All the better to eat you with, my dear!

January 13, 2012 5:16 PM

I have an addiction to Wint-o-green LifeSavers. They reach perfection level for me when they are of a more "chalky" consistency, rather than hard and crunchy. Please help me achieve chalky.

The ingredients list from the company website claims the ingredients are:

SUGAR, CORN SYRUP, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CITRIC ACID, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, COLORS (RED 40, YELLOW 5, BLUE1).

It seems completely random when I take them out of the little cellophane. Most will be very hard and crunchy, like break your teeth. These special ones are more powdery, and can only be described as chalky or sandy. Is there anything I could do to "chalkify" the hard ones?

posted by Grlnxtdr to food & drink (13 answers total)

I keep these, grape flavor filled hard candies, Werthers Originals, and the big individually wrapped Lemonheads at my desk to lure programmers in. I buy the big 2-3 lb. bags online. If you age them a couple months, they seem to be a bit more crumbly and toothsome.

Also consider buying them from someplace that doesn't turn over stock very fast. Like Staples. It seems to go with the aging theory.
posted by it must be bunnies at 5:30 PM on January 13, 2012 [1 favorite]

I was buying the sugar free Wint-o-greens for a while and found that most of them were chalky. Try them, I couldn't tell the difference between the regular and sugar free.
posted by sadtomato at 5:34 PM on January 13, 2012

Heh. I used to work in an outdoor education program where we used these every week for a night hike, where we demonstrated how they spark when you crunch them in the dark.

It was often discovered by new staff that you couldn't use last week's Lifesavers. Once they're open and in a moist-ish environment, the crunch disappears and it's all chalk. We actually used to keep them in the freezer to prevent chalkiness.

SO I would open the outer plastic cellophane and just keep the rolls either in just a cabinet on the counter, if you live somewhere with average humidity, or if you live somewhere dry maybe try putting them in the veggie drawer of your fridge.
posted by Miko at 5:39 PM on January 13, 2012 [2 favorites]

Yeah, it's just moisture. If you want to keep pipe tobacco moist, you leave a lettuce leaf in your pouch (for a day only!) - it's no more eccentric than, well, wanting to soften your lifesavers ;)
posted by cromagnon at 5:43 PM on January 13, 2012

I don't know how to achieve this but I know exactly what you mean. I used to get them in the individually wrapped big bag. Some were chalky and some weren't.
I tried to explain this to a coworker about how some get soft in your mouth but some stay hard but I think he misunderstood me.
posted by beccaj at 6:01 PM on January 13, 2012 [1 favorite]

Here's a trick that does it many times. Put the candy in and create a vacuum in your mouth. When your mouth waters, filter that over to the candy to "soak it up". Do this two or three times and the life saver just sort of crumbles.

Not sure if that's what you are after.
posted by sanka at 6:12 PM on January 13, 2012 [1 favorite]

I live in a very humid jungle. All such candies turn chalky within a few days unless kept in the fridge. Maybe you can microwave them with a bowl of water?
posted by kamikazegopher at 6:31 PM on January 13, 2012 [1 favorite]

Have you seen "Canada Wintergreen" mints? Well, the UNbranded type knockoffs are usually chalky as they come and they taste great. The Canada brand ones from Necco are usually too hard. I think the unbranded ones usually have "XXXX" impressed in them (literally "XXXX"), but I don't have any right here to check :(

Here's a listing for the Canada brand ones:
Canada Mints - Pink * Wintergreen 2 Lbs

Just find the cheaper unbranded ones in any grocery or drug store and you will be saved.
posted by caclwmr4 at 7:20 PM on January 13, 2012

I've shared your exact preference for decades. When I buy Lifesavers, I poke a hole in each end of the package, corresponding with the convenient holes in the candies. Then let them age for, say, a couple weeks. A slightly humid environment is best. Stock up, plan ahead, enjoy.
posted by Corvid at 8:28 PM on January 13, 2012 [1 favorite]

sanka, I LOL'd when I read your suggestion. That is my current method for making the hard ones softer.

Okay, so unwrap them and let them get stale and moisturized.

I felt like a doofus for asking this question, so I'm glad to see I'm not the only Wint-o-green LifesSaver addict on Mefi.

Thanks, all. :)
posted by Grlnxtdr at 10:09 PM on January 13, 2012

Oh my does the interwebs teach me that my ancient secret vices are far from unique.

No real advice on this 'issue' other than letting them age.

I recall a famous poem or memoir where the writer was going through his grandfathers huge desk with many cubby holes, describing the contents, one included an old lifesaver. Several chapters later was a one word chapter. I was so disappointed that it was clove not wintergreen.
posted by sammyo at 10:18 PM on January 13, 2012

Be careful with the sugar free ones if you eat a lot of them. If they have sorbitol/malitol/whatever they can make you pretty miserable. Once I ate a small box of sugar free necco hearts and spent the rest of the day with horrible stomach pains.
posted by fromageball at 9:48 AM on January 14, 2012

Exposure helps. I used to carry the big, individually-wrapped ones in my coat pockets so the wrapper would get all bent and weak, and they got that way.

As a yout' I went on one (one!) date with a girl who I had crushed on for years. She demonstrated how they spark when you bite them and I…. *sigh*
posted by wenestvedt at 10:48 AM on January 18, 2012 [1 favorite]