History of the United Co-operative Baking Society Ltd. : $b A fifty years' record 1869–1919Reid, William
History
History of the United Co-operative Baking Society Ltd. : $b A fifty years' record 1869–1919
Reid, William
United Co-operative Baking Society, Ltd., Glasgow
About the same time a new type of bread baking oven was installed. The
ovens in the older part of the bakery were becoming worn out, and that
section of the bakery also required remodelling in order to bring it
into line with the newer ideas of the twentieth century. But the ovens
in the old bakery had been built on the Scotch principle, and there was
not sufficient space available to permit of draw-plate ovens being
installed without a reconstruction of the premises which might have
proved more costly than the provision of an entirely new building. Just
at this time they had submitted to them for their consideration a new
type of oven which seemed specially designed to meet cases of
reconstruction like theirs. This type of oven, which has come to be
known as the “cover-plate oven,” had much the same features, so far as
the actual baking was concerned, as had the draw-plate oven, but it
differed from the latter in that, instead of requiring a large space in
front of the oven to permit of the oven sole being drawn out to receive
the bread before baking and to permit of its removal afterwards, it had
a moveable cover, which was raised to permit of the bread being placed
on and removed from the oven sole, and which was lowered to retain the
heat when the unbaked bread had all been deposited on the sole. The
first of these ovens was installed about the end of 1910, and so
satisfactory did the trial prove that first No. 5 bakehouse and then No.
11 bakehouse were entirely remodelled and ovens of this new type
installed. Before deciding finally on the adoption of the new type of
oven, however, numerous experiments and tests were carried through. The
Bakery engineer (Mr Scott), the chief foreman baker (Mr Richard), and
the master of works (Mr Davidson) were all requested to submit reports.
These reports were eminently satisfactory, particularly that of Mr
Richard, who reported on the saving in fuel and wages which was effected
by the new oven.
At the time when the directors decided to install the first set of six
of the new pattern ovens, they also decided to install one complete set
of automatic baking machinery, manufactured by the same firm of baking
machinery manufacturers, the estimated cost of six ovens and machinery
being £4,000. This automatic machinery has proved so effective in the
various processes of dough making and bread moulding that less than half
the number of bakers are required to perform the work where it is
installed as are required where it is absent. As indicated above, so
effective did the combination of new ovens and new plant prove that in
little more than a year after the first £4,000 had been spent on the
installation it was decided to extend it at an additional cost of
£7,000. Since then, additions have been made which bring the total
number of this type of oven to twenty.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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