After the flour and water have been mixed, the wheel is set in motion by machinery, and it slowly circles around in the tub, pressing the dough under it.
A man keeps walking in front of the wheel, moving the dough from the edges of the tub and placing it directly in the path of it. This work of pressing the flour into a paste continues for a little more than half an hour.
The wheel is then stopped and the paste, which is quite stiff, is cut into cakes about a foot square and from one to three inches in thickness.
These are put into an iron cylinder heated by steam. In the bottom of the cylinder is a copper plate filled with holes having the centers filled. A cover fitted to a great screw which turns by machinery is placed on top. This slowly, but steadily, presses the paste downward. It is thus forced through these openings, and of course comes out in the form of round, hollow pipes.
Fig. 33.—Drying Macaroni in Italy.
As these pipes issue from the cylinder, they are straightened out on a wooden tray or platform, and with a large, sharp knife cut into lengths of about three feet. They are then taken to a drying room and spread on wire frames covered with oiled paper. Here they are left for about five days, after which they are placed in boxes and are ready to ship.
The only difference between macaroni and vermicelli is that the pipes of vermicelli are very small and are not hollow.
When vermicelli is wanted, two plates are placed on the bottom of the press. The under one is of iron and contains holes about one inch in diameter. The upper one is of copper and contains groups of very small openings. There are sometimes eighty of these openings in a group. When the plates are screwed together, the groups of small holes are directly above the larger openings.
As the paste is pressed, it passes through the little holes and then issues from the larger ones; this keeps each little group of pipes somewhat apart from the others.