The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1903-12-30
BIG PIE FACTORIES.
METHODS BY WHICH THEY HANDLE
THEIR IMMENSE PRODUCT.

-
THEIR IMMENSE PRODUCT.
Ten to Fifteen Thousand Pies Made l
and Baked In a Nisht-The Crusts, i
the FflIins and the Frosting-Abso-
lutte CIeanline-s In the shops.
A visit to one OF The largest pie con-
structing plants In city would make
the average housewife who prides her
self in her baking green with envy. |
The maker of old fashioned domestic |
pies cannot easily conceive of a system
by which a barrel Of apples and bar
rel Of -four can, figuratiyely speaking. |
start at one end of long bench and
leave the other end thousand or less
finished pies, but this system is in use
in all the large pie bakeries.
The baking force goes on duty at 10
o'clock at night. During the day girls
have been pairing and slicing apples
and pumpkins, and the foreman has
been splicing and sweeteniDg the cook
ed fruit or mince, the custards and
other prepared filling which have also
been cooked by steam in large stone
stew watts. When the bakers go on
duty the filling is in place in front OF
the great dough board in tubs holding
a half barrel each, and the stewed APP
pies in full sized barrels. AT one end
of the beach is a great stack Of -four,
near which stands pail of water into
which a saucer of baking powder has
been dumped. The dough mixer at
tacks this heap and makes In it deep
depression. into which the water Is
poured The cmbankment of -four is
rapidly turned into the water and
stirred with the hands until thick,
pasty dough has been formed. This Is
showed along until tall heap is FORM
ed at the mixers right, and the knead-
err, n spry young fellow, working with
an instrument resembling n plasterers
trowel cuts Off large masses and rolls
them until the mixing is completed
and then chops them into chunks or
suitable sizes for forming bottom crusts.
The men beyond roll the bottom crusts
and place them in the pans, which are
arranged in large wooden trays, heap
ed one upon another in stacks as tall
as man. Tile stacks of trays are then
hauled to the filler by means of hook
inserted in a ring in the truck at the
bottom.
The pies, whether 10000 or 5000 a
night are baked, are all filled by one
man. With long handled cup similar
to that used in dipping milk from a
ts.l. - .xt.x xrx.sI
pumpkin, mince or custard and fills
pies so rapidly that all of one mans
time il required to bring the trays to
his side and that of another TO take
them away He works like an autom-
atom, filed pie resulting from every
drop and rise of his two hands. Nearly
a hundred pies a minute look like an
impossibiity. but he sends them to the
men who put on the top crusts and the
merlngues at that rate for many min
utes at stretch. He has, by actual
test. put half barrel Of mince meat
into pics within ten minutes.
The filled pies go into the big wooden
trays 10 the men who cover them with
the top crust or who put the meringue
on with a conical shaped canvas bag
open at the smaller end, out of which
they squeeze the frosting ON the fancy
pies. The fancy pies and the plain
ones do not come together again until
they meet in the delivery wagon about
o'clock in the morning.
The top crust pies go to the draw
plate ovens and the pumpkins, Gus
tards meringues and tarts to the older
fashioned ovens, where they are han
died with long, slender shovels. Out
of the larger drawplate oven is pulled
with steel hook plate of iron half an
inch thick or more already heated. The
thermometer in front of the oven shows
temperature of $50 degrees. As
many pies as will lie on this plate
about 100 at time-are placed on 1t
and 1t is pushed into the oven. The
hands of dummy clock at the side are
set to indicate the moment at which the
baking will be finished. Another plate
is then drawn out and filled, and the
proceeding is repeated until the nights
work is finished. The pies, after baking,
go into wooden trays, as before, and
are taken to the shipping room, where
they are counted and loaded into the
wagons for delivery.
About forty girls, boys and men by
this system produce from 10000 to 49,
900 pies day. They use about fifteen
barrels of flour, six to ten barrels OF
apples nine or ten half barrels of
mince meat nearly as much stewed
pumpkin and perhaps half as much
each Of other fruits and custards, bar
rel or more Of lard, about two barrels
Of sugar and large quantities Of spices.
Contrary to all popular notions on.
the subject, the wholesale manufacture
Of pies in a modern establishment is
thoroughly Clearly. Workmen are not
allowed to enter the work rooms in
their street attire or to change their
clothing there. The use of tobacco at
I'll stages of the work Is prohibited.
Splitting on the floor or on or into any
thing else in the work rooms is ex-
pressly and emphatically forbidden.
The walls are white, and the floors of
concrete are dustless. Every scrap Of
anything that can sour is daily washed
from the vessels used for filling. from
the cooking vats, from the trays and
from the benches, and they are all ster-
ilized with steam or boiling water.
The shortening, sweetening and spic-
ing are carefully and accurately weigh
ed in exact proportions. The baking
is timed to constant temperature, so
shat there is absolute uniformity, and
all the mixing and flavoring, while
done on large scale, are SO conducted
as tS insure uniform quality.-New
York Tribune.
Carry brightness with you to the