The empty bottles, when placed in the filling machine, should be clean and practically sterile. After they have passed around the rotary bottle washer, and had a thorough washing with hot water, they are placed in the hot air sterilizer neck down, so they can drain. The best kind of sterilizer is an endless chain carrying trays to hold about a dozen bottles each, and enclosed and protected by either wood or metal. The sterilizer should be vertical, so that it will not occupy much floor space, and inside of the wood or metal covering are steam pipes fitted with a temperature controller or thermostat so that a temperature of about 250 degrees F. can be maintained. The speed of the endless chain is so regulated that it takes about 30 minutes from the time the bottles enter the sterilizer until they come out.
Needless to say, the filling machine should be kept scrupulously clean, and before being used in the morning, or for the afternoon run, should be thoroughly steamed out so that it will be hot and practically sterile to receive the first batch of catsup.
As to the bottle closures, if they are kept in covered barrels in a clean place and not allowed to be contaminated by dust, etc., it is not considered necessary to sterilize them, although they could no doubt be given a hot air sterilization very easily if it was thought necessary. I have seen thousands of cases packed without sterilizing the closures, and the catsup never gave any trouble.
After applying the closure the bottles are rinsed off in a warm water bath, and are then ready to be labeled and cased.
Which Method Is the Better?
Now comes the question which is of vital importance to every packer—what am I going to do—give my catsup an after-sterilization or not? I believe the answer to that question should depend upon the conditions under which the packer operates. I do not believe either method is to be recommended universally, but that there are many cases where it is better not to process, and other cases where processing is advisable.
If a manufacturer makes his product at a large central plant, where he can count on reliable and fairly intelligent help at all times, and where he is so equipped that he is not bothered with frequent breakdowns and delays during the day’s run, he should give the non-processing method his careful consideration, and I believe he will profit by adopting it. If, on the other hand, he has many plants scattered all over the country, many of them dependent to a large extent on an indifferent class of help, with little experience or intelligence, or he has a lot of wornout equipment, and has several breakdowns almost every day in the bottling department, he had better insure his product by processing.
If I were building a new plant or remodeling an old one, I would most certainly arrange to eliminate processing if I could count on a fairly good class of help.
Labeling and Casing
Most bottles are labeled by machine. The machines do the work much faster than can be done by hand, and also do it neater as a rule. However, in most cases it is necessary to have someone to adjust the neck band after the bottle leaves the machine. Sometimes they are wrapped, and sometimes not. Wrapping in transparent tissue makes a very attractive package, and it will modify the effect of strong light, which some manufacturers think has a discoloring tendency if the catsup is exposed to it a long time.