microwave, double boiler, candy melting pots, or by using a large cooker if you have a lot of candy melts to melt.
It takes time to melt them properly. But be careful, don’t overheat, or else they will be bulky and overly-concentrated.
After melting these things properly, you’ll find a thick and sticky version of them. They are often very dense, and it becomes problematic to pour them on baked goods or popsicles.
Even if you can create the candied layer, you may find the clumpy skin to crack often, thus making the whole thing look a bit nasty. This is why thinning them is important.
First of all, we would like to advise you not to use milk, cream, water, or half-an-half to make the mold thinner; they are no good for doing this job. There are a few other common and uncommon ingredients that will work like magic! Let’s have a look at them:
Vegetable Shortening
Using vegetable shortening is the most popular way of thinning candy melt molds because they are so available in our pantries.
Shortenings are made by hydrogenating vegetable oils such as soybean, sunflower, canola, etc. These shortenings lower the gluten strand present in the candy-melt molds, thus makes them thinner.
After melting the candy melts, add a teaspoon full of vegetable shortening in it. Stir it properly with a spatula. Now check if the mixture is thin enough to get your desired coating; if not, add one more teaspoon of shortening and stir like before.
Keep adding and stirring shortening like this until you get your anticipated concentration. Also, be assured that it is not getting too thin, or else you’ll have to add some more candy melts, which is a hassle.
Moreover, shortenings are highly processed and consist of trans-fats. Trans-fats may cause many internal health problems. The good news is, there are vegetable shortenings available in the market which claim to be “trans-fat free”. You can add them to make your candy-melt concentration perfect.
EZ Thin
EZ thin, aka “EZ Thin Dipping Aid”, is a substance designed and made specifically to work as a thinner for candy melts. It simplifies your hassle for thinning the melts.
They are tasteless, so it doesn’t bring any extra flavor to the candy melt molds. Also, they are colorless, so they won’t affect the color of the mold either. EZ Thin has a crystal structure and white texture, almost like sugar.
Some common ingredients used for making EZ Thin are partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil and soy lecithin. You’ll also find other vegetable oils being used as their ingredients. This depends on its manufacturer and varies with each other.
You just need to add some of this thinner into your candy melt mold and stir properly. Usually, the ratio is two tablespoons of EZ Thin with 12 oz of candy melts.
Add a little amount at first to see the result. If it doesn’t meet your desired consistency, add some more and stir like before. Keep adding until you get what you want.
Oil
Oils are also some of the regular items which are always available in your pantry, and they are also used to make your candy melts thinner. But you should not just add any oil you have available.
Few oils will work smoothly and also add some flavors, whereas others will ruin your whole project. Let’s have a look at which oils can be used and which are to avoid.
Coconut Oil
This one is the best thinner for candy melts, according to many. Coconut oils generally remain liquid, but if you keep them in your fridge, it will get a solid form. This is an advantage for spooning and adding it to the melted candy melt.
And coconut oil will also bring a nice aroma to the final good. Especially it goes very well with chocolaty items. It thins out the chocolate nicely. Adding to that: it has many health benefits too.
Vegetable Oil
Vegetable oils also work fine, although they won’t add any more flavor to the final product. They are extracted from seeds or other parts of some fruits; they are highly edible. Vegetable oils are used for shortening many baking items, and candy melts are no exception.
You may also use canola oil. But be cautious. Oils are more powerful than you might assume, so add them bit by bit and check the consistency.
Don’t Add Olive Oil
We would like to suggest not to use olive oil in the candy melt mixture. Many people have complained that it ruined their final good.
Paramount Crystals
Paramount crystals are similar to EZ Thin. They are often used for working as an agent to melt and thin hard chocolate, yogurt coatings, carob, and of course, candy melts. Keep the crystals in your fridge or some cool-dry place, or else they might liquefy. And keeping it in the fridge will increase its shelf-life.
Moreover, paramount crystals are made with the same ingredients which are used in the candy melts; thus, it doesn’t bring any extra flavor to the final product. It won’t change the color or texture either.
Use one teaspoon of this crystal into one pound of warm and melted candy melts, stirring steadily with a spatula and check if the consistency is right. If not, add some more and stir until you get your desired texture.
Cocoa Butter
Last but not least, cocoa butter, aka theobroma oil, also is another ingredient used for thinning candy melts. It is obtained from the cocoa bean and has a cocoa flavor, that’s how it got this name. And it is a major element in the chocolate industry. This is the thing which makes the chocolates so smooth and silky.
If you are using chocolate-flavored candy melts, then this is the best option as a thinner, in our opinion. In other flavors, it will bring the chocolaty smell, which might not go well with the overall taste.
Add and stir it well with the candy melts, as we have mentioned earlier in the other ingredients. Also, keep in mind that cocoa butter is a bit expensive compared with the other ingredients we have discussed earlier.
Conclusion
That’s all for now. We hope you will be benefitted from this article about simple ways to thin candy melts. Don’t forget to test these ingredients the next time you make anything with candy melts; you may like one and dislike another, so why not give them all a try?
Happy baking!