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Berry Continuous Steam Cheese Waxer

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Description: Quote from an advertisement re-printed in the Berry Engineering Centennial Document (found here: https://manawatuheritage.pncc.govt.nz/item/6575d7a5-fa99-4bfc-8a4d-ae88a8ec3955?file=3d5b1f34-6a05-4ea5-880f-b7f26a0008ee )

“Embodied in Letters Patent No. 60317.

The machine being continuous, the cheeses simply roll through the wax, and the ingoing cheese helps to discharge the outgoing one with one operation of the handle, so that it is a big saver in labour in that one man can work the machine with great rapidity.

Then the steam coils being spiral, the condensation gravitates to the lowest point quickly which gives rapid heating of the wax, anid also maintains a very even temperature at will, which enables the cheeses to be put through the machine at full speed without loss in temperature of the wax, giving
a nice even wax coating well impregnated into the cheese bandage like a reinforced covering over the cheese surface, because the cheese is also kept in motion while rolling through the wax, thus covering every particle of surface which cannot be done when the cheeses are placed on stationary supports; moreover, the quantity of wax placed on an 80lb. cheese can be reduced to 2 to 3 ozs., thus giving a good thin coating, whereas a thick, poor coating is objectionable in every respect in the eyes of the buyers; but a thin film of wax not only gives the cheese a nice appearance, but reduces the
liability of mould and maintains the excellent quality of the cheese, provided the cheeses remain on the shelves 14 days before waxing.

The tank is also well insulated, which saves steam in heating the wax, and also therefore takes less in bringing up to the required temperature on the following waxing days. But above all this, our insulated wax tank prevents unnecessary heating up of the Packing and Curing Rooms. The cooler the rooms the better when the cool curing of cheese is so necessary.

These are a few points that are worthy of consideration to the good of our esteemed clients. If the instructions are carried out as written in the fore-
going, the savings are as follows:-
Percentage in saving of wax - About 40%
Percentage in saving of steam - About 40%
Percentage in saving of labour - About 30%”

Berry Engineering was established in 1907 by Edwin Daniel Berry as E. D. Berry General Engineer. It was originally located in Main Street, but as the business grew, it moved to Ferguson Street, later expanding up Ashley Street.

All three of Edwin Berry's sons worked for the company – Frank (Frances Leslie) trained as a tinsmith, Zean (Zenas Jefferson) as a refrigeration engineer and Edwin Jnr (Edwin Horace John) as a welder. Frank became the senior partner in the mid-1930s when Edwin senior began missionary work in Fiji.

The business was responsible for several patents and manufactured a wide variety of metal equipment for the dairy and brewing industries. It was bought out by Mauri Refrigeration in the 1960s, later being known as Protech Engineering. In the 1980s Protech was acquired by Steelfort Engineering.