The "Hammond's Pretzels - Favorite of Generations!" - Part II" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Watching as the salty pretzels come off the conveyor and are placed into the large orange can with the Hammond's logo screened on the outside.  I am about to take a tour of Hammond's Pretzel Bakery which is located at the rear of 716 S. West End Avenue in Lancaster, PA.  Same place it has been located since it was founded in 1931 by Bill Lichty and his grandfather William Hammond.  Yesterday I gave you a brief idea of how the business started and how pretzels were developed.  Today I would like to take you on a visual tour of the "factory" which is manned by 11 employees who make the pretzels from start to finish. They bake approximately 1,500 pounds of pretzels every day.  Follow along as I attempt to give you an idea how hand-rolled pretzels are made.  Click on any one of the photos to enlarge it so you can get a better view of the procedure.

Dough mixture made from flour, water and yeast.  This must sit overnight to ferment before continuing with the process.  Hammond's Pretzels uses local distributors for most of their ingredients, whenever possible.  The flour comes from Snavely Mill located in Lititz, PA.

Here Brian shows me the consistency of the dough before it goes into the mixer for the next process.

This mixer, one of two they own, was purchased in 1946.  It was made at Read Standard company in York, PA.

Added to the dough mixture is more flour, water, oil, salt and malt.  This is the weighing station for all the ingredients.

Here a worker uses the prepared dough from the mixer and kneads it to remove any air pockets.  It is then rolled into a log that can be used for the next procedure.  

This machine is called the candy cutter, since it was once used for that purpose.  The tool is 100 years old and creates sections of dough which will become individual hand-rolled pretzels.

This worker's hands are too fast to catch the movements needed to roll the pretzels.  Each pretzel is hand-made.  They are then stacked on a board which will go to the rack.  The majority of the workers are employed to roll the pretzels.

Boards holding the pretzels as they await on the rack for the cooking pot.  As they sit on the boards the yeast in the dough causes them to rise.   

This is the cook pot. Water and soda ash form a solution which is used to cook the pretzels.  When placed in the vat they drop to the bottom.  They eventually rise to the top where the "cooker" (person who controls this operation) removes them for the "baker".

Here the "cooker" is removing pretzels from the cook pot.  The reason for this procedure is darken the pretzels as they are baked.

The "baker" sprinkles salt on the "peel" which is a long board with a handle that will transfer the pretzels from the cook pot to the oven.  After the salt is applied to the "peel", the pretzels from the cook pot are placed on it upside down for transfer to the oven.

Here the "baker" is placing the pretzels in the 40 foot circular oven.  The oven and dryer, which is a later process, are natural gas fired units.  He deposits the pretzels by flipping them over so the salt is now on the top.  The pretzels will bake for approximately 10 minutes at 500 degrees.  The hearth, or the place where the pretzels sit, is made of soap stone.

Another view of the pretzels on the "peel" after coming out of the cook pot.

Another view of the "baker" placing the pretzels into the oven.  This oven was made by Universal and is from the 1940's

The pretzels drop from the oven onto a conveyor.  At this point the outside of the pretzel is baked, but the interior is still soft.  After 45-50 minutes on the conveyor in the dryer unit at 225 degrees, the pretzel will be hard throughout and ready for customers.  

Pretzels drop from the conveyor onto the area where they will be packaged in tins such as the one seen here.

Here a worker weighs the pretzels, places them in a bag and seals the bag closed.  They are then placed in cardboard cartons for shipping.  Many of the pretzels are delivered to local stores, but customers can buy them in the company store or order pretzels online.  

Cans of pretzels ready to be purchased or shipped.

I hope my attempt to show you the procedure for making hand-made pretzels gives you an idea of the complexity of the operation.  Small businesses all over Lancaster as well as the United States make a valuable contribution to the economy of our country.  Hammond's Pretzels is one of those fine businesses that take pride in the product they produce.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - Tomorrow will be the third and final part of my story on Hammond's Pretzel Bakery.  Check it out to see how Hammond's became famous nationally.  You may be surprised!  You can visit with them at www.hammondpretzels.com