How to make gum?

Gum is a confectionery product that has been very popular among children and adults for centuries. The gum in this article refers to both chewing gum and bubble gum, and we don't separate it as detailed as ball bubble gum, bazooka bubble gum, stick chewing gum, or chiclet chewing gum here. The flavors of gum are various from different brands. It doesn't matter whether you like fruity flavors or prefer classic minty flavors; learning how to make gum is attractive to most people.

This blog will walk you through the process of making gum, from gathering ingredients to enjoying the final product. We mainly discuss how to produce gum from the perspective of industrial production, but after you understand how the industry produces gum, you can also try to produce small batches at home with simple equipment to find some fun in life.

Ingredients

Before we start, it is necessary to understand some basic raw materials( ingredients) used in gum production.

Gum base, so that gum becomes the key to gum and the key to distinguishing gum from other confectionery products. It's the ingredients that give gum the ability to chew and bubble, one of the essential raw materials for making gum. 

• Liquid glucose: Like other confectionery products, gum production requires the addition of a certain quantity of glucose syrup( liquid glucose) to soften and moisturize the gum.
• White sugar powder or other sugar-free sweeteners are selected and added to make the gum taste better and more popular based on sugar gum or sugar-free gum.
• Flavoring: As usual, gum is made with liquid flavoring, which could be minty or fruity. Adding different flavorings makes gum popular among people of different ages. Adding minty flavoring gave the gum the function of a fresh mouth and clean teeth.
• Coloring is to make gum by adding coloring to get the attractive color of gums to win the market.
• Other softeners or emulsifiers: In addition to the ordinary ingredients mentioned above, different manufacturers have unique recipes and will add different percentages of different softeners or emulsifiers.

After knowing the basic ingredients to make gum, we will learn the necessary and basic equipment. There is a gum base oven, mixer, extruder, forming machine, cooling machine, and packing machine.

You can start making gum once the production area and people are ready.

The first step is warming the gum base. As the gum base is solid or blocked when received from the supplier, we need to warm it first in a gum base oven. This step is preparatory work for mixing.

Next, after warming, the gum base is put into a mixer machine. All the ingredients mentioned above, like gum base, liquid glucose, sugar powder or sugar-free sweeteners, flavoring, coloring, and other ingredients you want to add, are combined with the gum base. After warming, the gum base is put into a mixer machine to mix with a certain percentage and formula. Mixing needs a period and a certain temperature to allow all the ingredients to mix well and ensure the later gum quality.

After all the ingredients are mixed for enough time and at a good heating temperature, the raw materials are ready and become a dough, ready to be conveyed to the extruding machine to get the initial gum shape.

After the candy rope comes from the extruding machine, it is continuously conveyed to a forming machine. Here, we refer to a general forming machine. The function of a forming machine is to form the gum into the shape and size you want. This step is very important and necessary for gum making. By changing the size and shape of the mold on the forming machine, you can get different sizes and shapes of the gum you like.

The gum from the forming machine is very soft and easy to deform, so we proceed to the next step: cooling and aging. As usual, we may use a special cooling machine and aging room to cool and form the gums produced by the forming machine.

After the cooling step, if the gum you make needs coating, you will need some coating machines and a polishing machine. At this stage, you can add the coloring during coating and get the colored gum afterward.

Once all the basic production steps of making gum are finished, it’s time to wrap and store it. The wrapping types are different, but these are common on the market: blister, boxing, flow, five-stick, jarring, and so on. After wrapping the gum with the desired wrap type, you will consider storing it. The storage area should be dry and clean and have good temperature and humidity to maintain the gum quality.

Do you know how to make gum? Is it easy and interesting? The steps mainly describe how to make gum industrially. If you want to make gum at home, can you get inspiration from it? Maybe you can try it. If you have any questions about setting up your new gum factory or the product you are using, you are welcome to contact us. We’ll do our best to support you!

Author: Wuxi Gum Base
Publication Date: 4/16/2024