Now suppose you use this method for mixing the batch, what size batch will produce the greatest profit?
You know with pop-corn confection, the lighter it is, the better it is. Of course the lighter it is the less material to the piece and the greater the profit. The size of batch you make has an important effect on the lightness of the confection.
Candy coating of the pop-corn must be soft when the cakes are pressed in order to have the cake well held together when cooled. You are cooking above 280 degrees, so your candy must be at a high temperature when the cakes are pressed to attain the result. At that temperature, the candy changes quickly from a plastic to a brittle condition. A batch is too large when the last of it to be moulded is too cool to produce good light confection.
The batch may be kept from cooling so fast by keeping it enclosed in a heated tank, but watch the results and don’t expect this to help much. You must have the tank open to take out the corn to fill the moulds and while it is open there is bound to be a rush of hot air out of the tank and a rush of cold air into it on the principle discussed in the first part of this article. This movement of air takes the heat out of the batch at a fast rate so that it counteracts the effect of the heating of the tank.
One good way is to use the hot kettle you mix your batch in to hold the batch while you scoop the corn out onto the moulds. The quickest way if you are using a set of moulds is for you to arrange the moulds on the bench, make a batch just the right size, dump the batch on top of the moulds and fill them. Then put them through the press. This has the advantage of getting the corn into the moulds at once while the candy coating is soft.
When the candy coating of the kernels is too cool when put in the moulds and pressed, the whole kernels will be broken and you will get so much corn into each mould that the cake will be solid, hard to bite into and heavy.
You see it pays better to run small batches. Your cakes will be light and fluffy and therefore better liked by the consumer. Your materials will make more goods. A day’s work on this plan will show the greatest profit.
Consider the utensils used by this method.
Only two kettles, so you have one on the fire while you are mixing in the other. You have no jacket tank to clean, to grease, with the cost of the grease, to heat by gas, with the cost of the gas. The use of the pop-corn mixing machine in this method assures the same sized cakes being made of less material. The same material produces at least 20 per cent. more finished confection because of the quick and complete mixing.