Mar 3, 2013
Double the mashgichim and the price of matza goes up by how much?
It looks like the price of matza is going to go up again this year. I don't see how it cannot.
According to Bechadrei, there is a new process that has been added by the factories to the matza baking process. The purpose of this is to improve the quality of the matza - as any producer of any product, matza factories constantly look for new ways to improve their product, as they should. The result of this is that the Badatz Eida HaHareidis has responded by requiring the placement of an additional mashgiach to inspect every single matza as it comes out of the oven, in addition to the general mashgiach supervising the process.
The new process is one by which as soon as the matza is removed from the oven it gets dried by a special blower. This makes the matza more crispy and supposedly improves the taste dramatically.
According to the Badatz, the new stage in the process is potentially problematic. The warm air generated by the blower is clearly at a much lower temperature than the heat of the oven. If the matza comes out not completely baked and then blown on with this blower, it will be the blower doing the baking and in the process it can become chametz due to the lesser heat being used.
So, the Badatz has decided that they will need to place an additional mashgiach in the factory standing at the oven. He will inspect each and every matza as it is removed to ensure that it has been completely baked. If he sees one that is still a bit too soft and underbaked, he will instruct the guy manning the oven to put it back in for a few more seconds.
So, we can all expect the price of matza to rise. How can it not, if the number of mashgichim is going to be doubled? The question is by how much will it go up?
According to Bechadrei, there is a new process that has been added by the factories to the matza baking process. The purpose of this is to improve the quality of the matza - as any producer of any product, matza factories constantly look for new ways to improve their product, as they should. The result of this is that the Badatz Eida HaHareidis has responded by requiring the placement of an additional mashgiach to inspect every single matza as it comes out of the oven, in addition to the general mashgiach supervising the process.
According to the Badatz, the new stage in the process is potentially problematic. The warm air generated by the blower is clearly at a much lower temperature than the heat of the oven. If the matza comes out not completely baked and then blown on with this blower, it will be the blower doing the baking and in the process it can become chametz due to the lesser heat being used.
So, the Badatz has decided that they will need to place an additional mashgiach in the factory standing at the oven. He will inspect each and every matza as it is removed to ensure that it has been completely baked. If he sees one that is still a bit too soft and underbaked, he will instruct the guy manning the oven to put it back in for a few more seconds.
So, we can all expect the price of matza to rise. How can it not, if the number of mashgichim is going to be doubled? The question is by how much will it go up?
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Given the temperature matza ovens work at, the usual problem is getting the matza out fast enough that it won't burst into flame.
ReplyDeleteUndercooked is almost a physical impossibility given the temperature of the bricks and the level of flame. Here's a link to a video I took at a matza bakery. Matza baking time = 8 seconds, at 15 seconds it bursts into flame.
"So, we can all expect the price of matza to rise. How can it not, if the number of mashgichim is going to be doubled? The question is by how much will it go up?"
ReplyDeleteNo, only those foolish enough to waste their money on Badatz matzot!
What difference does blow-drying make if the matza would come out not fully baked - wouldn't it be chametz whether it gets packed straight into the box or blow-dried first?
ReplyDeleteWhy am I not surprised by this news?
ReplyDeleteNo matza manufacturer, and no reshut machshir or badatz, throughout the long history of preparations for Pesach has ever needed any excuse to increase the price of what is, after all, the only truly essential item: matza. You want it, you pay the demanded price or you go without. Simples.
A little tangential, I know, but a few months ago I happened to find myself in Fortnum & Mason's, the very prestigious (and extremely expensive) grocery corner shop which is patronized by HM Queen Elizabeth. F&M were offering a bog-standard box of ordinary (i.e. non-shmura) matzot for £3.99! To put that into context, one must know that I have never had to pay more than £0.95 a box - and that includes shipping costs from the UK mainland to the Channel Islands.
was it matza that is kosher lpesach? chametz matza is always reasonably priced (i.e. cheap!)
ReplyDeleteActually Rafi, it was machine made matza in a carton that very clearly marked "Not Kosher For Passover".
ReplyDeleteI have just emailed my Pesach grocery order to my UK supplier and, בעזרת השם, the ferry company will deliver it to my home in around ten days' time! Kosher meat will be ordered from a north London kosher butcher in the same way. Fish, ב"ה, is no problem as we live on a small(ish) island in the English Channel.
The only problematic item finding a source of חלב ישראל. However, our next door neighbor is a dairy farmer (who has not heard of Jersey milk?) and our compromise is that a member of the family goes to observe his morning milking and comes away with however many liters of fresh (but unpasteurized) milk we need.
Come over and visit us! Our shul is on the southern coast road, in the village of St Brelade.
the article doesn't spell it out but i assume that this patent is for hand made matzot, yes? nothing should change for those of us who eat machine made matzot, n'est pas?
ReplyDeleteso I understood form the article. perhaps they do it for machine matzot as well. I dont know, but I wouldnt assume so unless I found out that it is done.
ReplyDelete