OUR DAILY BREAD.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 532, 12 June 1909, Page 8

OUR DAILY BREAD.

PRICES TO BE BASED ON PRICE OF V:U : v' V: - FLOUR. '/■-,.■ ,■;.'.'; "'; '•/ ;;: SLIDING, SCALE.' : It was announced in The Dominion yesterday that the Wellington Master Bakers' AsBooiation had decided to. automatically lower : or raise'the price of bread with tiro rise or fall in the-price'of flour. As a matter, of fact, a sliding ! scale- on. this basis was 'arranged at the annual conference of tho New Zealand Master Bakers' Association; held in Christchurch last. February, 1 but though it was the custom- has been not to .elfect a: change in the .price of bread (after an alteration in tho' cost of flour) until : it has bien. decided to do so at a meeting called for tho purpose The reason of the now system ia .•'that .complaints have been- made Bgainst'the bakers'.to the effect that brqad goes up when rises, but the price does not'.comp down so, smartly when.it falls. This charge will, it is claimed; bo side-tracked by ■ the' now rule. .'■•' '.'/.•'.. '-.••. ■'. .; '•' • . '>' . The sliding scale'adopted is as follows:— . '. : ;- ; .:: : Uv ■:■■ ■■'■■\ : P>'.: ..:•."-■ :.-.:.- '.- «16. loaf. .'■.', Flour at £3 por ton "... ... ed. : Flour at £9 ss. por ton ■ ... e|d. : vFioiir at £10 IGs. per ton ... 7tl, Flour at £11 IBs. per ton ... 7*d. Flour at:£l3 por. ton ... ... Bd. '. ■The price of flour: is to bo taken as the mling price f.o.b. in tho south. ' '. he present'prico of flour is £10 105.f.0.b.. in tho" south.. Therefore,;, the 41b. loaf, is being retailed at 7d., arid.the 21b. loaf.at W...:}w,;;....:::.:;:.; ■ .•"•.;•••.•■■ /.;;,::,.., .".": VAN UP-TO-DATE BAKEHOUSE....;.. : ' (By H. 1 , .' Alien, Secretary of. the.Wellington . . -.'.it';' industrial Association.) ;•• •; : . ■■ ,' Few '< persons have aiiy idea of . tho making 'end',baking of our.loaf, in an up-to-date,bake-houie. Host persons will have a haiy nation of the'stj ; le of long, ago of ..a trough with a bag-.or-two of flour thrown in, eomo jeast| "and'a.-bucket.or Vso of'potatoes, and to. thor- j onghly'kncad it. .The baker tramped on lt.liia tho Scotch washenvoman did in washing.blankets; then it..was cut.up and each loaf weighed, the hole l in the top''made by a dint of '.the 'baker's, elbow. The oven, a brick floor'.heated with woijd or coal, swabbed out with a wet Back-on a'pole;: then'the bread put on : a long elico. and .landed in the oven.. When it c»m« I ■out,"perhaps'black from too much heat,, it usually- had the marks ; of.th« ; bricks' on th-« bottom of the loaf, perhaps a bit of coal 'sticking, in. :\ .- '.. '": '' .. -'■ A ' modern/bakehoase, which ■'■ I. Tisited.-was quite , an eye-opener as, to-the. progress in bread-bakinj and tho ! thoroughly hygienic way in which !the bread was mado and-handled,-, ecarcely touched by hand. , The bakehouse is. a three-storied building of :about-.lSßft.' frontnge. The floors are all concrete.-- The walls are hollow to preserve an even teraporature. The 1 top Btory lvolds the; floury abont- 500 tone. Here tho 'flour-is emptied into a ; bin from siyerals sacks of; different, flour, as I 'underst&nd various flours have to be mixed to uiak« the. best bread. • lii .passing down", this bin the flour -is sifted. It astonished me to see. the- lot of stuff that- came : out—pieces of, bag, string, paper, that 1 no impurities got into the bread. It drops into a square iron box about 6ft. x 4ft. x 3ft; deep. On top, of this is a eprjnMer, which • delivers the' proper amount of water, set by .a. guage; the yeast is.put in, aleo about half a-pound of potatoes; six iron arms'mix th'o dough; the yeast, malt, and hops are made'in a. separate' building. -Airthe resseisin which," the yeast is got ready are kept carefully covered with wire gauze so that no flics or impurities shall get in. After th» yeast liez-ponred out- the' vessel is turned upsidedown \ over: a steam pipe, ■' which thoroughly cleans:Jt;: ; . -■ .'.- ■:«,■■■■ :. '■••■;. ■■■:. ' ■• .. _: -■■

: After'' the', dough is. properly 'mixed, it is turned out-on , -it, table whose legs have wheels which-ran on tram rails let into the concret* floor. i:This\ table runs .along to a number of , , troughs irher4 it remain's to ferment. The troughs are covered with' canvas during thb fermentation.. This part .of the work is' done dnring. the : day. -At 10 p.m. a start is msdo for the" baking of. the bread.. On the-top flat one;man takes, theV'dough out of. the trough, which is lined with zinq, and passes it r into a ■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 to a man who puts; them.on a tray : where they-require to lay'lO minutes.' : '.|AnDtlier man drops them into the''machine v which rolls.and kneads them, , delivering them, on the opposite sido, -where another workman plaoes them in pans,, another worker stamps them-with a mould, same as in the olden; 'days,';dono by'the baker's elbow. A table, is",filled and then "run along to the ovens... There are"sii'ovens;-'capable of baking 1600 loaves per'hour. The ovens are heated by steam pipes all over; the top pipes are about l|in. in diameter, and 15ft. long. At the back Bide of the ovens aro the fires which heat the ■steam pipes. The pipes contain about a pint of: wafer,but as .they are hermetically eeaJed there is no loss by evaporation; Any degree of heat can'be got up to 590 degrees.' The heat is equal top. and bottom, 60 there 13 no burnt bread. ; A, turn of regulates'the heat to ' -, : ' : ; : 'L. ; . : The whole construction of the oven is nuite' 'different,to.the,old style'. A turn of the handle/'a'nd.the/dobr,opens along the:whole front of the even about Bft. wide; then the iron bottom:.pulls 'out ■ on; rollers. ' The bread (tin loaves).at the time of my visit was placed Tipeide down: so that the bread lay on tho bottom with, the'tins on'top. In front of each ov«n is a dummy clock.'.The attendant seta the hands :tp the time : that is shown'by tho clook in tn« factory, so ■ th«Te can be no under-baking. For.instance, , at my visit the clock was ,s»t at 10 p.m;,. then when, tho factory clock chimed 11 p.m; they •• would know thnt bread h»d bees lnthe.oven an hour. A gauge, in front shows tho ■;.•temperature, and it "can. be r/rised and lowered at will ■• by , turning.: a handle. . Tho whole front of the ovenyis covered with white nnd,blno tiles, • which give it a vory clean appearance. When thb bread is baked the bottom'is', pulled out', and bread placed on a trolly'table which rnns on the tram out to the loadimj.shed, which is a large building'with concrete floors;. Thera is' a 'lon* table rnnnin? : the -whole length of .the building. On tliis table the bread must remain Mt minutes to cool, then it is loaded into 25 carts, which art ;backed up to ■ the-table and are ready/ when the, carters come ..with their horses to ■ take out : tho bread to the customers. "■•;: ' ■'•'. ..

"The whole process 'is intemting to wntch. particularly '•'.the brend-mouldini; ranoWne, ■which has-a vertical belt on one side; on th« other two -large-rollers turned inwards, and a roller at the bottom. An'aim-.at-the top comes down and pats tha'. bread, and 6omo npikes come nut 'which catch, the loavfi and help'to. roll them along, and.tbe vertical belt Carries them round.to the next attendant. ■'