Extracting ammonium chloride from salty licorice

[fidget_spinner]

Hey fellow scientists,

I recently purchased a bulk order of Dutch double salted black licorice candies because I'm an idiot and thought I would actually like them given that I consider myself to have an explorative palate. I was very wrong. This stuff is nasty, and as it turns out, most of the world doesn't care for it either. I figured it would be a shame to let $12 go to waste just like that so I came up with the idea of trying to extract the ammonium chloride from all of the candies. Any chemists out there have any suggestions for an efficient way to go about this? If it's unrealistic I may just throw out the lot and cut my losses.

Thanks in advance,

John

[Phi for All]

1 hour ago, fidget_spinner said:

Hey fellow scientists,

I recently purchased a bulk order of Dutch double salted black licorice candies because I'm an idiot and thought I would actually like them given that I consider myself to have an explorative palate. I was very wrong. This stuff is nasty, and as it turns out, most of the world doesn't care for it either. I figured it would be a shame to let $12 go to waste just like that so I came up with the idea of trying to extract the ammonium chloride from all of the candies. Any chemists out there have any suggestions for an efficient way to go about this? If it's unrealistic I may just throw out the lot and cut my losses.

Thanks in advance,

John

Not sure it would be worth it for some extra salt.

However, being a convert to the joys of a good confectionary matchup, I would recommend you find something uber sweet (dried cantaloupe or papaya leaps to the tongue) to counter your licorice. Licorice can be an acquired taste, but it has its own sweet notes to be admired. I think the point of that Dutch licorice is to let the flavors change and mix as you chew it, to get that right flavor tang. That said, there are also many varieties of salted licorice, and I doubt even aficionados love them all. 

[chenbeier]

I love licorice. If it would not to far away I would buy them. But I guess you located  in USA, it is to far and the shipping cost probably more then 12 bucks.

 

[Janus]

16 hours ago, fidget_spinner said:

Hey fellow scientists,

I recently purchased a bulk order of Dutch double salted black licorice candies because I'm an idiot and thought I would actually like them given that I consider myself to have an explorative palate. I was very wrong. This stuff is nasty, and as it turns out, most of the world doesn't care for it either. I figured it would be a shame to let $12 go to waste just like that so I came up with the idea of trying to extract the ammonium chloride from all of the candies. Any chemists out there have any suggestions for an efficient way to go about this? If it's unrealistic I may just throw out the lot and cut my losses.

Thanks in advance,

John

I assume that the Dutch version is similar to the Finnish "salmiakki".   I've tried two versions. One was soft, a bit salty and quite good. The other was harder and  much stronger on the ammonium chloride taste.  While I was taken back at first by the second one, and can see why many people wouldn't like it,  I kept giving it a chance, ended up finding it oddly addictive, and finished the box.