All language subtitles for Inside.the.Factory.S04E05.Potato.Waffles.1080p.PMTP.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-BurCyg_track3_[eng]

[upbeat music]

GREGG WALLACE:
The humble potato,

this tuber takes top spot
as our favorite vegetable.

CHERRY HEALEY: Boiled,
mashed, chipped,

or fried, we go
through 18 million

kilograms of them every day.

GREGG WALLACE: This versatile
vegetable takes many shapes,

including this classic--

The waffle.

This week, we'll get through
nearly six million of them.

CHERRY HEALEY: And
Where's the best place

to find out how they're made?

GREGG WALLACE: How about this
enormous frozen food factory?

[upbeat music]

I'm Gregg Wallace.

I love it.

I find it waffle-y exciting.

And I'll be rooting out
the amazing technology--

That is, like, the fastest
croupier in the world.

- -behind this teatime treat.

[laughing]

CHERRY HEALEY:
I'm Cherry Healey.

It's a potato off.

I'll be getting under
the skin of the spud--

I cannot believe that has
more vitamin C than that.

- -and learning which type of
tattie to use for which dish.

Oh wow, hey, there,
good looking.

I mean, so delicious.

GREGG WALLACE: And Ruth Goodman
cuts a piece of potato history

down to size.

RUTH GOODMAN: So if
Sir Walter Raleigh

is a bit of a red herring, where
on Earth do potatoes come from?

Over the next 24 hours,
almost a million waffles

will fly out of this factory.

That's quite a transformation
from this to this.

Welcome to Inside the Factory.

[upbeat music]

This is the Birdseye Factory in
Lowestoft on the Suffolk coast.

This 26 acre site
produces 450 tons

of frozen produce every day.

That includes frozen
peas, battered fish,

and chicken dippers.

Today, we're concentrating
on one of their best

sellers, frozen waffles.

It won't come as
much of a surprise

to you that the main ingredient
in a potato waffle is potato.

It makes up 87% of
the finished product.

Cherry has been harvesting
the cream of the crop.

CHERRY HEALEY: This 3,400
acre farm in Norfolk

grows over 12,000 tons
of tatties a year.

In charge of their harvest
today is farmer, Tony Bambridge.

Hi, Tony.
Lovely to meet you.

TONY BAMBRIDGE: Hi,
good morning, Cherry.

Good to see you too.

CHERRY HEALEY: So
can we dig one up?

Can I see what it looks like?

TONY BAMBRIDGE: Yeah,
of course, we can.

CHERRY HEALEY: Oh
wow, look at that.

Oh, and the potatoes are born.

That's amazing.

I had no idea they went so
deep down into the Earth.

You could feed a family
for a day on those.

That's right, and there's
several there as well.

So you're looking at 12,
14 potatoes per plant

would be a typical plant.

So you get a huge amount
of potatoes from one field?

TONY BAMBRIDGE: We think
there'd be about 2.8

to three million potatoes.

CHERRY HEALEY: Three million
potatoes in one field.

I feel like we've got
some work to do, Tony.

Luckily, for me,
Tony has a 22.5 ton

monster harvester that can pull
up 130,000 of them in an hour.

Tony, this machine
is not mucking about.

TONY BAMBRIDGE: Oh no.

CHERRY HEALEY: Exactly
how does it work?

TONY BAMBRIDGE:
Well, at the front,

it's cutting off
the tops, and it's

throwing that out to the side.

Because we don't want that.

CHERRY HEALEY: Is it, like,
a big whisk, but very sharp,

so it turns around?

TONY BAMBRIDGE:
Yeah, that's right.

CHERRY HEALEY: And
it shuts this off.

TONY BAMBRIDGE: Yeah,
and then we've got--

they're, like, big spades,
and they're going underneath,

and they're digging
up the potatoes.

We're lifting the soil,
and all the stones,

and the roots, and everything.

CHERRY HEALEY: The
scooped up spuds in Earth

travel over a series of
slatted conveyor belts, which

sieve out the soil and debris.

TONY BAMBRIDGE: We've
got a special cleaning

unit at the back
of the machine that

takes out all the big stones.

CHERRY HEALEY: So you've
got a chopper, a digger,

a sieve, and a cleaner.

It's a very, very
clever tractor.

TONY BAMBRIDGE: It is, yeah.

CHERRY HEALEY: The
harvester drops them gently

into the trailer, so
they don't bruise.

Whoa, it's a potato party.

But only one variety is invited.

They're called premier, and
they're a commercial type

grown for food factories.

So what kind of potato
makes a good potato waffle?

TONY BAMBRIDGE: A
lovely round potato.

It's got a really
potato-ey taste.

Now, that sounds
really silly, but--

Tony, you're
the potato expert.

If you says it's got a potato
taste, then I'll buy it.

Tony harvests between
June and November.

The fresh tatties are
loaded onto trailers

and driven five miles
to the sorting barn.

Ah, here they are, so these have
come straight out of the field?

TONY BAMBRIDGE:
They have, indeed.

CHERRY HEALEY: It takes the
workers just two minutes

to sort through each ton.

TONY BAMBRIDGE:
Grading team have taken

all the greens
out, all the cracks

out, anything that was rotten.

Then we've sieved, screened
all of the small ones out.

CHERRY HEALEY: The little
ones go for animal feed,

while the large ones
are loaded onto a lorry,

ready for waffling.

All that hard work,
done and dusted.

GREGG WALLACE: From
here, the potatoes

travel an hour Southeast
to the factory,

where the first of today's
three deliveries of spuds

is entering the intake area.

Four different types are used,
including Cherry's premiers,

and they're all grown
within a 60 mile radius.

Greeting them is quality
control operator Sue Wood

Hey.

SUE WOOD: Hello.

GREGG WALLACE: Sue, you are the
star of the whole waffle making

process.

I am indeed, yes.

And that starts with potatoes?

SUE WOOD: Indeed.

There's no potatoes, Sue.

They're all in the lorry.

Can we get them out?

Of course.

GREGG WALLACE: The countdown
from spuds to waffles

starts now.

[countdown]

How long is this truck
going to take to unload?

It takes about 40 minutes.

What do you do when
it's not potato season?

Then they come from storage.

The last ones come
out of the ground

about October-November
time, and they are stored

in box stores and
long term stores,

ready for when we want them.

You get local potatoes
12 months of the year,

and every single
packet of waffle

is made with local potatoes.

That's right.

GREGG WALLACE: To check
this lot are up to scratch,

we need to give them
a quick once over.

Do you want me to get a sample?

Yes, please.

If you fill it right
up, that will be lovely.

GREGG WALLACE: Will that do?

SUE WOOD: That'll do.

GREGG WALLACE:
Wow, that's heavy.

Don't give me the
runaround, Sue.

I won't.

[laughing]

GREGG WALLACE: Quality
checking a tuber

sounds like it should be easy.

What have you got to
do, cut it and make

sure it's not moldy, right?

Well, that's the appliance
of science to make sure

we will get a decent mash.

Mash, yes, of course.

You make waffles out
of mashed potatoes.

We do, indeed.

So you have to make tons
of mashed potato, first?

Of course, yeah.

This is my sort of place.

[laughing]

Mashing comes later.

First, Sue test's their
sugar content by frying them

for three minutes.

Spuds are mostly
water and starch,

but they also
contain a tiny amount

of naturally occurring sugar.

And when heated, this sugar
caramelizes and browns

the surface.

Not really teatime, is it, Sue?

SUE WOOD: Any time is chip time.

GREGG WALLACE: So the more
sugar, the darker the waffle.

And that's not what you want?

No, that's not what we want.

Well, why?

Because when the
customer cooks them,

they don't want
them really dark.

They want a nice, golden brown,
and that is what we aim for.

And what should it be?

We're looking for
naughts and ones.

GREGG WALLACE: Naughts and ones?

SUE WOOD: Yeah,
what we don't want

is to see them up
here on the threes.

A number four
chip is a chip just

come back from torremolinos?

Yes.

No good at all?

No good for us.

GREGG WALLACE: Sue is looking
for a lower amount of sugar

around 10% less than your
average supermarket spud,

so how mine measure up?

May I?

SUE WOOD: Yes, of course.

GREGG WALLACE: I'd say
that's a naught bordering

towards double naught.
SUE WOOD: Yep.

Is that OK?

That's very good, yep.

So as long as it's naughty,
like a chip should be--

- Yes.
- --we're in business.

That's it.

Are we now ready
to make waffles?

Yes.

Thank you, Sue.
SUE WOOD: Thank you.

GREGG WALLACE: Can
I take one of these?

SUE WOOD: Help yourself.

[laughing]

[upbeat music]

GREGG WALLACE: My tatties are
released into the storage area

where they trundle along
40 meters of conveyors,

then zig-zag into one
of 10 super-sized bins,

where I'm meeting manufacturing
manager Paul Buck.

Paul!

Hello, Gregg.

You, I've heard,
are Mr. Waffle.

I've heard what you
don't know about waffles

you could write on a waffle.

That's correct, Gregg.
Yeah.

Bang on.

That's a beautiful sight.

A mountain of gently
cascading potatoes.

How many does this hopper hold?

So this hopper will
hold 25 tons of potatoes.

GREGG WALLACE: How
many waffles would

we get out of this hopper?

We'd get about
308,000 waffles.

[upbeat music]

GREGG WALLACE: That means
there's enough in one

of these bins to give everyone
in Nottingham a waffle for tea

tonight.

[upbeat music]

[upbeat music]

RUTH GOODMAN: It's a
much-repeated story.

In 1586, Walter Raleigh
returned from North America

with a unique present
for Queen Elizabeth I.

The legend goes that he
presented to the Virgin Queen

a potato from Virginia,
and that we've

been eating them ever since.

It's a lovely story, but
it's completely wrong.

[record scratches]

[mid-tempo music]

Sir Walter doesn't
deserve the credit

here because potatoes
didn't exist in Virginia

until after he died.

[mid-tempo music]

I've traveled to
Cambridge to meet

historian Dr. Emma
Spary to find out

who really gave us the spud.

So if Sir Walter Raleigh
is a bit of a red herring,

where on Earth do potatoes come
from, and how do they get here?

Well, they come
from South America.

About 5,000 BC, the
Peruvians started

to domesticate and to breed them
into all different varieties.

And you end up with something
a little bit like this.

RUTH GOODMAN: They're
extraordinary, aren't they?

I mean, look at that.

- DR. EMMA SPARY: Yes.
- Yeah.

I'm not sure I'd
know immediately

that that was a potato.

So I think, like, all the
English explorers, the Rallies,

the Drakes, all of that, they're
all going to North America.

DR. EMMA SPARY: Mhm.

If we want to think who's
going to South America,

that's got to be the Spanish.

Hasn't it?

That's absolutely right.

And they're first documented by
Spanish explorers in the 1530s.

[mid-tempo music]

RUTH GOODMAN: 10 years before
Raleigh first sailed to North

America, it was Spanish
conquistadors who

brought taters back to Europe.

[mid-tempo music]

They cultivated and traded them.

And over the next
200 years, they

became a popular garden plant.

But they weren't being grown
primarily for their tubers,

but for their flowers.

So if in Europe
they're mostly growing

potatoes for the flowers,
how do we end up eating them?

Well, they're not only
growing them for the flowers.

They were animal
fodder, for one thing.

That was quite a big deal.

But they certainly weren't
seen as human food.

RUTH GOODMAN: The spud
had an image problem.

But one man was to
change all that.

DR. EMMA SPARY: This is
Antoine-Augustin Parmentier,

who was--

Parmentier?

Parmentier, yes.

RUTH GOODMAN: This 18th
century French pharmacist

set about an ingenious
publicity campaign

to encourage people
to eat potatoes.

It began in print.

[speaking french]
Oh, I can't do it.

My French is terrible.

The treatise on the
cultivation and uses

of the potato, sweet potato,
and Jerusalem artichoke.

RUTH GOODMAN: He then
moved on to throw

some exclusive spud soiree.

He did things like
organize a series

of banquets in which many of
the dishes contained potatoes.

[mid-tempo music]

RUTH GOODMAN: So rather
than a British hero,

it turns out we have
Spanish explorers

and an enterprising
Frenchman to thank

for our favorite carbohydrate.

[mid-tempo music]

Merci, Monsieur Parmentier.

[mid-tempo music]

[mid-tempo music]

GREGG WALLACE: At the factory,
this morning's delivery

of potatoes is ready to be made
into a monster amount of mash.

[laughs]

They head to the preparation
room where, just like at home,

they need a good scrub.

First stop is the mud tank.

Oh, I love this.

I love this big
industrial stuff.

The spuds take a quick bath
in 1,000 liters of cold water,

which dissolves the loose mud.

[mid-tempo music]

Then they roll into
the wash wheel, which

spins them 60 times a minute.

[mid-tempo music]

This cleans them up by
dislodging any ingrained soil.

The dirty water is
filtered and recycled.

[mid-tempo music]

Do you know, by chance, how
many potatoes you're processing?

Yeah.

So at the moment,
we're processing

about 2.2 tons per hour.

With at just over
2 tons an hour,

how many waffles are you
hoping to make in a day?

We can do up to a
million waffles in a day.

But that's like
producing waffles

end-to-end about 59 miles.

Fabulous!

[upbeat music]

Sounds like a challenge to me.

Let's see if we could make
a million waffles today.

With our target set, we've
got a long way to go.

But first, Paul has a
tater challenge for me.

[upbeat music]

I want to see
how many potatoes

you can peel in 10 seconds.

You're going to count?

I'll count to 10.

On your marks, go.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Come on, Gregg.

Come on.

7, 8, 9, 10.

Almost a spud.

Well, almost half a spud.

So I've got a machine that
can do this in 10 seconds.

GREGG WALLACE: [laughs]

Should we go have a
look at the machine?

Love to have a look
at what can do that.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

[upbeat music]

GREGG WALLACE: I'm expecting
a scaled-up version

of a kitchen peeler.

But it's not as simple as that.

So here we've got
the steam peeler.

And it's the steam that's
taking the skins off?

No, no, no, no.

All the steam does
is loosen the skin.

GREGG WALLACE: The clean
spuds drop into a hopper.

Every 16 seconds, a
batch of 200 kilos

is released into
a rotating tank,

injected with high-pressure
steam at 190 degrees

C. As they spin, the steam
gets to the entire surface

of every tuber.

But if you're steaming them, you
must be starting to cook them.

You do start to cook
them very slightly just

on the outer ring.

But what we're trying to do is
shock the peel of the potato

into becoming soft while leaving
the rest of the potato solid.

[mid-tempo music]

GREGG WALLACE: A spud's
skin is on average

less than 1 millimeter thick.

So the machine only
steams them until the skin

is soft and loose, leaving
the rest of it uncooked.

That's quite precise for a
dirty, gray thing like that.

That is correct.

So that's now
finished its steam.

That's now going
to turn upside down

and drop the potatoes
out of the bottom.

Was that it?

That was it, yeah.

That was it?

That's 200 kilos
of potatoes done.

Then we go on to peeling.

[mid-tempo music]

GREGG WALLACE: 48 minutes
into the production process,

I'm about to get under
the skin of our taters.

So this machine here is
called a brush de-skinner.

And inside there is
six of these spinning

wildly and peeling the potato.

That looks like a
wet rolled-up carpet.

Do you feel like
you would want to walk

on that with no slippers on?

GREGG WALLACE: Oh.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And to you give me an example,
we've got a steamed potato.

And as you can see, the
peel just falls away.

If we haven't steamed the
potato, as you can see,

we don't peel the
potato very well.

GREGG WALLACE: Three tons
of peeled every hour,

shedding 450 kilos of skin.

The peel is sent off to become
fertilizer while the newly

naked spuds take a skinny dip.

This lot are well on their
way to becoming waffles.

[upbeat music]

CHERRY HEALEY: I put potatoes in
my shopping basket every week.

I kind of just find out
what's on offer and grab that.

I'll roast, chip, or boil
them all without thinking

about what type I'm using.

But does it really matter?

Meike Beck, Lifestyle
Cookery Director at "Good

Housekeeping," thinks it does.

Hi, Meike!

Hi, Cherry.

You are looking quite confused.

I've been cooking with
potatoes for a really long time

and I've never known the
difference between them.

MEIKE BECK: You don't need to
be embarrassed about not knowing

the different varieties.

But what you do need to know is
there are two types of potato.

There are floury
and there are waxy.

So how do you know if a
potato is waxy or floury?

MEIKE BECK: The
easiest way, really,

is to tell by their size.

Typically, the smaller
potatoes are waxy

and the larger
potatoes are floury.

Which potatoes do
you use for which food?

Why don't we take some
and go and find out?

All right.

Load up.

Thank you.

CHERRY HEALEY: We head
to Meike's test kitchen

to get to the root of
this potato puzzle.

But before we cook,
Meike has one more

tip to make sure
we haven't mixed

up our flouries and our waxies.

So if you get
yourself one of those,

Cherry, and one of those.

And have a go at peeling off
the skin with your thumb.

OK.

MEIKE BECK: Waxy
potatoes have thinner

skin, which means their skin
will rub off more simply.

CHERRY HEALEY: OK.

MEIKE BECK: Compare
that to the other one

and see what you find.

CHERRY HEALEY: That doesn't
come off at all easily.

So that's much thicker.

MEIKE BECK: Absolutely.

So a floury potato has a
thicker skin, typically.

[mid-tempo music]

CHERRY HEALEY: Now we're
clear what we've bought,

I want to know the
best way to cook them.

We're testing three
family classics.

Going to do some
roasties, we're

going to do boiling potatoes,
and we're going to do mashing.

So you're going to be dealing
with the King Edwards.

They're a really
great floury potato.

And I'm going to be using
the Charlotte, which

is this lovely waxy potato.

CHERRY HEALEY: The biggest
difference between these two

rivals is on the inside.

Floury potato typically has
about 20% to 22% starch in it.

And a waxy one has far less.

CHERRY HEALEY: The
cells of my floury ones

are more tightly packed
with starch than the waxies.

Brilliant.

Ta-da?

Ooh, there they go.
They're going to be good.

MEIKE BECK: [laughs]

There it is.

[laughs]

[upbeat music]

All right.

Do your thing, King Edwards.

MEIKE BECK: Let
the best one win.

CHERRY HEALEY: 45 minutes
later, our competing

roasties come out of the oven.

MEIKE BECK: Here we go.

Let's see.

CHERRY HEALEY: Oh wow,

MEIKE BECK: Golden perfection.

CHERRY HEALEY: Hey
there, good looking.

Shall we see how these are?

These-- I think-- god,
they look amazing.

[laughs]

I mean, so delicious.

Floury, soft.

But crispy on the outside.

The starch granules
in my King Edwards

have expanded in
the cooking process,

forcing open the spud
cells and creating

a light, fluffy texture.

[upbeat music]

Welcome about Meike's
waxy Charlottes?

They're quite dense.

Exactly.

[upbeat music]

They have 6% less starch.

So they don't soften as
much and produce a harder

roasty with a drier feel.

[upbeat music]

If I was looking for a
nice, traditional roast,

I'd be disappointed.

So far, it's
flouries 1, waxies 0.

Onto the second test, boiling.

Carefully

After 20 minutes
in boiling water,

it's clear that my
floury King Edwards just

aren't the right choice here.

I seem to have a
kind of potato soup.

MEIKE BECK: Exactly.

Because what happens with a
floury potato when it cooks

is that the cells
pop open and it

keeps on taking
in all that water,

and they completely fall apart.

Whereas the waxy ones, they
don't let as much water

in when they're cooking.

So they stay in
much better shape.

I think that's 1-all.

MEIKE BECK: 1-all.

CHERRY HEALEY: Now
for our final test,

mash, where the spud
has been squashed,

releasing the starch granules.

Oh.

I don't want to be
offensive, but that

looks like wallpaper paste.

It's so gluey and dense.

MEIKE BECK: It is.

Isn't it?

That is what you get if you
make a mash with a waxy potato.

And that was my
Charlotte potato.

You end up working it so hard
to get it smooth that you've

effectively made potato glue.

[laughs]

CHERRY HEALEY:
Waxies need so much

pounding to open the cells,
the released starches

end up matting together.

So we're back to our nice,
fluffy King Edward potatoes.

Cook them until they're
just about to fall apart,

but not waterlogged, and
you've got good mash.

CHERRY HEALEY: But
for perfect mash,

Meike has one last
trick up her apron.

It is a ricer.

And basically, it is designed
to work that potato as little

as possible.

CHERRY HEALEY: In the ricer, the
tater cells are gently broken

apart rather than smashed open.

Less force produces
a fluffier texture.

[upbeat music]

You can see how
smooth it is already

without putting much work in.

Right.

So you just want to
stir in the butter, milk,

and whatever flavorings,
and you're done.

CHERRY HEALEY:
Let's have a taste.

[upbeat music]

It's perfectly seasoned.

It's smooth.

But it's still got a nice
kind of grainy, potato-iness.

That is the perfect mash.

MEIKE BECK: 2 unto you.

[laughs] Game set and
mash to my King Edwards.

[upbeat music]

GREGG WALLACE: 49 minutes
since my potatoes arrived,

they've been washed and peeled.

Now they turn towards the dicer.

These spuds are floury,
which as Cherry discovered,

means they'll make great mash.

[upbeat music]

So to make the
perfect mashed potato,

we need to chop the
potatoes up into cubes

of all the same size.

So about half an inch.

They've all got to be the
same size because they've all

got to cook at the same time.

Exactly.

It's like making mash at home.

Exactly.

So this is our dicer.

So this is the machine, though
it's not in use at the moment.

The potato is coming down here.

It goes into this rotating drum
which is spinning at speed.

And on this side
here is a blade that

will basically chop it
into fritters, so slice

it as it's spinning round.

It then goes into
these blades here.

But that fritter would
then get cut into chips.

And then it hits those
blades at the top

there where the chips
will be cut horizontally.

And that'll give me my
half-inch cube pieces.

[mid-tempo music]

GREGG WALLACE: The raw taters
into the drum, which spins

them 1,200 times per minute.

[mid-tempo music]

They're pushed against the
first blade, which slices them.

These slices meet a
set of rotating blades

which divide them into batons.

And spinning circular
blades give us our cubes.

Our spud cubes are dropped
onto a vibrating belt.

Oh, I like that.

Oh, I do like that.

Why is it vibrating?

PAUL BUCK: What we want to do is
accelerate our cubes of potato

onto this belt. So
we separate them out.

It goes fast to separate them?

Yes, yes.

GREGG WALLACE: Once there's
some space between the cubes,

six cameras take
millimeter-accurate pictures

of every individual one to check
for defects like black spots

or bits of peel.

Ha ha ha!

And every time
you hear that gun

fire, that's an error rejector
rejecting a cube of a potato.

[crackling]

Look, I'm not a
very clever man.

I'm a practical man.

It's very difficult to accept
that six cameras inside there

are doing that, spotting
them at that speed.

And not only spotting
them, but shooting them up.

PAUL BUCK: Yeah, it is.
Yeah.

GREGG WALLACE: Look at it!

[upbeat music]

I'm following the
spotless cubes,

but I can't help thinking
there's something missing.

I don't want to be funny.

I've seen a lot of
waffle-making process with you.

I haven't seen
anybody else working.

You're the only bloke I've met.

Well, we're a highly
automated factory.

So the whole
waffle-making processes

is only made by seven people.

Seven?

Seven people.

[upbeat music]

GREGG WALLACE: I don't
know where they're hiding.

But can the Spudtacular Seven
make a million waffles today?

I'm heading to the
blancher to find out.

Inside this machine, the
cold cubes are warmed

in water at 85 degrees C.

[upbeat music]

How long are they in there for?

They're in there
for about two minutes.

Well, why do you
blanch them at all

if it's only two minutes?

Well, we just want to get
the potato warm enough to get

ready to be steam cooked.

What would happen
if you didn't?

They'd just turn to mush.

[mid-tempo music]

GREGG WALLACE: It's full steam
ahead as the blanched spuds

go straight into the cooker.

Inside, the warm cubes are
heated by 190-degree steam.

The chunks are so
small they only

take three minutes to cook.

Cooked potato.

And now we have
our cooked potato.

Bit bland.

It's a bit bland.

We've not added our
secret spices yet.

Right there.

I'll get [inaudible] butter.

[laughs]

What do we do now?

Now we're going to mash them.

Mash them.

[mid-tempo music]

[upbeat music]

GREGG WALLACE: It's
taken 56 minutes

to get my spuds to the masher.

[upbeat music]

And here we have
our mashed potato.

Yes!

At last.

What have you got?

Oh, we have mashers.

A big machine mashing like that?

No, we don't do that.

What we've got here
is a hydraulic pump

that pushes our diced potato
through a ricer screen.

[upbeat music]

Now, this screen is placed
in the end of this tube.

And that push shaft comes
across really slowly and just

gently pushes the mash through.

GREGG WALLACE: That's
actually quite fine holes.

Yeah.

They're 1.5 mill.

GREGG WALLACE: These small
holes will ensure our mash

has a super-smooth texture.

If you'd like to put
your hand in there,

you can actually
feel the consistency.

- Can I?
- Yeah.

Be careful.

It's a bit warm.

- It's still at 80 degrees.
- Whoa!

- That is red-hot, mate.
- Yeah.

That's 80 degrees.

That is super
light and fluffy.

Yeah, mate.

That's a good consistency.

OK, I like that.

I really like that.

[mid-tempo music]

From here, it's squeezed through
two 30-kilo metal rollers

onto a belt.

And the mash has been
flattened to 1.5 mill thickness

so I can start bringing
the temperature down.

Why do you want it to be cool?

I can't make a
waffle with hot mash.

[mid-tempo music]

GREGG WALLACE: The
underside of the belt

is sprayed with a coolant
which chills the mash on top.

[mid-tempo music]

The thinner the layer of
mash, the faster it cools.

Colder mash is firmer and
holds its shape better.

Is that cool?

That's now cool.
So--

May I?

Feel free to touch it.

That is fridge cold.

PAUL BUCK: So that was
80 degrees at that end.

What, about 10 yards away?

Yep.

And that's now lower
than 10 degrees.

That, in such a short space
of time, I think is remarkable.

57 minutes into production.

So far, nothing's been
added to this potato

to make it waffle-y versatile.

But that's all about to change.

[mid-tempo music]

My spuds have been
mashed and cooled.

Right-o.

Getting there.

What now?
Right.

So this is where
we're going to weigh

in 280 kilos of mashed potato.

How many waffles
will that give us?

About 5,000.

Right.

And now what we've got, Gregg,
is you've got a light flashing.

So what I want you to do is
we need to add some spice.

One are these bags?

Yep.

PAUL BUCK: We've literally got
one minute to get the spice in.

Why?

We'll never make
a million waffles

if we don't do things quickly.

[laughs] The spice mix
contains the all-important

starch, 2.2 kilos of potato
granules, a kilo of salt,

and 2 kilos of white pepper.

That's great.

[laughs] I think that's in.

And then we press our
Dry's Added button

there that's flashing.

There you go.

And then if you look there,
you can see our mixing process

is now starting.

[mid-tempo music]

GREGG WALLACE: Potato
granules like starch help

firm up the mix.

[mid-tempo music]

The balance of starch
and potato granules

has to be just right to
get the best texture.

We've got obviously
a load of potato.

But you put potato granules in.

And that's all to
help it form a shape?

Yes.

[upbeat music]

GREGG WALLACE: The
last ingredient

is 8 kilos of a plant
extract called cellulose.

It's derived from tree fibers.

This creates a
barrier preventing

the finished waffle soaking up
too much oil when it's fried.

That remains mostly
potato, though.

Doesn't it?

Yes.

So a waffle is 87% potato.

It soaks up a little
bit of oil, which is 7%.

And the rest is made
up with the spice

mix and the plant extract.

[upbeat music]

GREGG WALLACE: It
mixes for 45 seconds,

then drops down into bins.

[upbeat music]

You know what we're
going to do now?

We're now going to
go make some waffles.

But we need to be quick.

At last.

[mid-tempo music]

GREGG WALLACE: After
nearly 64 minutes,

it's the moment I've
been waiting for.

Our mash is finally ready
to be turned into waffles.

And Paul is a man on a mission
to make a million today.

[mid-tempo music]

The 140-kilo tub of mash
is emptied into a hopper.

Then it's pumped
through to the extruder

where it's forced through
a metal plate, emerging

in a very familiar shape.

[upbeat music]

There we are.

Waffles.

It's taken a long time,
but I recognize those.

Yep.

[upbeat music]

And if you look down
underneath there,

you can see the
waffles being cut.

So currently we're doing
750 waffles a minute.

What the cutter is doing
is that's on a shaft,

and the cutter is just moving
backwards and forwards.

And the pure speed is-- that
wire is cutting that waffle.

GREGG WALLACE: Yeah.
That's not sharp.

Not sharp.
No heat.

Nothing.

[upbeat music]

Then what we do is we just spray
the waffles with a little bit

of light mist of water.

Just water?

Just water.

GREGG WALLACE: Why would
you spray them with water?

PAUL BUCK: What we
want to do is we

want to create a nice crisp
edge around the waffle.

So when you spray
it with cold water,

then it hits the grapeseed
oil at 195 degrees,

you get a nice
sizzle effect which

causes a nice crispy seal round
the outside of the waffle.

[upbeat music]

GREGG WALLACE: The mash shapes
enter the 10 meter-long fryer.

They are cooking.

They are indeed.

[upbeat music]

GREGG WALLACE:
Inside, the waffles

are held between two belts
that keep them submerged

to ensure an even cook.

[upbeat music]

They fry for just 36 seconds.

[upbeat music]

As I watch these go
past, what I'm seeing

is hundreds of tea
times all over the place

going past my eyes.

I'll look at them and I can't
help think to myself, what's

going to be on top of that one?

What's on top of that one?

What's going to end
up on top of that one?

[upbeat music]

The freshly-cooked waffles
are now ready to be

turned into frozen waffles.

And to ensure they're
preserved at their best,

it's a race to get
them into the freezer

where they chill at -38
degrees C for 20 minutes.

Our 25 tons of potato
have made 308,000 waffles.

And they all need
to be packaged,

ready for the
supermarket shelves.

A vibrating belt nudges
them into uniform lines.

I find it very comforting
that no matter how

high-tech the machinery gets,
there's a human with a stick

having to sort it all out.

Two workers poke any
stacked waffles into a line.

I love this.

I find it waffle-y exciting.

But if we rely on human fingers,
we won't hit our 1 million

target.

[upbeat music]

That is, like, the fastest
croupier in the world.

It's like dealing
endless decks of cards.

The frozen potato
frames are picked up off

the belt individually by
six pairs of robot arms

and placed into groups of 10.

But it's impossible to get your
head round, the speed of it.

It's impossible to
understand how that-- how

does it know where they are?

Are the waffles always
in the same place?

No.

If you look down, Gregg, you can
see that red line, that scanner

that goes across there.

That scanner is
taking a photograph

of every single waffle.

And to see that in action,
we've got this screen.

And there's a photograph
of every single waffle

that's been packed.

GREGG WALLACE: That is like
a crazy game of dominoes.

PAUL BUCK: Yep.

So it's taking a
photograph of each waffle.

But it's also putting together
a picture of the conveyor belt.

PAUL BUCK: Yeah.

GREGG WALLACE: The
first pair of robots

pick the waffles closest
to them on the belt.

The next ones pick
the ones further

away so that the last pair at
the end only have a few to do.

And they never miss a waffle.

[upbeat music]

[upbeat music]

I absolutely love potatoes.

But I'm worried that they
might not be that good for me.

Too many calories and not
enough vitamins and minerals.

Am I being unfair to
my poor little spuddy?

[upbeat music]

I'm on the streets
of London to find

out how people rank the
potato in comparison

to other vegetables.

Which has got the most calories?

Wow.

Potato, beetroot
probably, and then carrot.

Potato, carrot, beetroot.

CHERRY HEALEY: 100% of the
people I spoke to rated

the potato most calorific.

Which has got the
most vitamin C?

Vitamin C?

WOMAN: Beetroot, number 1.

Because it's a superfood.

Well, I'll get
carrot on that one.

I'll guess carrot.

I would have thought the
carrots, and then the beetroot,

and then potatoes.

CHERRY HEALEY: Unanimous again.

Potato is perceived as
bottom for vitamin C.

I'm meeting King's
College London

dietician Sophie Medlin--

Hi, Sophie.

Hi.

CHERRY HEALEY: --to see if the
results of my street survey

stack up in the lab.

[mid-tempo music]

OK, Sophie.

So it seems that people really
do think that the potato is

the king of calories.

Is that true?

Well, we're going to do
an experiment and find out.

And we're going to use
our bomb calorimeter.

CHERRY HEALEY: This
machine accurately measures

the calorie content of foods.

It does it by burning up a
sample of dried foodstuff.

In this case, potato.

Shall we set fire to the potato?

I think we should.

Down.

[groans] After 45 fiery
seconds, the results are in.

100 grams of peeled
potato has 82

calories, more than double that
of the beetroot and the carrot.

So there really are a lot
more calories in the potato.

Is that a bad thing?

It very much depends
on your lifestyle.

For example, young children
need lots of energy.

And potato is a good,
cheap source of energy.

Same for people who are
doing a lot of sport.

If you have a very sedentary
life, if you do an office job,

you maybe don't need
so many calories.

And so you maybe want to
think about cutting back.

But enjoying potato as
part of a balanced diet.

It is great.

And we shouldn't feel guilty
or demonize the potato.

[mid-tempo music]

CHERRY HEALEY: So my
street testers were

right about calorie content.

But what about vitamin C?

So vitamin C is an essential
nutrient in the body,

and it has lots of really
important functions.

So it's an antioxidant vitamin.

And the other thing that's
really important about it

is that it's really essential
for our immune system.

This is a sample of
potato that I've ground

up using the pestle and mortar.

It's like a very, very
bad potato smoothie.

That's right.

CHERRY HEALEY: I add drops of
this dye to my potato water

until it turns pale pink.

By measuring the
amount used, Sophie

can calculate that
this bowl of potato

has 14 milligrams of
vitamin C, way above both

the beetroot and the carrot.

That's mind-blowing,
because I look

at that color and I think--

We all associate
vitamin C with orange.

So I cannot believe
that that piece

of potato has more vitamin
C than that piece of carrot.

And what's amazing is it's not
just a little bit more vitamin

C. It's three times.

More than three times.

CHERRY HEALEY: My testers
couldn't have been more wrong.

High in vitamin C, the potato
packs a real nutritional punch.

But it's also a great
source of potassium.

It has more potassium
than a banana.

Potato?

SOPHIE MEDLIN: Yep.

And potassium is essential in
our bodies for muscle function,

for muscle contraction.

So it helps our hearts to
beat and our lungs to breathe.

CHERRY HEALEY: So
how do you make

the most of these
all-important nutrients?

What's important to
remember about potatoes

is that when you
cook them in water,

vitamin C is water soluble.

So you'll lose lots
of the vitamin C

in the cooking process.

So I would have thought that
boiled potatoes would have been

the healthiest way to eat them.

But actually, you lose a lot
of the nutritional value.

SOPHIE MEDLIN: That's right.

Yeah.

CHERRY HEALEY: The best way
to lock the nutrients in

is baking.

The skin on the jacket
potato adds extra nutrition,

so you get lots of
extra fiber, which

feeds the beneficial
bacteria in your large bowel.

And you maintain all of the
nutrition inside the potato.

So baked potato absolutely
the best way to eat your spud.

SOPHIE MEDLIN: Yep.

CHERRY HEALEY: Good news
for fans of jackets.

And the chip lovers
out there won't

be disappointed either, as long
as you don't overdo the oil.

The great thing about wedges
is you've still got the skin.

So that gives you the fiber
that you need to keep you full.

And you've retained all
of the micronutrients.

So you've got all the vitamin
C and all the potassium

still in there.

And it's a great way
to enjoy potatoes.

Amazing.

[upbeat music]

It turns out that the potato's
bad rep isn't deserved.

So if prepared in the
right way, the potato

can be a real dietary hero.

I feel like me
and my best spuddy

are getting back together.

I'm going to turn that
frown upside down.

[mid-tempo music]

[upbeat music]

GREGG WALLACE: Just two
minutes after my waffles left

the freezer, they're
speedily pushed into boxes

to keep them ice-cold.

This is their final stop in
the factory on their journey

to the nation's dinner tables.

Ta-da, waffles.

[upbeat music]

That's just 101 minutes since
I saw potatoes being unloaded.

Now the pressure's on to get
my frozen waffles onto a lorry.

[upbeat music]

There we are.

That's our waffles
getting loaded.

Have they come out of
the frozen store here?

No.

There's no frozen store.

Wow.

So you are making, boxing,
shipping continuously.

24/7.

Wow.

Now, that is impressive.

But was it fast enough to make
one million waffles today?

How many waffles is that?

On the lorry, that's about a
quarter of a million waffles.

How many trucks are
going to leave here today?

Four trucks will
leave here today.

With 250,000 waffles on them.

Does that mean you've
made your million waffles?

They're just under a million
waffles in the last 24 hours.

We've done about 980,000.

Pretty close, though.
Weren't we?

Yeah, we were pretty close.

I mean, no need to be
embarrassed about that.

No, no.

It was a good effort.

GREGG WALLACE: Paul's
not a millionaire today.

But that hasn't
dampened his spirits.

It's not just food
manufacturing for you.

Is it?

It's the waffle.

Yeah, absolutely.

And how do you feel when
you see that on the shelf?

Brilliant.

Sense of achievement and pride.

[mid-tempo music]

There is the last
waffle on the truck.

Yep.

It's been a
fantastic adventure.

Good.

I'm pleased you enjoyed it.

[laughs]

[mid-tempo music]

From the factory, our waffles
head to a distribution center.

From here, they're
sent all over the UK,

and as far afield
as Malta and Cyprus.

But their biggest fans are
in the Republic of Ireland.

[upbeat music]

This is an enormous food
processing plant basically

making mountains
of mashed potato

that they form
into waffle shapes.

But what really astounds
me is how few people there

are employed in making them.

This means the responsibility
for millions of families'

waffles are in the hands
of just a few workers

here in this factory
in Lowestoft.

[mid-tempo music]