1
00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:05,800
Where do you reckon on the fish
the fingers come from?

2
00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:09,160
On here? That bit. This bit?

3
00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:11,000
Children can be real fussy eaters,

4
00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:14,400
but when they see something
on the supermarket shelf they want,

5
00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:15,840
there's no stopping them.

6
00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:18,240
So how do they make
kids' favourite foods?

7
00:00:18,240 --> 00:00:20,600
Who likes chocolate Mini Rolls?

8
00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:23,360
How would you get them to roll
perfect every time?

9
00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:26,040
Would you make a giant
one as long as your field?

10
00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:30,120
What do you reckon your
marshmallows have got in common
with that big pig there?

11
00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:33,040
Do you think the piggy's
made out of marshmallows? No.

12
00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:37,200
No? I'm going to reveal the secrets
behind children's party foods

13
00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:39,560
by making them food factory style.

14
00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:58,840
Most of us don't get the
chance to go inside a factory

15
00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:00,600
to see how our food is made,

16
00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:06,400
so I'm going to go back to basics
and set up my own supermarket
production line inside this barn.

17
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It may look like it's full of junk,

18
00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:12,520
but there's everything I need

19
00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:17,680
to discover the secrets of the
supermarket foods that kids love.

20
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Marshmallows, toasted or not,
are a kids' favourite.

21
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But what have they got in common
with this beauty?

22
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What do you think? What have your
marshmallows got in common with her?

23
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A bit of white on them.
I'd rather eat her than them.

24
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Do you think the marshmallow's nice
and squidgy and so is the pig? Yes.

25
00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:39,280
Yes! Now I like pigs
and I like marshmallows,

26
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but what's the connection?

27
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To find out,
I'm going to make my own.

28
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Marshmallows might look like
lovely little cushions of sweetness,

29
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but I'm about to
blow that image out of the water.

30
00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:58,200
The important ingredient
to a marshmallow is gelatine

31
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and gelatine is made
out of pig skin and bones.

32
00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:04,360
It's in all kinds of foods.

33
00:02:04,360 --> 00:02:08,920
It's used as a thickener or gelling
agent in jelly,

34
00:02:08,920 --> 00:02:13,360
gummy sweets,
mousse and of course marshmallows.

35
00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:18,720
Off-putting as it may seem,
gelatine is made by breaking

36
00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:22,000
down an ingredient in animal
skin and bone called collagen.

37
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It gives our skin its firmness too.

38
00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:30,520
To get at the collagen inside my
pig bits, I've got to treat it
with acid.

39
00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:31,760
That's why I'm wearing

40
00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:33,240
all this protective gear.

41
00:02:34,920 --> 00:02:36,520
Right, time for the acid.

42
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The acid will loosen the collagen

43
00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:41,840
and make it easier
to turn it into gelatine.

44
00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:43,320
Seems a bit gruesome.

45
00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:47,520
A million miles away
from marshmallows.

46
00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:52,080
Now, there are veggie
alternatives to gelatine

47
00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:54,160
but no direct replacement
has been found

48
00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:56,480
that matches
gelatine's unique properties.

49
00:02:56,480 --> 00:03:01,520
What gelatine does is to form a very
stiff gel that melts in the mouth.

50
00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:05,640
But this piggy-flavoured concoction

51
00:03:05,640 --> 00:03:09,120
is still a long way from
melting in anyone's mouth.

52
00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:13,760
It'll take hours for the
acid to loosen the collagen.

53
00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:19,200
Now, I've got rid of
all the traces of acid.

54
00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:23,520
The next part of the operation is to
turn my pig bits into a lovely soup.

55
00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:30,640
I'm putting together a simmering
soup cooker to get at the gelatine.

56
00:03:30,640 --> 00:03:33,640
Right, this should do the job.

57
00:03:33,640 --> 00:03:37,320
I'm adding a heating element to
the bucket to keep the water

58
00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:38,960
at 50 degrees Centigrade.

59
00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:45,640
If you've ever made chicken stock
at home by boiling up the bones

60
00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:49,480
of your leftover Sunday roast,
well, this is very similar.

61
00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:52,560
It will have to
soak for eight hours.

62
00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:01,480
I'm left with this piggy stew that
smells pretty meaty.

63
00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:03,760
Next, I have to filter it.

64
00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:09,320
I need a liquid containing gelatine
to make my marshmallows set

65
00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:12,680
or it's eight hours
literally down the drain.

66
00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:18,160
It's a bit whiffy.

67
00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:21,440
It's a cross between
pork scratchings gone bad

68
00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:23,240
and the smell of wet dogs.

69
00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:27,280
Right,
need to pour it into this demijohn.

70
00:04:27,280 --> 00:04:30,600
That is one smelly pork stew.

71
00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:35,440
Time to put my gelatine
stew to one side
and get on with the sweet stuff.

72
00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:41,360
Right, into this pan I'm
going to put some white sugar.

73
00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,520
Now, this
gloopy liquid is glucose syrup.

74
00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:46,960
It's going to make it really sweet.

75
00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:51,480
Keep it on the heat, keep mixing
until it all clears.

76
00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:53,880
But there's still one
essential ingredient missing.

77
00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:57,880
Marshmallows are filled with
thousands of tiny air bubbles,

78
00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:00,000
that's why they're so squidgy.

79
00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:01,040
To prove it,

80
00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:04,480
I'm going to do something alarming
with this marshmallow man.

81
00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:08,920
I'm going to suck the air out
of this jar.

82
00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:10,960
As the pressure drops in the jar,

83
00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:13,280
the air bubbles inside
my marshmallow man

84
00:05:13,280 --> 00:05:14,440
will begin to expand.

85
00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:20,520
Look at his body swelling up.

86
00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:24,600
Be great if you could do this
with all foods. Look at him!

87
00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:26,760
He's nearly at the top of the jar.

88
00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:29,160
Is he still smiling?

89
00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:33,360
The secret of a successful
marshmallow is lots of air.

90
00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:36,720
Time to put it all together.

91
00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:39,480
First the stinky stew.

92
00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:42,480
Well, it still hasn't
lost any of its aroma.

93
00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:44,240
OK, let's measure it out.

94
00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:47,280
There we go.

95
00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:51,120
Look at that. Lovely and gloopy.

96
00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:54,120
Hopefully it's packed with gelatine.

97
00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:55,600
OK, mixing bowl.

98
00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:00,120
Because I'm dealing with hot sugar,

99
00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:02,160
I need these on
and I'm using this -

100
00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:04,760
my super whisker.

101
00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:07,120
Right.

102
00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:09,680
Now, this is pretty much
all there is

103
00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:12,520
to factory-style marshmallow making.

104
00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:15,280
But will I get enough
bubbles into this gloop

105
00:06:15,280 --> 00:06:17,600
to make
really squidgy marshmallows?

106
00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:21,040
Now the sugar
and the gelatine are in the bowl,

107
00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:23,600
the key thing
is to increase the mixing speed

108
00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:27,120
because that is critical to
getting more air bubbles in there.

109
00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:28,560
The more air bubbles I get,

110
00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:31,520
the more spongy and fluffy
the marshmallows will be.

111
00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:35,240
Time to add a splash of colour
with beetroot extract

112
00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:37,120
and a few drops of vanilla.

113
00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:41,880
The air bubbles also help
make the mixture whiter.

114
00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:45,240
I think that's thick enough.
I've whisked loads of air in there.

115
00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:48,840
I need to get it into a mould.

116
00:06:48,840 --> 00:06:51,720
Ta da! There we go, look at that.

117
00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:54,400
Ice cube trays,
now marshmallow moulds.

118
00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:56,200
Right.

119
00:06:56,200 --> 00:07:01,640
It's beginning to look and smell
more and more like marshmallows.

120
00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:04,720
Might plaster the bathroom later.

121
00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:06,440
Here we go.

122
00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:09,600
All I need to do now
is let them set.

123
00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:20,120
Right, let's look at these beauties.

124
00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:21,640
Got to get them out.

125
00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:24,240
Here we go. Look at this.

126
00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:28,000
You would never dream that this
has come from all that pig skin.

127
00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:31,280
Look at that.

128
00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:33,760
Cover it in some icing sugar.

129
00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:37,800
Isn't it amazing what you can do
with acid-treated pig skin?

130
00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:38,880
Look at that.

131
00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:41,640
Squeeze. Whoop, whoop.

132
00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:43,600
Holds its shape. Not bad at all.

133
00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:45,920
Let's open it up
because the marshmallow

134
00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:47,600
is all about the air bubbles.

135
00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:50,560
Little bit gooey.

136
00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:52,320
Almost like blancmange.

137
00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:56,520
I reckon the gelatine should
have been a bit thicker, maybe.

138
00:07:56,520 --> 00:07:58,760
You can see the air bubbles there.
Look at that!

139
00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:03,600
I think for a first attempt
that's not bad for pig skin.

140
00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:06,720
Let's have a little taste,
see what it feels like in the mouth,

141
00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:08,280
because it looks really gooey.

142
00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:18,280
Feels nice.

143
00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:20,120
Tastes a little bit piggy.

144
00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:33,080
Yeah, looks can be deceptive!

145
00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:42,400
There we go.
My very own marshmallows.

146
00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:47,120
We made up another batch later on.

147
00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:48,960
How will they go down on the farm?

148
00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:50,800
Oh, they're lovely. Lovely?

149
00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:52,400
Beautiful. Beautiful?

150
00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:55,040
When I made them
first, they did taste quite piggy.

151
00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:59,560
Very sugary. Do you know what they've
got in common with the pig?
Is it gelatine, something like that?

152
00:08:59,560 --> 00:09:03,840
Gelatine. Yeah, the pig's head
and the trotters. Fancy another one?

153
00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:04,920
No, thanks.

154
00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:07,800
Really? I can definitely taste some.

155
00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:10,880
Not too bad, you've eaten three.

156
00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:18,600
There we go, guys.

157
00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:21,480
There's one thing you can't get
enough of at kids' parties

158
00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:22,640
and that's puddings.

159
00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:24,240
Strawberries and cream,

160
00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:27,520
absolutely delicious,
or even better, raspberries.

161
00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:31,160
But these little fellas
are hiding a secret.

162
00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:33,200
On this tray,

163
00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:34,840
which ones are berries?

164
00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:37,880
Raspberries. Raspberries.
You say that's a berry, would you?

165
00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:41,160
You think they're berries?
Do you think any
others are berries here?

166
00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:44,400
No. Grapes probably are a berry,
there's a possibility.

167
00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:47,320
If anything I would say these
might be, but that's about it.

168
00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:49,880
Bananas are not, grapes are not.

169
00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:53,560
Well, in fact they're all berries
except the raspberries. Really?

170
00:09:53,560 --> 00:09:55,760
That's a berry in name only.

171
00:09:55,760 --> 00:10:00,280
Rubbish. No, it's true.
Do you believe any of this? No!

172
00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:05,840
Although it has 'berry'
in its name, a raspberry
isn't technically a berry.

173
00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:09,800
A berry is a simple, single fruit
like a grape or a banana.

174
00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:14,040
But a raspberry
is made up of lots of tiny
fruits all clustered together.

175
00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:20,520
So in a way, a raspberry is a
bit like an entire bunch of grapes.

176
00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:26,000
But where you'd find a raspberry
in a plant encyclopaedia

177
00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:29,080
isn't the only surprising
thing about them.

178
00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:32,520
Raspberries are
incredibly fragile fruit.

179
00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:35,600
They're easy to squish
and the bugs love them.

180
00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:40,960
So how do they get them from the
plant to the supermarket
in one piece?

181
00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:48,160
Mark Gaskain produces around 70
million raspberries every year.

182
00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:49,800
Hi. Nice to meet you.

183
00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:52,440
Now what are the difficulties
in growing raspberries?

184
00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:55,680
They're a bit soft, aren't they?
You've got them under a house here.

185
00:10:55,680 --> 00:10:58,960
Raspberries are probably the most
delicate fruit we grow here.

186
00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:03,000
The reason they're under
the polytunnel is to protect them
from the rain, wind,

187
00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:05,400
and actually heat as well,
heat and sunlight.

188
00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:11,520
Mark treats his raspberries
like the supermodels of the farm.

189
00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:18,880
These delicious divas
are high maintenance.

190
00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:21,960
They are a bunch of luvvies,
aren't they? They are a little bit.

191
00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:24,560
That's exactly what the
strawberries say about them.

192
00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:29,400
But these cuties can attract
the wrong kind of attention -

193
00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:32,640
biting, sucking, piercing bugs

194
00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:35,800
that love a tasty raspberry,

195
00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:37,920
like the raspberry beetle
and the aphid.

196
00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:41,880
But these bad boys
may have met their match.

197
00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:46,760
This high-tech kit
is the latest line of defence

198
00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:49,400
in keeping the
raspberries picture perfect.

199
00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:53,560
It storms the bugs with air
heated to 100 degrees C.

200
00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:56,400
It's like a giant hair dryer.

201
00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:58,680
What we're doing is
blasting it with the fans.

202
00:11:58,680 --> 00:12:01,040
We're driving through
the raspberry canes

203
00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:04,160
and for a very brief period of
time hitting it with a lot of heat.

204
00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:05,760
It's killing any pests it hits.

205
00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:08,760
Things like aphid in
particular it's very effective on.

206
00:12:08,760 --> 00:12:11,640
Basically you're barbequing these
plants very, very quickly,

207
00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:14,720
which kills the bugs off but
the plants are left unharmed.

208
00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:17,200
Exactly. And you're
reducing your pesticide usage

209
00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:20,440
because you're doing this with
a barbeque rather than a sprayer.

210
00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:23,640
I should've brought some sausages!
You should have done!

211
00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:25,880
But there's no time for a barbecue.

212
00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:28,680
This machine looks a
blast and I want a go.

213
00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:39,640
Scientists aren't exactly
sure how this machine works.

214
00:12:39,640 --> 00:12:43,800
One theory is that as well as
getting rid of the bugs, the heat

215
00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:46,360
shock makes
the raspberry bushes tougher

216
00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:49,840
so they're more resistant
to being attacked by insects.

217
00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:52,920
Just what these
pampered softies need.

218
00:12:57,640 --> 00:12:59,640
Well, that was a lot of fun.
How was it?

219
00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:02,920
It was good! So Mark, how well
has this kit done on other farms?

220
00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:06,280
Well, what it's done very well
so far... grapes in particular,

221
00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:09,560
in New Zealand and I think Chile
have done really well out of it.

222
00:13:09,560 --> 00:13:11,520
Still early days for us with
raspberries.

223
00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:12,800
You're at the cutting edge.

224
00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:17,120
You're not just giving your
raspberries a bit of pampering
with a blow drier?

225
00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:18,880
Er, no. Blow dry and set?

226
00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:21,800
Not today. No, this is genuinely
pesticide reduction.

227
00:13:24,560 --> 00:13:28,280
Fewer pesticides can't be bad
and fewer bugs

228
00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:31,480
means all the
more raspberries for us.

229
00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:33,720
So this is obviously the
picking process.

230
00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:35,400
Can we have a go? Yeah, please do.

231
00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:38,600
Obviously quite straightforward.
Pluck them off. Pluck them off?

232
00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:41,920
If it's properly ripe, they should
come away nice and easily.

233
00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:46,680
So the idea is gently coax them
off and keep that lovely shape.

234
00:13:46,680 --> 00:13:50,040
They're all picked by hand,
aren't they? Absolutely.

235
00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:53,160
They're only touched once.
Only touched once? Just once.

236
00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:57,480
The whole point of this is
trying to get it right in the field.
So we pick it carefully,

237
00:13:57,480 --> 00:14:00,320
grade it in the punnet
so that it's all the same standard.

238
00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:03,240
There's no reason to touch
these again until they arrive

239
00:14:03,240 --> 00:14:05,400
in Mrs Jones' fridge
in Worcestershire.

240
00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:07,080
If these raspberries could talk,

241
00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:10,640
they wouldn't talk to the
likes of us, would they? No!
Certainly not.

242
00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:15,440
These raspberries have had
five-star treatment all the way,

243
00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:18,360
so I reckon this is going
to come as a bit of a shock.

244
00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:21,960
Delicious!

245
00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:33,600
A real party favourite,
fish fingers.

246
00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:35,640
Now I've got a whole cod here.

247
00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:38,480
Look at that.
Look at the head on him.

248
00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:41,560
But this beauty would soon go
off if I left him sitting here.

249
00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:45,800
So how do the food factories
try to make frozen fish

250
00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:47,880
taste like fresh fish?

251
00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:54,760
To find out, I'm going to make my
own premium fish fingers.

252
00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:01,840
First,
I need to build a fish freezer.

253
00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:04,520
I've got a bucket, a metal tray,

254
00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:08,560
some copper piping
and a load of rubber tubing.

255
00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:12,000
Mm. I know what I'm doing.
When it comes to freezing fish

256
00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:16,760
and turning it into fingers, no-one
knows more than Clarence Birdseye.

257
00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:17,920
You might have heard of him.

258
00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:21,720
Before he set up his
frozen food empire,

259
00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:23,800
Clarence Birdseye was a scientist.

260
00:15:23,800 --> 00:15:29,240
He visited the Arctic and saw people
freezing fish very quickly
in the icy conditions.

261
00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:30,360
When cooked though,

262
00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:33,720
it was very hard to tell it apart
from freshly caught fish.

263
00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:37,080
And that gave him a very cool idea.

264
00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:44,400
Clarence Birdseye reckoned
that it was freezing the fish fast
that made it taste good.

265
00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:48,600
So he invented a
fast-freezing plate.

266
00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:53,040
I'm trying to do the same thing
with my tubes, ladder and bucket.

267
00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:54,840
This is my plate freezer.

268
00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:57,840
Now I'm going to put some
really cold liquid in this bucket

269
00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:01,000
which is going to flow through
this tube, along this piping.

270
00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:04,720
It's going to chill these trays
well below the freezing point

271
00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:06,560
of any food I put between them.

272
00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:13,600
I'm using methylated spirits,
also known as white spirit,
because it stays liquid at

273
00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:19,120
very low temperatures, so it won't
freeze solid and block the pipes.

274
00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:24,840
I'm going to put this dry ice
into these metal containers which
will chill down the white spirit.

275
00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:31,880
Dry ice is solid carbon dioxide
at minus 78 degrees C.

276
00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:35,680
I just need to pop the
container into my bucket of meths.

277
00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:41,120
I'll leave it to get really cold
and while that's happening,

278
00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:43,040
I can get to grips with the fish.

279
00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:47,320
Now the first thing to do is
start off with lots of fish fillets.

280
00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:54,960
The fillets are then packed in trays
and then frozen so you end up with
great big slabs of solid fish.

281
00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:06,160
And hopefully
every bit of the fillet will find
its way into a fish finger.

282
00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:12,640
Back at the plate freezer, the
meths has been chilling away nicely.

283
00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:16,040
But is it cold enough
to fast-freeze my fish?

284
00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:19,840
Right, let's give it a go.
Turn the tap on.

285
00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:21,600
It's all frosted already at the top.

286
00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:23,440
The tap's frozen.

287
00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:25,040
Oh, there we go.

288
00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:31,160
I can hear it, so it's making its
way all the way through this tube.

289
00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:35,280
Let's feel it.
That is really, really cold. Ooh!

290
00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:43,560
The meths is being
chilled by the dry ice.

291
00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:53,040
My plate freezer needs to be about
minus 30 to freeze the fish quickly.

292
00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:56,760
The colder it is,
the faster the fish will freeze,

293
00:17:56,760 --> 00:18:00,400
and fast-freezing is the secret
to decent fish fingers.

294
00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:02,280
Wow, look at that.

295
00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:06,280
That's well below minus 30, which
is fantastic, really, really cold.

296
00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:07,680
Time to freeze the fish.

297
00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:13,520
In go a dozen fillets of fish.

298
00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:15,440
Like a polar bear's dinner in there.

299
00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:18,880
Now, put the pillows on.

300
00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:20,720
That'll keep the cold in.

301
00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:23,160
Perfect.

302
00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:30,640
I'll come back to my fish
in a couple of hours
to see how they're getting on.

303
00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:45,280
Kids love Mini Rolls, but if you've
ever tried to make a Swiss roll,

304
00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:47,440
then you'll know how hard it is.

305
00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:51,000
Do you think you could eat all that?
No.

306
00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:54,840
So how could you roll millions
of these without cracking up?

307
00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:06,840
At this factory in Liverpool,
they make 15,000 Mini Rolls an hour.

308
00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:12,880
Every single one has to roll
perfectly and it's down to John Reid
to make sure that happens.

309
00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:16,200
So what are the big problems
when you're making a Mini Roll?

310
00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:19,640
Basically, we've got to make sure
we can roll it correctly

311
00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:22,440
without either
it springing open or cracking.

312
00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:24,360
We don't want it to crack.

313
00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:33,840
They start by making the batter
in this high-speed batter mixer.

314
00:19:35,360 --> 00:19:38,360
So all the ingredients in here
now all looking really good.

315
00:19:38,360 --> 00:19:39,960
Is this ready to go?

316
00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:43,640
Apart from one ingredient, Jimmy.
What's that? Air. You put air in?

317
00:19:45,600 --> 00:19:50,240
Air is piped into the mixture
to create millions of tiny bubbles.

318
00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:53,360
It's the ingredient that helps
make the batter exactly the right

319
00:19:53,360 --> 00:19:57,720
consistency for its big moment -
rolling.

320
00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:00,760
It's so important
they test every batch.

321
00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:03,600
We take a little cup
with a specific volume.

322
00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:06,160
It's got a little hole in the bottom
and we measure

323
00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:10,120
how much batter falls through that
little hole in one minute. Right.

324
00:20:10,120 --> 00:20:13,880
So if it runs out really quickly.
It's very thin.

325
00:20:13,880 --> 00:20:18,080
If it takes ages, it's too thick.
If it dribbles out like that?

326
00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:19,720
Just right. Just right.

327
00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:22,920
So ready to bake? We're ready to
bake now, Jimmy. Perfect.

328
00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:31,360
The man who turns the batter into
spongy Mini Rolls is Tony Monks.

329
00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:35,480
This is where we put our batter
onto the conveyor belt to go
into the oven for baking.

330
00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:38,720
What's stopping the mixture from
spreading out all over the place?

331
00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:43,400
Because the batter's so consistent
and it's got air within there,
it holds the structure together.

332
00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:47,160
And you've got this really
snazzy James Bond laser beam here.

333
00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:48,800
What's that for?

334
00:20:48,800 --> 00:20:51,840
That measures the height of the
batter and the width of the batter.

335
00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:56,040
If it's is just one millimetre
too thin or too thick,

336
00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:57,720
it could be all over.

337
00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:03,480
It's important for the rolling
process, to stop it from cracking.

338
00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:06,480
If you don't get the right height,
you won't be able to roll it?

339
00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:08,520
We won't.
So where's it going now, then?

340
00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:10,960
It's now going through the
conveyor and into the oven.

341
00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:12,720
Right, baking time.
It is baking time.

342
00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:18,240
Ah, look at that.
That has risen, hasn't it?

343
00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:20,680
Yes, this is where we
start to see the cake rise.

344
00:21:22,360 --> 00:21:25,200
Look at this.
Is this cooked properly? It is, yes.

345
00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:27,840
It's spongy, isn't it?
It's very springy.

346
00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:29,440
What's the underneath like?

347
00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:33,160
If you look at the underneath,
it's slightly harder.
So we've got a harder base.

348
00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:36,720
Look at that. Hang on, isn't that
hard, crusty bit meant to be on top?

349
00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:39,520
That's why we've got the big wheel
at the end to turn it over.

350
00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:46,600
With the sponge baked,
it's time to add the filling.

351
00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:50,040
It still doesn't
look very roll shaped.

352
00:21:50,040 --> 00:21:52,600
Ah, right. So this is
where you cut it and roll it?

353
00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:56,000
No, this is just where we roll it,
but we roll it lengthways.

354
00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:03,360
To roll it lengthways,
the flat sponge is lifted up by thes

355
00:22:03,360 --> 00:22:05,800
metal plates
at the end of the line.

356
00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:08,400
One side of the sponge is
tucked under the other.

357
00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:13,080
If the batter is spot on, it should
emerge looking more roll shaped.

358
00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:17,520
Looking good, no cracks.

359
00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:20,840
But hang on!
These aren't Mini Rolls.

360
00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:25,200
They're over six metres long.
They're Maxi Rolls.

361
00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:29,360
They need trimming,
and not with a kitchen knife.

362
00:22:29,360 --> 00:22:33,000
When you get a normal knife and
a Mini Roll and you cut it...

363
00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:34,640
Oh, I see.

364
00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:39,280
Because that pressure squeezes the
sponge down, you end up with a
flat end, don't you? It does, yeah.

365
00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:40,920
And that won't do.

366
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:49,560
Tony's knife vibrates up and down
thousands of times a second.

367
00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:53,480
The blade cuts through the Mini Roll
using hardly any pressure.

368
00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:58,240
The result - a razor-sharp slice.

369
00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:02,880
Mums, you can rest easy.

370
00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:06,520
The Mini Rolls are rolled, packed
and on the way to the supermarkets.

371
00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:09,600
All it took was intricate
ingredient engineering

372
00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:11,280
and a very, very fast knife.

373
00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:24,200
Back at the barn, I'm making
fish fingers from fish fillets,

374
00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:26,240
like the posh ones
in the supermarket.

375
00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:32,280
So far I've tried to
fast-freeze a big slab of fish.

376
00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:35,760
But will it have frozen fast enough?

377
00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:38,920
I've got this piece of fish
to show you the difference

378
00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:41,640
between fast-freezing
and slow-freezing.

379
00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:44,320
Last night it was frozen
slowly over nine hours.

380
00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:46,920
Look what happens
now that I've defrosted it.

381
00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:50,080
Look at that.

382
00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:52,080
It's like a sponge.

383
00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:57,320
If I cooked that, it would be
really, really dry and a bit tough.

384
00:23:57,320 --> 00:24:01,600
That's because all the moisture
that's leaked should still be

385
00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:06,200
in the fish flesh, but as
the fish freezes it seeps out.

386
00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:09,920
So the longer the freezing takes,
the worse it gets.

387
00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:13,720
To prove it, I've got a bit of fish
that's been fast-frozen.

388
00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:15,360
Let's give it a squeeze.

389
00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:19,440
I can really squeeze it. I don't
want to mash it, but look.

390
00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:22,080
Hardly any water at all coming out,
which means

391
00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:26,880
if I cook that bit of fish,
it should stay nice and succulent.

392
00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:32,640
So will my fish fingers be
juicy and flaky or dry and tough?

393
00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:35,520
Right, the fish has been in
here for about two hours now.

394
00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:39,000
I've put a little bit of dry ice on
top just to help with the freezing.

395
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:43,240
Now the temperature probe
is right in the middle of the fish

396
00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:45,920
and it's reading
at minus 25 degrees,

397
00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:49,440
which means the fish
has frozen really quickly.

398
00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:51,880
Just what I wanted.

399
00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:53,920
Fish fingers crossed, then!

400
00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:58,840
Now to open my plate freezer
and take out the fish. Look at that!

401
00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:00,960
Now that is one slab of fish.
Look at it.

402
00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:04,120
You can see all the fillets along
here, all the muscles of the fish.

403
00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:10,760
It's like a big, fish sandcastle.

404
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:16,120
There we go, look at that.
Now for the clever bit.

405
00:25:16,120 --> 00:25:19,360
I've got to turn this
into fish fingers,

406
00:25:19,360 --> 00:25:21,800
which involves sawing it up.

407
00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:27,520
My frozen fish is so tough
I'm slicing it up with a power saw.

408
00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:30,200
This is pretty much how
they do it in the factory.

409
00:25:30,200 --> 00:25:33,760
OK, here we go. I'm going to saw

410
00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:36,200
my fish up. I'll be very careful.

411
00:25:38,880 --> 00:25:40,880
It's working.

412
00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:46,640
Look at that!

413
00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:54,800
Look at that.

414
00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:55,920
It's a little bit thick

415
00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:58,880
but properly home-made.
I'm pleased with that.

416
00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:02,640
That's beginning
to look like a fish finger.

417
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:07,920
The final step is to give them a
coating of batter and breadcrumbs.

418
00:26:07,920 --> 00:26:10,760
These aren't finished yet.
To stop the breadcrumbs

419
00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:14,200
coming off in the packet,
I'm going to give them a quick fry.

420
00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:16,240
Now, I'm not cooking these.

421
00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:19,160
The idea is to give them a really,
really quick fry because I want to

422
00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:22,720
make it nice and crispy
but I want to keep the fish frozen.

423
00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:28,640
So they get just 25 seconds
in the deep-fat fryer.

424
00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:33,640
Then it's back into another freezer
to chill down the coating

425
00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:36,760
and off to the supermarket.

426
00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:40,520
But I want to taste some of mine,
so I'm cooking a few in the oven.

427
00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:44,440
Will they be succulent and flaky
or tough as old boots?

428
00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:46,280
Now, I know what you're thinking.

429
00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:48,080
They're not exactly fish fingers,

430
00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:49,960
are they? More like fish thumbs.

431
00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:51,960
Right, let's have a look.

432
00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:54,800
A bit fat. Great colour.

433
00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:56,360
The important thing,

434
00:26:56,360 --> 00:26:58,480
what I'm really looking for,

435
00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:00,880
is that beautiful flakiness.

436
00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:04,240
Oh, yes, look at that.
Look at that when I open it up.

437
00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:07,960
It all opens up and you
see all those flakes.

438
00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:09,240
Brilliant.

439
00:27:14,360 --> 00:27:15,400
Mmm.

440
00:27:15,400 --> 00:27:17,560
Good crunch.

441
00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:19,360
Good flavour.

442
00:27:19,360 --> 00:27:21,200
Really, really flaky.

443
00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:23,680
And they're deliciously juicy.

444
00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:27,400
Just what I wanted.
Got to say - success.

445
00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:30,000
Really got the flakiness,
didn't get the shape.

446
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:32,880
Next time they're
going to be more like fingers.

447
00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:46,200
There we go.
My very own fish fingers. Delicious.

448
00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:59,840
Next time you're in a supermarket
with the kids, you can tell them
what's really in a marshmallow,

449
00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:03,520
how to roll a Mini Roll and what
makes fish fingers so tasty.

450
00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:07,120
Food Factory answers
to supermarket secrets.

451
00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:25,000
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

452
00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:27,960
Email subtitling@bbc.co.uk