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How are mint balls made?
In Wigan, Uncle Joe's Mint Balls are still boiled over open gas fires and worked by hand on steel tables, much as they were in a terraced house kitchen in 1898. Here is how a mint ball is made, step by step.
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Uncle Joe's Mint Balls have been made in Wigan by William Santus and Co since 1898, when Ellen Santus made the first ones in the kitchen of a Victorian terraced house. Production moved to a factory near Wigan Wallgate station in 1919, and the company says the sweets are still made in the same careful way, over gas fires and by hand: see Uncle Joe's Mint Balls
Three ingredients
Mint balls are made from just three things: pure brown cane sugar, cream of tartar and peppermint oil. The firm uses cream of tartar rather than glucose. Cream of tartar is an acid, and as the syrup boils it splits a little of the sugar into glucose and fructose, which helps stop the sugar crystallising: see what is invert sugar?
Step by step
A 2021 factory tour write up by the blog The British Candy Connoisseur describes the process:
- Boil. The sugar and cream of tartar are melted into a sweet, sticky, caramel like syrup in large copper pans, boiled over open gas fires.
- Turn out. The hot syrup is poured onto steel tables, which have been in use since the factory was built.
- Add the mint. Peppermint oil is sprinkled onto the melted candy and worked in by hand.
- Fold and cool. Workers fold the candy over to remove air bubbles, and leave it to cool for about ten minutes. Each batch, about 8 to 11 kg of mint balls, is turned round in about fifteen minutes.
- Roll. The mix goes onto a rolling machine that spins it towards a tapered end, drawing it out into a long rope.
- Press. The rope is punched and pressed into balls, with Uncle on one side and Joe's on the other.
- Cool and pack. The balls spin on a two tiered wheel to cool, then go to the packing machine. A high speed wrapping machine bought from Italy can wrap up to 2,000 sweets a minute.
Not quite balls
Despite the name, the mints are not truly round but oblate spheroids, a little flattened. In 2011 about 160,000 were being made a day, around 35 million a year, and a 2021 report put the total at 33 million a year.
A family firm
The business has stayed in the family, and it is now run by the brothers John and Antony Winnard, great nephews of William Santus. The makers say the mint balls contain no artificial additives or colours, are gluten free and are suitable for vegetarians and vegans: see a guide to vegan sweets
Hard mint cousins
Mint balls belong to the same family of hard boiled mints as humbugs, which are pulled and striped, and mint imperials, which are coated in a pan: see how are humbugs made? and mint imperials
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Questions and answers
How are Uncle Joe's Mint Balls made?
Brown cane sugar and cream of tartar are melted in large copper pans over open gas fires, then turned out onto steel tables. Peppermint oil is sprinkled on and worked in by hand, the batch is folded to remove air and cooled, and a rolling machine draws it into a rope, which is pressed into balls marked Uncle and Joe's. The balls are cooled on a spinning wheel and packed.
Why use cream of tartar instead of glucose?
The firm says it uses cream of tartar rather than glucose. Cream of tartar is an acid that splits a little of the sugar into glucose and fructose as it boils, which helps stop the sugar crystallising.
Are Uncle Joe's Mint Balls vegan?
The makers say they contain no artificial additives or colours, are gluten free and are suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
Sources
- About us, Uncle Joe's
- William Santus: a story of handmade sweets, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, Google Arts and Culture
- Factory tour: Uncle Joe's, The British Candy Connoisseur, November 2021
- Made in Manchester: Uncle Joe's Mint Balls, Manchester's Finest, February 2021
- Uncle Joe's Mint Balls, Wikipedia
- Potassium bitartrate, Wikipedia
Keep reading
- British heritage sweetsUncle Joe's Mint BallsUncle Joe's Mint Balls have been made in Wigan by William Santus and Co since 1898, from just cane sugar, peppermint oil and cream of tartar.
- British heritage sweetsMint imperialsMint imperials are round white mints with a hard sugar shell and a softer middle. In Scotland they are pan drops or granny sookers.
- British heritage sweetsHumbugsHumbugs are striped boiled sweets, usually peppermint, made in Britain since at least the 1820s. Here is what they are and how they are made.
- How it is madeHow are humbugs made?Humbugs are sugar, glycerine, colour and flavouring, usually peppermint, boiled to about 145°C, then pulled, striped, rolled into a rope and cut.
- How it is madeHow are boiled sweets made?Boiled sweets are sugar syrup boiled to around 160°C, flavoured, coloured and shaped while warm, then set into a glassy solid about 98 per cent sugar.
- Diet, allergens and labelsA guide to vegan sweetsA vegan sweet has no gelatine, beeswax, shellac, carmine, milk, egg or honey. The ingredients to watch, the plant alternatives, and what a vegan label promises.