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How should you store pick and mix?
A bag of pick and mix is a mixture of sweets that age in different ways. A few simple habits will keep every one of them at its best for longer. Here is how, and why each tip works.
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Pick and mix is a mixture in more ways than one. A single bag can hold jellies, foams, boiled sweets, chocolate and sherbet, and each of those reacts differently to air, damp and warmth. Store them well and they will stay at their best for much longer.
Seal it
Air is the enemy of a good sweet. Water moves from damp places to drier ones, so soft, moist sweets left open slowly dry out and harden, while hard sweets pull moisture out of the air and turn sticky. An airtight container or a well sealed bag slows both down. The government's food labelling guidance makes the same point about all food: if it is not stored properly, it can reduce in quality even before its best before date.
Keep it cool, dry and dark
Pick a cool, dry cupboard, out of direct sunlight and away from the oven, the kettle and radiators. Warmth softens chocolate and sweets with fat in them, and damp is what makes hard sweets sticky and causes sugar bloom on chocolate.
Not in the fridge
It is tempting to put sweets in the fridge, but it usually does more harm than good.
- Starch jellies. Cooked starch slowly recrystallises and hardens as it ages, a process called retrogradation, and it happens much faster between minus 8 and 8 degrees Celsius, which is fridge temperature. Jellies set with starch firm up faster in the fridge.
- Chocolate. When cold chocolate comes out of the fridge, moisture from the air can condense on it. That dampness dissolves sugar on the surface, which dries into a dusty white layer called sugar bloom. It is safe to eat, but it spoils the look and texture.
Keep hard and soft sweets apart
Because moisture moves from moist sweets to dry ones, a bag that mixes jellies with boiled sweets slowly evens itself out: the jellies lose moisture and the hard sweets gain it. If you are keeping sweets for a while, store hard sweets, such as boiled sweets, rock and mints, separately from soft ones, such as jellies, foams and chews.
Keep sherbet dry
Sherbet fizzes when its acid and base get wet, so any damp starts the reaction early. Keep sherbet sweets sealed and dry: see what is sherbet made of?
Keep sweets away from pets
Some sweets are dangerous to animals. The PDSA warns that xylitol, a sweetener in some sugar free sweets and gum, is extremely harmful to dogs and can be fatal, and that chocolate contains theobromine, which can be fatal to dogs, cats and rabbits. Store sweets up high and in closed containers: see can dogs eat sweets?
Allergies at home
If someone in your home has a food allergy, keep sweets that contain their allergen in a separate, labelled container, and keep the ingredients information that came with them.
For how long different sweets keep, see how long do sweets last?
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Questions and answers
How do you keep pick and mix fresh?
Put it in a sealed, airtight container and keep it somewhere cool and dry, away from sunlight and heat. That stops soft sweets drying out and hard sweets pulling moisture from the air.
Should you keep sweets in the fridge?
Usually not. Starch based jellies harden fastest at fridge temperatures, and chocolate taken out of the fridge can collect condensation, which causes sugar bloom. A cool cupboard is better.
Why do my sweets stick together?
Hard sweets are mostly sugar, which pulls moisture out of the air. In a damp place, their surfaces go tacky and they stick to each other and to softer sweets. Keep them sealed and dry, and away from moist sweets.
Can you store different sweets together?
For a short time, yes. For longer, keep hard sweets apart from soft, moist ones, because moisture moves from the moist sweets into the dry ones, leaving the jellies harder and the hard sweets stickier.
Sources
- Water activity, Wikipedia
- Hygroscopy, Wikipedia
- Retrogradation (starch), Wikipedia
- Chocolate bloom, Wikipedia
- Best before and use by dates, GOV.UK
- Poisons and hazards for your pets, PDSA
Keep reading
- Questions people askHow long do sweets last?Sweets last a long time because they hold so little water, but each kind ages differently. Jellies harden, boiled sweets go sticky and chocolate can bloom.
- Questions people askDo sweets go out of date?Most sweets carry a best before date, which is about quality, not safety. Some sweets made almost solely of sugar, and chewing gum, need no date at all.
- Questions people askCan you freeze sweets?You can, but most sweets do not need it and some suffer: chocolate can bloom and hard sweets go sticky as they thaw. Freeze dried sweets are different.
- Questions people askWhy do jelly sweets go hard?Jelly sweets go hard mainly because they lose water to the air. Jellies set with starch also firm up as the starch slowly recrystallises, fastest in the fridge.
- Sweet tips and how toWhy does seaside rock go soft?Rock goes soft and sticky because sugar pulls moisture out of the air. Here is the science, and how to keep a stick of rock hard for longer.
- Questions people askCan dogs eat sweets?No. Sugar free sweets and gum can contain xylitol, which can kill a dog. Chocolate and raisins are dangerous too. If your dog eats sweets, call your vet.