With gummies leading the edibles category, candy manufacturing equipment is crucial to bringing these products to market.

This includes cookers, which heat confectionery syrups containing pectin or gelatin to temperature and desired percentage of sugar in liquid, or Brix (°Bx), so they set into gummies and jellies with desired characteristics repeatedly and reliably. Baker Perkins, which has more than a century of experience in serving the traditional candy and bakery industries, saw an opportunity to serve the cannabis, hemp and nutraceutical categories with candy cooking equipment that fulfills their unique requirements.

Tony Gonzalez, market development director for Baker Perkins, joined the company to help guide these efforts, building on his 17 years’ experience in cannabis manufacturing operations.

“When I came on board, we identified that we need to bring some solutions to better fulfill the cannabis industry’s needs,” he said.

For many cannabis edibles manufacturers, large-scale equipment requires a significant amount of capital and offers more capacity than they need — at least at the beginning. 

In 2021, Baker Perkins launched the Infusent® line, which aims to serve infused product makers. Specifically, Infusent offers pilot or lab-scale equipment with the same technology as their larger counterparts, but with reduced capacity and a smaller physical footprint.

For gummy manufacturers, the Infusent line includes five JellyCook Batch Cookers, which prepare product in batches, versus continuous cookers, which utilize a continuous stream of syrup. 

Gonzalez said many infused product manufacturers turn to batch cookers, since it’s easier to control dosing and offers a simpler, cost-effective way to scale production.

“It’s a traditional approach, but it’s easy to multiply batch cookers to grow in scale with what your company needs,” he said.

In addition to clean-in-place, hygienic design, JellyCook Batch Cookers also feature propeller mixers with sheer mixers and oil-heated jacketed vessels, which evenly transfer heat to prevent burning and shorten batch cooking times. Among the available options are:

• JellyCook Mini: This portable unit features a 30-kg cooking and reservoir tank with a potential output of up to 30 kg per hour.
• JellyCook Mini with Lift: This portable unit features a 30-kg cooking and reservoir tank with a potential output of up to 30 kg per hour. It also features a lift for easy transfer.
• Jelly Cook Standard: This system features one cook tank and one 30-kg reservoir tank, and it has a potential output of up to 50-60 kg per hour.
• Jelly Cook Max: This system features two cooking tanks and one 30-kg reservoir tank, and it has a potential output of up to 100-120 kg per hour.
• Jelly Cook Duo: This system has two cooking tanks and two reservoir tanks, with a potential capacity of up to 100-120 kg per hour.

These options join the Turbofilm Mini continuous cooking system for soft confectionery or hard candy, toffees and lollipops. Both are compatible with the ServoForm Mini Small Batch Depositor.

No matter which process is used, Gonzalez said Baker Perkins aims to support its customers in the cannabis industry.

“Their success is our success,” he said. “We heavily invested in the cannabis sector. We stand by our equipment and support it day and night.”

This article was originally posted on www.cannabisproductsinsider.com