Marshmallow STUFF !

 OK, So for those of you who may not know, and its hard to believe if you know me you DON'T know this,  I work as a Quality Control Lab Technician for a marshmallow company.

We make both Our brands, Campfire, Fireside & Rocky Mountain, and make over 100 private label brands. Jewel, Groger, Bakers Corner, Great Value, Meijer just to name a few.

Anyway, I have decided that once a week I will post a new recipe on my Facebook as well as have them all here for anyone to try and use. So have a look and give em a try.. And remember buy and use CAMPFIRE, FIRESIDE or ROCKY MOUNTAIN MARSHMALLOWS for these recipes! :)  Keep me employed!

www.campfiremarshmallows.com    

But first... A little history about Marshmallows and a few fun stuff ! .....

CLICK HERE for a funny marshmallow murder film ...

Click here for a funny Marshmallow commercial  Here is another.. CLICK HERE Yet another one :)  CLICK HERE

CLICK HERE to see a news clip about where I work.. You might even see the 1/2 second I am on screen !  LOL

Believe it or not.. There are even Marshmallow blasters, pistols and bow & Arrows!  CLICK HERE

History

It seems likely that the marshmallow first came into being as a medicinal substance, since the mucilaginous extracts from the root of the marsh mallow plant, Althaea officinalis, were praised as a soothing remedy for sore throats. Concoctions of other parts of the marshmallow plant had medical uses as well.^[2]

The use of marshmallow to make a candy dates back to ancient Egypt, where the recipe called for extracting sap from the plant and mixing it with nuts and honey. (Another pre-modern recipe uses the pith of the marshmallow plant, rather than the sap. The stem was peeled back to reveal the soft and spongy pith, which was boiled in sugar syrup and dried to produce a soft, chewy confection.) Candymakers in early 19th century France made the innovation of whipping up the marshmallow sap and sweetening it, to make a confection similar to modern marshmallow. The confection was made locally, however, by the owners of small candy stores. They would extract the sap from the mallow plant's root, and whip it themselves. The candy was very popular but its manufacture was labor-intensive. In the late 19th century, French manufacturers devised a way to get around this by using egg whites or gelatin, combined with modified corn starch, to create the chewy base. This avoided the laborious extraction process, but it did require industrial methods to combine the gelatin and corn starch in the right way.

Another milestone in the development of the modern marshmallow was the invention of an extrusion process by the American Alex Doumak in 1948. This allowed marshmallows to be manufactured in a fully automated way, and produced the cylindrical shape we now associate with marshmallows. The process involves running the ingredients through tubes, and then extruding the finished product as a soft cylinder, which is then cut into sections and rolled in a mix of finely powdered cornstarch and confectioner's sugar. Doumak founded the Doumak company in 1961 on the strength of his patent on this process.

When doing quality control there are MANY things we lab techs check before the quality product you get in the store is shipped.
When raw ingredients come it we check them for foreign material, color, PH levels, moisture levels, conductivity, solids and refraction. Once marshmallows are made we not only check the above but we check starch levels, shape, size, texture, taste, color. That's not all, all bags and cases are checked for correct labeling and code dates and weights.

Today, Americans are the main consumers of marshmallows. According to the National Confectioners Association, Americans spend more than $125 million annually for upwards of 90 million pounds of marshmallow, a mass equivalent to 1,286 gray whales.

Brands

Most of the current brands of commercially available marshmallows in the United States are made and copacked by Doumak, Inc, under such names as Fireside, Campfire, Rocky Mountain and numerous "private label" store brands. Marshmallows are used in S'mores, and other chocolate-coated treats, Peeps, Whippets and other sweets, Rice Krispies treats, ice cream flavors such as Rocky Road, as a topping for hot chocolate and candied yams, and in several other foodstuffs. Americans eat about 90,000,000 pounds (41,000 t) of marshmallows per year (that is about 0.1 kg per person per year).

Doumak makes several types of marshmallows.

Marshmallow Sizes: Tiny Dehydrated, Minis, Bite size, Regular (large), And Giant Roaster

Package Sizes: 1oz, 5oz, 10oz, 12oz, 1lb, 2lb, 5lb .... 150g, 250g, 300g, 400g, 454g, 1kg, 1.36kg

Flavors: Regular (Vanilla), Lemon, Lime, Strawberry, Orange, Tuity Fruity As well as some other in development ;)

Types: Regular, Swirls As well as a few others in R&D

Yes, Marshmallows have pork gelatin in them.. BUT.. Did you know we also make Halal and Kosher Marshmallows?  WE DO!  Made with Fish gelatin. While I know what your thinking  EWW.. Trust me when I tell you that not only do they taste EXACTLY the same.. But they also are a bit creamier!  So to all my Jewish and Muslim friends .. ENJOY!

Toasted marshmallows

A popular camping or backyard tradition in North America and the English-speaking world is the roasting or toasting of marshmallows over a campfire or other open flame. A marshmallow is placed on the end of a stick or skewer and held carefully over the fire. This creates a caramelized outer skin with a liquid, molten layer underneath. According to individual preference, the marshmallows are heated to various degrees — from gently toasted to a charred outer layer. The toasted marshmallow can either be eaten whole or the outer layer can be consumed separately and the rest of the marshmallow toasted again. S'mores are made by placing a toasted marshmallow on a slice of chocolate which is then placed between two graham crackers. Some companies mass produce pre-packaged S'mores.

Dietary preferences

The traditional marshmallow recipe uses powdered marshmallow root, which may be difficult to obtain. Most commercially manufactured marshmallows instead use gelatin in their manufacture, which vegetarians avoid, as it is derived from animal hides and bones.

An alternative for vegetarians is to use substitute non-meat gelling agents such as agar for gelatin. However, other vegetable gums often make an unsatisfactory product that does not have the spring or firmness expected of gelatin-based marshmallows.

Marshmallow creme and other less firm marshmallow products generally contain little or no gelatin, which mainly serves to allow the familiar marshmallow confection to retain its shape. They generally use egg whites instead. Non-gelatin versions of this product may be consumed by ovo vegetarians. Several brands of vegan marshmallows and marshmallow fluff exist, as well.

Now on to the recipes !