You pop a gummy bear into your mouth, expecting a chewy treat. But when you bite down, it crumbles with a sweet crunch. Why? It’s been freeze-dried!
To make these crispy treats, candymakers use a machine called a freeze dryer. The machine sucks all the air out of a chamber. Then it goes through cycles of temperature changes, first changing any water in the candy into a solid and then into a gas that’s sucked away.
This creates “a puffed-up, crunchy version of the original candy, with a more intense flavor,” says food scientist Richard Hartel.