Gobstopper
Gobstoppers, more commonly known as jawbreakers in the United States, are a type of hard candy. They are usually round, usually range from about 1 cm across to 3 cm across (though much bigger gobstoppers were once widely available) and are traditionally very hard (though Nestlé also manufacture a chewy version of their "Gobstoppers").
The term gobstopper derives from 'gob', which is United Kingdom slang for mouth, and 'stop', in the sense of blocking or closing.
Gobstoppers usually consist of several layers, each layer dissolving to reveal a different coloured (and sometimes different flavoured) layer, before dissolving completely. Gobstoppers are sucked, being too hard to chew comfortably.
Gobstoppers have been sold in traditional sweet shops for several decades, often sold by weight from jars. As gobstoppers dissolve very slowly, they last a very long time in the mouth, which is a major factor in their enduring popularity with children.
Most "jawbreakers" sold in the United States have some other type of candy in the middle, usually something sour or chewy.
Manufacture
See main article, Cold panned process
Gobstoppers are made by slowly depositing layers onto a core (such as a single sugar grain or anise seed). Gobstoppers are made in large, rotating, heated pans. The candies take several weeks to manufacture, as the process of adding liquid sugar is repeated multiple times (more than 100 times over two weeks to make a one inch ball). Colour and flavour are also added during the panning process.
Everlasting Gobstoppers
The Everlasting Gobstoppers sold under Nestlé's Willy Wonka Candy Company brand were first introduced in 1976 by Breaker Confections, and are named after the Everlasting Gobstoppers in Roald Dahl's children's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (and the movie Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, which was based on the book). In Dahl's story, Everlasting Gobstoppers are purported to last forever.
Exploding jawbreakers
A few reports have emerged of jawbreakers exploding after being heated. In 2003, a nine year old girl in Starke, Florida, Taquandra Diggs, suffered severe burns when a jawbreaker, which had apparently been left in direct sunlight [1], exploded as she went to put it in her mouth [2]. A 2004 episode of the Discovery Channel television program MythBusters demonstrated that heating a jawbreaker in a microwave oven can cause the different layers inside to heat at different rates, yielding an explosive spray of very hot candy when compressed; MythBusters crew members Adam Savage and Christine Chamberlain received light burns after a jawbreaker exploded.
Trivia
- In Apartheid-era South Africa, certain gobstoppers with liquorice coatings were known as "niggerballs". This term is no longer in popular public use, as the term nigger is viewed as racist.
- Oversized jawbreakers are the favorite sweet treat of the children on the animated show Ed, Edd n Eddy.
- Majin Buu, a character in the Dragon Ball manga and anime, has been known to turn his opponents into jawbreakers.
See also
External link
Police report on Taquandra Diggs' exploding jawbreaker at The Smoking Gun.