Homemade salty licorice

Since reading about salty licorice (aka salmiak, Salzlakritz, Süßlakritz, salmiakki, etc.) here years ago, I’ve enjoyed many of the varieties that are available for purchase online. Recently I’ve been interested in making my own. However, I’ve had a lot of trouble finding a supplier for food-grade sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride crystals). It’s easy to find products that are marketed for industrial uses, such as cleaning soldering irons, but I don’t know if they contain impurities that might be unsafe to eat.

Does anyone know where to purchase a reasonable amount (i.e. less than five pounds) that would be good for candymaking?

Can’t help you with sal ammoniac, but wanted to mention that when we were kids, we thought that licorice was made from ox blood. Also, the best salty licorice in my opinion is Swedish Djungelvräl. Also fond of German Katjes.

I’m a lifelong salmiak fan, live in salmiak land, and have probably downed my bodyweight of the stuff over the years. Always the store-bought varieties, though. So, I checked around for the OP. It seems pure sal ammoniac is so expensive to buy it is cheaper to buy the candy. Also, sal ammoniac cooking fumes are dangerous. Also, some type of explosives are possible to make out of the stuff, so availability is spotty.

But I’m biased in that I can walk to a neighborhood grocery store and choose from maybe 20 different types of salmiak candy, for pocket change. Buying online, I assume the OP has a very different situation.

500 g for $143.

Whether they’ll ship directly to random home-users, I don’t know.

$143? Yowza.

Um…how much for the ox blood option?

Or, seriously, is there some other halfway-acceptable substitute? Any good recipes with ammonium carbonate?

Of the online premade options, I’ve found Haribo Piratos to be the best deal, and Katjes are pretty good, though I like Tyrkisk Peber and Dracula Piller better from time to time. The one time I tried Djungelvräl, the salt content was good, but the consistency was akin to rubber erasers. Maybe I got a bad batch.

These two sites offer food-grade ammonium chloride in reasonable quantities and prices:

https://foodsofnations.com/product/ammonium-chloride-e-510/

I can’t vouch for either company, since I’ve never bought from them.

Awesome finds, and it looks like Kalustyan’s also has fenugreek powder, which Penzey’s has been sold out of for a long time.

Ok, I’m putting in an order. We’ll see how legit the site is.

Mmmmmm Ga-jol.

Well, my first attempt was a qualified success.

Kalustyan’s delivered a pound of food-grade ammonium chloride crystals as promised, along with some other items I picked out. They seem to be a solid operation and I’d order from them again. Thanks to Jeff_Lichtman for the find.

I synthesized a licorice recipe from a few online sources, such as Dessert For Two and the YouTuber Todd’s Kitchen. (I’m pretty sure his way of pronouncing “anise extract” isn’t typical for Aussies, but from now on I’m totally going to pretend that it is.)

I was surprised to see the recommended cooking temperature vary widely among recipes. I thought that was a pretty important aspect of candymaking. I intended to go with 245° F, but was only able to get it to 235°, as I used too small of a saucepan and it was threatening to boil over.

After taking it off the heat, I stirred in a conservative ammount of ammonium chloride. I poured some of the mixture into a muffin pan, adding measured amounts of ammonium chloride to the main pot between cups. The rest went into a parchment-lined 8x8" pan, and it all got refrigerated overnight.

I’m really happy with the flavor - it’s heavy on butter and molasses, with pleasing notes of anise (teehee) and salty funk. I like the samples with the highest concentration of ammonium chloride the best.

Unfortunately the consistency is much too soft. It stuck to the parchment, and while I was able to peel it off after putting it in the freezer for a couple of hours, it’s still much too loose and sticky to cut into easily handleable pieces. I’m sure cooking temperature is the main culprit.

I tried dusting some with a 2:1 mixture of confectioner’s sugar and ammonium chloride, but the consistency is such that the pieces just fell apart. It also didn’t contribute much to the taste.

Overall, I think this was a pretty decent piece of mad science. The results are tasty, though messy. I plan to try again at some point, with a higher temperature and maybe a little more salt.

Salty Licorice, Mark 1
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup molasses
14 oz. can (10 fl. oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 Tbsp sal ammoniac (food-grade ammonium chloride crystals)
2 1/2 Tbsp anise extract
1 tsp black food coloring

Line an 8x8" baking pan with greased parchment paper.
In a large saucepan, bring butter, sugar, corn syrup, condensed milk, molasses, and kosher salt to a boil over medium heat.
Once the temperature reaches 245° F on a candy thermometer, remove from heat and stir in sal ammoniac, anise extract, and food coloring.
Pour into prepared pan.
Let stand for 30 minutes, then chill in refrigerator for 6-8 hours.
Invert pan onto a cutting board and cut into desired pieces.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week. To soften, let sit at room temperature before serving.

I think I know that store. I vaguely remember my parents shopping there in the 1970s.

Number, way cool! Your surprisingly succesful first attempt is giving me an itch to start experimenting myself.

Have you worked out the material costs per, say ounce, of finished product?

If my math is right, it comes out to $0.42/oz.

Piratos are $1.17/oz. on Amazon, so that’s a pretty good deal.

Update: I made a second batch in a larger saucepan and got it to 245° F. This made it much easier to cut up and handle.

Some people might want to dial down the molasses, as it overpowers the anise flavor a bit. It’s good though.