Chaozhou Shengyang Machinery Co., Ltd

1. Differences in core process steps: determining the direction of equipment functionality

Although the production processes of chocolate and candy both involve "raw material processing → molding → packaging", the fundamental differences in equipment configuration are directly caused by the completely different characteristics of the raw materials in the intermediate core links

Raw material pretreatment stage

The raw material pretreatment in chocolate production focuses more on "particle refinement and flavor release": cocoa beans need to be roasted (to stimulate cocoa flavor), shelled (to separate cocoa kernels and bean shells), and then ground into cocoa liquid blocks - this step lays the foundation for subsequent refinement, and the equipment needs to be adapted to the physical characteristics of cocoa beans (such as the baking machine needs to be precisely controlled at 120-150 ℃ to avoid burning).

The pre-treatment of raw materials in candy production focuses on "dissolution and impurity removal": the core is to dissolve raw materials such as sucrose and glucose syrup in water, and then filter out impurities (such as sugar residue and foreign objects) in the sugar - no complex particle treatment is required, only the purity of the sugar material needs to be ensured, and the equipment design is simpler (such as a dissolution tank with a filter screen).

Core process stage (most critical difference point)

Chocolate has a three-step core process of "precision grinding refining temperature adjustment" that is completely absent in candy production: precision grinding is the process of mixing cocoa liquid blocks, sugar, and cocoa butter to further refine the particles (reaching 15-30 μ m to ensure a non grainy taste); Refining is based on fine grinding, which involves stirring for a long time (4-24 hours) to make the particles more uniform, while releasing the silky texture of cocoa butter; Temperature regulation is to control the crystallization of cocoa butter (through a temperature cycle of "heating → cooling → reheating" to form stable β - V-shaped crystals), avoiding subsequent surface frosting and rough texture of chocolate. These three steps directly determine the quality of chocolate and are also the unique functional direction of chocolate equipment.

The core process of candy is "boiling cooling/aging": boiling is achieved by heating and evaporating the moisture in the sugar material (hard candy needs to be boiled until the moisture content is ≤ 1.5%, soft candy ≤ 18%), while controlling the viscosity and hardness of the sugar material (hard candy boiling temperature is 140-150 ℃, soft candy boiling temperature is 105-110 ℃); Cooling/aging is the process of cooling the sugar material after boiling to a plastic state (hard sugar needs to be cooled to 60-70 ℃ for stamping, while soft candy needs to be mixed with colloids such as gelatin and pectin after cooling to adjust its soft and elastic taste) - without the need to process lipid crystallization, only the physical state of the sugar material needs to be controlled by temperature, and the equipment function is more focused on "temperature control and water evaporation".

Preparation stage before molding

Before chocolate is formed, it needs to be "insulated and temperature controlled": the chocolate slurry must be stabilized at 30-32 ℃ (corresponding to the stable temperature of cocoa butter β - V crystallization) before forming. If the temperature is too low, cocoa butter will crystallize prematurely, causing the slurry to solidify and unable to form; If the temperature is too high, the crystal structure will be damaged, and subsequent products are prone to frosting - therefore, the equipment needs to be equipped with a continuous insulation system to ensure the stability of the slurry state.

Before candy molding, "rapid cooling and shaping preparation" is required: After boiling, the sugar material temperature is extremely high (hard candy can reach 150 ℃ or above), and it needs to be quickly cooled to the operable temperature (hard candy 60-70 ℃, soft candy 40-50 ℃) to avoid scalding equipment or operators; After cooling, add essence, pigment, colloid and other auxiliary materials to mix evenly to form a stretchable and extrudable plastic property - equipment design focuses on "rapid heat dissipation", without heat preservation function.

Forming process stage

Chocolate molding is mainly based on injection molding, with temperature control as a supplement. The commonly used injection molding method is to inject the insulated chocolate slurry into the mold, and then send it into a cooling tunnel (temperature 5-10 ℃) for rapid solidification molding. The entire process requires precise control of the mold temperature (28-30 ℃) and cooling speed to prevent premature solidification or abnormal crystallization of the slurry in the mold. The equipment needs to integrate the functions of "injection molding+insulation+rapid cooling".

Candy molding is mainly based on "stamping/extrusion, with rapid shaping as a supplement": hard candy is commonly stamped (by placing cooled sugar blocks into a mold and extruding them through a punch), while soft candy is commonly extruded (by extruding plastic sugar blocks into strips or blocks through an extruder mold) - the core requirement is "rapid shaping" to avoid sugar sticking to the equipment, so the equipment needs to be equipped with anti stick coatings (such as PTFE coatings) and rapid release structures, without the need for temperature control and insulation components.

2. Core equipment differences: essential differences from the perspective of functional design

The core equipment for chocolate and candy production has significant differences in "processing methods," "control parameters," and "core components." The following will analyze each key equipment one by one:

Raw material refinement equipment

Chocolate production must be equipped with specialized grinding machines (three roll grinding machine, five roll grinding machine or ball mill): their core function is to refine cocoa and sugar particles to 15-30 μ m through multi roll rolling or ball grinding - the roller spacing inside the equipment can be accurately adjusted (the minimum spacing can reach below 10 μ m), and a temperature control system is required (the grinding process generates heat and needs to be cooled to 50-60 ℃ to avoid excessive melting of cocoa butter).

Candy production does not have dedicated refining equipment: because sucrose and syrup dissolve in a delicate liquid state, impurities only need to be removed through the filter screen (pore size 50-100 μ m) of the dissolution tank, without additional refining steps, and the equipment configuration is simpler.

Core process equipment

• Chocolate Exclusive: Refiner and Thermostat

• Refining machine: divided into intermittent ball mill and continuous refining machine, equipped with stainless steel balls or special grinding media inside. Through long-term low-speed stirring (speed 10-30r/min), the raw material particles are further homogenized, while releasing the silky texture of cocoa butter - the equipment needs to have long-term stable operation ability, and can accurately control the stirring time and temperature (50-60 ℃) to avoid raw material overheating and deterioration.

• Thermostat: It is a landmark equipment in chocolate production, divided into continuous and intermittent types, with multiple temperature control zones (heating zone 45-50 ℃, cooling zone 27-28 ℃, reheating zone 30-32 ℃) inside. The slurry is driven through each zone by a conveyor belt or stirring blade to forcibly control cocoa butter crystallization - the equipment needs to have extremely high temperature control accuracy (± 0.5 ℃), otherwise it will cause crystallization failure and product scrap.

• Candy Core: Sugar Boiling Pot

  The core equipment for candy production is the sugar pot (vacuum sugar pot, atmospheric pressure sugar pot, or continuous sugar pot), with the core function of "evaporating water+concentrating sugar materials":

• A vacuum sugar pot is commonly used in the production of hard candy, which reduces the boiling point by vacuuming (water can be evaporated at 100-120 ℃), avoiding high-temperature burning of sugar materials, and accurately controlling the moisture content (≤ 1.5%);

• The commonly used sugar boiling pot in the production of gummies is at atmospheric pressure, with a temperature controlled at 105-110 ℃, retaining more moisture (15-18%) to ensure a soft and elastic texture;

• The core components of the equipment are heating devices (electric heating or steam heating) and moisture control systems (such as humidity sensors), which do not need to consider lipid crystallization issues and focus more on "temperature control and moisture evaporation".

Forming equipment

• Chocolate molding machine: injection molding is the main focus, temperature control is the key

  Chocolate molding is mainly carried out by injection molding machines, which need to integrate three core functions:

• Insulation system: The slurry storage tank and injection head before injection molding need to be continuously insulated at 30-32 ℃ to prevent premature crystallization of cocoa butter;

• Precision injection molding: The aperture and injection speed of the injection molding head can be adjusted to ensure that the slurry filling amount of each mold is consistent (error ≤ 2%), avoiding product weight deviation;

• Rapid cooling: After injection molding, the mold needs to be sent into a cooling tunnel (temperature 5-10 ℃, cooling time 5-10 minutes) to allow the chocolate to quickly solidify and form - the temperature gradient of the cooling tunnel needs to be uniform to prevent cracks in the product.

• Candy molding machine: mainly stamping/extrusion, anti sticking is the key

  Candy molding equipment is divided into two categories according to their categories:

• Hard candy commonly used stamping forming machine: The equipment includes a sugar conveying device, a mold turntable, and a punch assembly. The cooled sugar blocks are fed into the mold and quickly extruded (pressure 5-10MPa) by the punch to shape. The surface of the mold needs to be coated with an anti stick coating (such as Teflon) to avoid sugar adhesion;

• Commonly used gummy candy extrusion molding machine: The equipment includes a screw conveying system, a molding mold, and a cutting component. The plastic sugar material is extruded into the mold through a screw, and then cut into strips or blocks. It is then cut into a fixed length by a cutting knife - the extrusion speed (1-3m/min) and cutting frequency need to be controlled to ensure consistent product size, without the need for insulation or cooling components.

3. Key technological differences: determining the core parameters of the equipment

Temperature control accuracy

Chocolate equipment requires extremely high precision in temperature control: whether it is precision grinding (50-60 ℃), refining (50-60 ℃), temperature regulation (heating 45-50 ℃/cooling 27-28 ℃/reheating 30-32 ℃) or molding (injection molding head 30-32 ℃/cooling tunnel 5-10 ℃), temperature deviation must be controlled within ± 0.5-1 ℃, otherwise it will directly damage cocoa butter crystallization, resulting in rough taste and surface frosting of the product.

The temperature control accuracy of candy equipment is relatively loose: during the boiling stage (hard candy 140-150 ℃, soft candy 105-110 ℃), the temperature deviation is allowed to be ± 2-3 ℃, and during the molding stage, only the cooling temperature needs to be controlled (hard candy 60-70 ℃), without the need for precision to decimal places - as long as it does not affect the hardness or plasticity of the sugar material, slight temperature fluctuations will not cause product scrap.

Anti stick and lubrication design

The anti sticking design of chocolate equipment focuses on "avoiding cocoa butter adhesion": due to the large amount of cocoa butter contained in chocolate slurry, during the injection and demolding stages, the mold needs to be kept smooth and temperature stable (28-30 ℃), without the need for additional anti sticking agents, only through temperature control to reduce adhesion; Food grade lipid lubricants (such as cocoa butter based lubricants that meet FDA standards) should be used for lubrication to avoid conflicts with cocoa butter systems.

The anti sticking design of candy equipment focuses on "avoiding high-temperature adhesion of sugar materials": sugar materials have extremely strong viscosity at high temperatures (especially hard candy around 150 ℃), so stamping molds and extruder screws need to be coated with PTFE anti sticking coatings, and some equipment also needs to spray a small amount of food grade anti sticking oil (such as palm oil) before forming; Ordinary food grade lubricants can be used for lubrication without considering compatibility with lipid systems.

Material conveying method

The material transportation of chocolate equipment requires "insulation+low speed": whether it is the slurry after precision grinding, refining or before forming, it needs to be transported through pipelines or conveyor belts with insulation layers, and the conveying speed needs to be slow (1-2m/min) to avoid the slurry from generating heat due to friction or temperature drop, which may damage the crystalline state.

The material transportation of candy equipment requires "fast+heat dissipation": the boiled sugar material needs to be quickly transported through a conveyor belt with a cooling interlayer (3-5m/min), and at the same time, it needs to be cooled by a fan to avoid solidification or adhesion of the sugar material during transportation. The conveying pipeline does not need insulation, but instead needs to have heat dissipation function.