Making muffins for the shops

The pictures show how carrot and orange muffins are made. They are sold pre-packed, which means they can be bought from the shop ready wrapped, in packets. They will keep fresh for about ten days.

These muffins are made with a special cake flour which has been very finely milled.
When all the ingredients have been weighed the dry ingredients are blended together, then the eggs and oil are added gradually.

Muffin cases are put in the holes of a very large baking tray. Muffins come in different sizes but each of these muffins contains about 80g of mixture.

After the muffin batter has been beaten, it is poured into a depositing machine. The muffin cases are placed underneath a nozzle which is controlled by a foot pedal to release the right amount of mixture into the case.

The tops of the muffins are then sprinkled with large sugar granules called sugar nibs. These stay crunchy and will not melt in the oven.

The baking trays are put straight into a rotary reel oven. This has four huge shelves in it which slowly rotate in a circle. The muffins are baked at 185*C for 35 minutes.

Muffins are supposed to be moist and sticky so they are only just baked. They have a special appearance, which bakers sometimes call 'cauliflower tops.' They look as if the inside is trying to burst out!.

The baking trays are taken from the oven to cool. When completely cold the muffins are placed in plastic trays.

The trays are then put on a conveyor belt where they are sealed in plastic by a flow-wrapping machine.

A label is automatically stuck onto the packet and the date is stamped on it.
The muffins are packed, eight trays to every labelled cardboard box. The boxes are put onto pallets and wrapped in a thin webbing to stop them moving about.

Container lorries take the muffins to a centre where they are sorted out then delivered to the suppermarket or shop.