Inside The Factory - Series 8

Episode
Episode 2 - Jelly Beans
Broadcast Info
2024 (59 mins)
Description
Gregg Wallace explores the Jelly Bean Factory in Dublin to reveal the incredible processes it employs to make ten million colourful little sweets every day. He follows production of their gourmet tube containing 36 different flavours. But no matter the colour or flavour, every jelly bean starts life with a delivery of glucose syrup. At the intake bay, Gregg meets factory manager, Aideen Haverty as she’s welcoming a twenty tonne delivery of syrup - enough to make 43 million jelly beans! From the intake area, Gregg and Aideen head to the factory’s kitchen where the glucose syrup is mixed with water before starch is added which thickens the mixture through a process called gelatinisation. Gregg’s batch will be raspberry flavour so he helps to add natural colouring and flavouring by tipping it into a huge tank. With his mix now thick, red and raspberry flavoured, Gregg follows it to the moulding line where he sees how 420 nozzles deposit one gram into moulds made from starch. The starch helps to reduce the moisture content in the jelly bean mix. The newly formed beans travel through an oven, drying them further before being tumbled in a drum to remove them from their moulds. Then they are gently steamed and coated in sugar. But there’s a problem, the jelly beans are still soft, not hard on the outside like Gregg would expect. He learns that these are just the centres, so to add their ‘shells’, he heads to the delightfully named engrossing room where he meets Ryan Travers. Ryan takes Gregg through the time-consuming process of adding a shell to his beans. They load 275,000 beans into a giant rotating pan before very slowly adding raspberry flavoured syrup and sugar, creating the first layer of the shell. Then, to create the second layer, they add extra fine sugar which fills in any gaps to form a smoother surface. More raspberry flavouring is added and then the process of ‘polishing’ begins. First, beeswax is added which covers any imperfections, then carnauba wax to help smooth out the shell. Finally, confectionary glaze is added it gives the beans a perfect shine. From the engrossing room, Gregg’s finished batch of raspberry jelly beans travels to the colourful mixing department where he helps to combine them with the 35 other flavours on a giant table. Then it’s a trip to the packing area where Monica Kostecka shows him how 90 grams of beans are carefully weighed into brightly coloured tubes. Finally, the jelly beans are loaded onto the back of a lorry, ready to head off right around the world. Elsewhere in the episode, Cherry Healey visits the University of Birmingham to learn about the important role glucose plays in our bodies; and she visits a lipstick factory to discover how one of the ingredients in jelly beans plays a key role in the production of her lippy. Historian Ruth Goodman is serving up the history of jelly; and delves into the story of post-war pick ‘n’ mix.
Genre
Nutrition; Science; Technology

How to cite this record

The Open University, "Inside The Factory - Series 8". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ou/search/index.php/prog/247770 (Accessed 10 Jan 2025)