The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1903-12-04


lutte Cleanliness In the shops.
A visit to one Of the largest pie con
structing plants In n 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 d SYSTEM
by which barrel Of apples and bar
rel Of flour can. Gguratiycly 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 spicing and swcetening the cook
| ed fruit or mincc, the custards and
other prepared hlllns which have also
| been cooked by steam In large stone
stew yats. When the bakers go on
duty the filling Is In place In front Of
the great dough board In tubs holding
n half barrel each, and the stewed ap-
plies in full sized barrels. At one end
Of the bench is a great stack Of -four,
near which stands pail Of water into
which saucer of baking powder has
been dumped. The dough mixer at
taCks this heap and makes ln IL deep
depression, into which the water IL
poured. The cIubankmcnt Of -four IL
rapidly turned into the water and
stirred with the hands until thick,
pasty dough has been formed. This Is
showed along unlil n tall heap is form
cd at the mixers right. and the knead-
or, II spry young fellow. working with
an instrument resembling n plastcrcr's
trOwcl, cuts off large masses and rolls
them unti the mixing is completed
ana then CHOPS them into chunks Of
suitable sizes for forming bottom crusts.
The men beyond roll the bottom crusts
ana place them i'm the pans, which are
arranged In large wooden trays, heap
eel one upon another in stacks as tall
as n man. The stacks Of trays are then
hauled tO the filler by means OF "A hook
inserted In n ring in the truck at the
bottom.
l ne llliN, Nll'lilfl iO''D VI lbtV'D u
night are baked, are all filled by one
man. with long handled cup similar
To that used In dipping milk from "A
can hc stands over Il tub of stcwcd
pumpkin, mincc or custard and fills
pi"s 80 rapidly that all of one mans
time Is required To bring the trays 10
his side aud that of another 10 take
A
atom, n filled pie resulting from every
drop and rise of his two hands. Nearly
hundred pies n minute look like an
impOssbilty bat he sends them 10 the
men who pat on the top crrsts ana the
mCriuguCs at that rate for many min
utCs at stretch. lie has. by actual
test, put half barrel Of mince meat
into pies 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 mcringuc
on with II couical shaped canvas bag |
open at the smaller end out of which |
they squeeze the frOstng 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 20 to the draw
plate ovens and the pumpkins, Gus |
tards, mcringucs and tarts To the older |
fashioned ovens, where they are han |
died with long, slender shovcls. ont |
of the larger drawplatc oven Is pulled |
with n steel hook plate Of iron half nn |
inch thick or more already heated. The |
Thermometer I'm front of the oven shows |
n temperature of go degrees. As |
many pies rs will lie on this plate
about 100 at time are placed on II |
and II is pushed into the oven. The |
hands of dummy clock nj the side are
set TO indicate the moment nt which the |
baking will be finished Another plate |
Is then drawn ont and filled, and the |
proceeding is repeated until the nights |
work Is finished. The pics after baking, |
go into wooden trays ms 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 10y |
this system produce from 10000 To To-
OOO pics day. They use about fifteen |
barrels of flour, six to ten barrels of |
apples, nine or ten half barrels OF
mincc meat nearly as much stcwed
pumpkin AMI perhaps half rs much
each of other fruits and custards, Il bar
rel or more of lard, about two barrels
of sugar and large quantities OF spices
Contrary 10 all popular notions on
the subject. the wholesale manufacture
of pies I'm modern establishment is
thoroughly clcanly. Workmcu are not
allowed To enter the work rooms in
their street attire or 10 change their
clothing there. The use of tobacco ut
all stages of the work is prohibited.
Splitting on the floor or OF or into any
thing else In the work rooms Is ex-
prcsSly and cmphatiCally forbidden.
The walls are white, and the floors OF
concrete are dustlcss. Every scrap OF
ANYTHING that can sour is daily washed
from the vessels used for filling. from
the cooking watts, from the trays and
from the benches. aud they are all stcr.
iliZcd with steam or boiling water.
The shortening. SwCCtCniug and spic-
ing are carefully and accurately weigh
Cd i'm exact proportions. The baking
Is timed To constant temperature, So
l.. 4 4. Il