AN UP-TO-DATE BAKEHOUSE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2544, 3 July 1909, Page 2 (Supplement)

AN UP-TO- DATE BAKEHOUSE.

(By H. I'\ Allen Secretary of the '.Vol lington Industrial Association.) Few person:; have any idea ■ the making and baking of our leaf in an up-to-date bakehouse. -ost persons will have a hazy notion of the style of long ago i i a trough with a bag • r two of flour thrown in, some yeast and a bucket or two of -potatoes, and to thoroughly knead it. The ba'ker tramped on it ike the Scotch washerwoman did in "washing blankets, then it was cut up aud each loaf weighed, the whole in the ton made by a dint of the baker’s elbow. The oven, a brick floor heated with wood and coal, swabbed out with a wet sack on a pole; then the bread put on a long slice and landed in the oven. When it came out, peifliaps black from too much heat, it usually had the marks of the bricks on the bottom of the oaf, perhaps a bit of coal sticking in. A modern bakehouse which I visited

was quite an eye-opener as to the progress of bread baking and the thoroughly hygienic way in which the bread was made and handled, scarcely touched by hand. The bakehouse is a threestoried building, of about 160 ft 1 runtage. The lioors are all concrete. The walls are hollow to preserve an even temperature. The top story holds the flour, about 500 tons. Here the hour is emptied into a bin from severs sacks of different flour, as I understand various flours have to be mixed to make the best bread. In passing down this bin the flour is sifted. It astonished i me to see the lot of stuff that came out . —pieces of bag, string, paper, etc. — so that no impurities got into the bread. It drops into a square iron box about sft x 4ft x 3ft deep. On • the top of this is a sprinkler which delivers the proper amount of water, set by a guage; the yeast is put in, also about half a. pound of potatoes; six iron arms mix the dough; the yeast malt, and hops are made in separate buildings. Ail the vessels in which the yeast is got ready are kept carefully covered with a wire gauze so that no flies or impurities shall get in. After ■ the yeast is poured out the vessel is turned upsidodown over a steam pipe.. which thoroughly cleans it. After the dough is properly mixed it is turned out on to a table whoso legs have wheels which run on tram rails set into the concrete floor. This table runs along to a number of troiiglis where it remains to ferment. The troughs are oovered with canvas during the fermentation. This part of the work is done during the day. At 10 p.m. a start is made for the baking of the bread. On the top flat' one man takes the dough out of the trough, which is lined with zinc, and passes it into the shoot. At the bottom end of the shoot is a machine which delivers the loaves of the various weights required. These drop on a travelling belt, which carries them on to a man who puts them on a tray where they require to lay ten minutes. Another man drops them into the machine which rills and kneads them, delivering them on the opposite side, where another workman places them in pans, another worker stamps them with a mould, same as in the olden days, done by the baker’s elbow. A table is fi led and then run. along to the ovens. There are six ovens capable of baking 1600 loaves per hour. The ovens are heated by steam pipes all over; the top pipes are about lAin in diameter, and 15ft long. At the back side of the ovens are the fires which heat the steam pipes. i'.ho m'pes contain about a pint of water, but as thov are hermetically sealed there is no loss by evaporation. Any degree of heat can be got up to 500 degrees. The heat is equal top ankl bottom, so there is no burnt bread. A turn of a clamper regulates the ’heat to any degree required. The whole construction of the oven is quite different to the old style. A turn of t*hc handle, and the door opens along tho whole front of the oven, about Bft. wide; then the iron bottom

pulls out on rollers. The bread (tin loaves) .at the time of my visit was placed upside down so that tho bread lay on the bottom with the tins on top. In front of each oven is a dummy c’ock. The attendant sent the hands to tho time that is shown by the clock in the factory, so that there can be no underbaking. For instance, at my visit, the clock was set at 10 pJin., then when the factory clock chimed 11 p.m. they would know that the broad had been in the oven an hour. A gauge in front shows the 'temperature, and it can he raised and lowered at will by turning a handle,. The whole front of the oven is; covered with white amt blue tiles, which. give it' a very clean , appearance. When the bread is baked the bottom is pulled out and the bread placed on a trolly table which runs on the trams out to the loading "shod, which is a large building with concrete floors. There is' a long table running the whole , length of the building. On this table the bread must remain 10 minutes to cool, then it is loaded into 25 carts, which are backed up to tho table and aro ready when the carters conic with their horses to take cut the bread to the customers.