Advertisement
A fellow tribester's homemade cotton candy machine experiment:
Homemade Cotton Candy Machine
Tue, March 14, 2006 - 9:47 PM
Today I attempted to make a homemade cotton candy machine, as well as some cotton candy. I was partially successful.
Essentially, a cotton candy machine is two bowls one nestled inside the other, with the central bowl being attached to a motor that makes it spin, and having a perforated wall and a heating element. The heating element melts the sugar you place in the inner bowl. Once the sugar has melted the motor kicks in and the centrifugal force presses the sugar against the bowl's wall. The small holes in the wall and the centrifugal force cause the melted sugar to extrude outwards in very thin strands, which crystallize as they hit the relatively cold air.
My $5 cotton candy machine attempt consists of two plastic bowls, the interior one being some sort of small round food container with a lid (you don't want 320F melted sugar flying your way, let me tell you), a large bolt with a number of nuts and washer to use as a shaft, and a drill I already had. I drilled a number of small holes (1/16th) on the wall of the inner bowl. Drill the high enough on the wall so that the bowl can hold a good amount of sugar without reached the holes when not spinning. I then drilled a hole large enough for the bolt, in the bottom of both bowls. I attached the bolt downwards to the inner bowl with a nut, some washers and some crazy glue. The bolt has to rotate the inner bowl. I then inserted the bolt through the outer bowl and used a few nuts to hold it in place, but did not tighten them. You don't want the outer bowl to rotate with the inner one. Finally, attach the nut to the drill.
As you've noticed there is no heating element. Rather, I used the stove to melt the sugar. This was more difficult than I expected. I started trying to melt a small amount of granulated sugar, which ended up becoming caramel and too thick. I tried again with a small amount of sugar and some water, which just resulted in syrup that did not crystallize. Working with a small amount of sugar over a stove is difficult, as you can't control the temperature precisely. You want it to be around 320F. I recipe I found at food.com for homemade cotton candy (but not for a cotton candy machine) that recommended 4 parts sugar, 1 part corn syrup and 1 part water. I used 2 cups of sugar, which was enough material to not burn easily over the stove. This recipe did the trick.
One it reached the right temperate I put some of the sugar into the inner bowl, put on the lid, and started the drill. I ended up with something looking less like cotton candy and more like a birds nest. Part of the problem is that I did not have a cone to scoop up the cotton threads at they flew out, and the threads where less flexible than what you'd expect from cotton candy. I also need an outer bowl with higher walls (did I mention you don’t want to have 320F flying sugar land on you?).
people.tribe.net/aleph1/bl...743c01f9d0
Homemade Cotton Candy Machine
Tue, March 14, 2006 - 9:47 PM
Today I attempted to make a homemade cotton candy machine, as well as some cotton candy. I was partially successful.
Essentially, a cotton candy machine is two bowls one nestled inside the other, with the central bowl being attached to a motor that makes it spin, and having a perforated wall and a heating element. The heating element melts the sugar you place in the inner bowl. Once the sugar has melted the motor kicks in and the centrifugal force presses the sugar against the bowl's wall. The small holes in the wall and the centrifugal force cause the melted sugar to extrude outwards in very thin strands, which crystallize as they hit the relatively cold air.
My $5 cotton candy machine attempt consists of two plastic bowls, the interior one being some sort of small round food container with a lid (you don't want 320F melted sugar flying your way, let me tell you), a large bolt with a number of nuts and washer to use as a shaft, and a drill I already had. I drilled a number of small holes (1/16th) on the wall of the inner bowl. Drill the high enough on the wall so that the bowl can hold a good amount of sugar without reached the holes when not spinning. I then drilled a hole large enough for the bolt, in the bottom of both bowls. I attached the bolt downwards to the inner bowl with a nut, some washers and some crazy glue. The bolt has to rotate the inner bowl. I then inserted the bolt through the outer bowl and used a few nuts to hold it in place, but did not tighten them. You don't want the outer bowl to rotate with the inner one. Finally, attach the nut to the drill.
As you've noticed there is no heating element. Rather, I used the stove to melt the sugar. This was more difficult than I expected. I started trying to melt a small amount of granulated sugar, which ended up becoming caramel and too thick. I tried again with a small amount of sugar and some water, which just resulted in syrup that did not crystallize. Working with a small amount of sugar over a stove is difficult, as you can't control the temperature precisely. You want it to be around 320F. I recipe I found at food.com for homemade cotton candy (but not for a cotton candy machine) that recommended 4 parts sugar, 1 part corn syrup and 1 part water. I used 2 cups of sugar, which was enough material to not burn easily over the stove. This recipe did the trick.
One it reached the right temperate I put some of the sugar into the inner bowl, put on the lid, and started the drill. I ended up with something looking less like cotton candy and more like a birds nest. Part of the problem is that I did not have a cone to scoop up the cotton threads at they flew out, and the threads where less flexible than what you'd expect from cotton candy. I also need an outer bowl with higher walls (did I mention you don’t want to have 320F flying sugar land on you?).
people.tribe.net/aleph1/bl...743c01f9d0
posted by:
|
SF Bay Area
|
Advertisement
Advertisement
