Some Assembly Required (2007–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - Bowling Balls/Jelly Beans/Toilets - full transcript
For all the everyday things...
there's the story of
how it comes to be.
Hello. I'm Brian Unger.
BLOOMFIELD: I'm
Professor Lou Bloomfield.
UNGER: From the drawing
board to the assembly line,
it's how the ordinary is
actually extraordinary.
Today on "Some
Assembly Required,"
bowling balls, jelly
beans, and toilets.
If you think the bowling
ball is just a glorified marble,
- then think again.
- Yeah!
From the core to
the finger holes,
everything about
this ball is engineered
to improve your odds of
bowling a strike every time.
[Rocket whistles]
[Explosion]
How is a bowling ball
designed to help you
have the game of your life?
We're at Ebonite,
a world leader in
bowling balls, to find out.
I'm here with
Jennifer and Loretha.
We're at the very, very head of
this assembly for bowling balls
at Ebonite in Hopkinsville,
Kentucky, folks.
And this is essentially where
we find the nucleus of the ball,
where that gets formed.
And all these mixtures
of resins, these plastics,
are all brought
together to this tube.
Now, I'm just gonna
fill this mold here
with the resin that
becomes the core,
and, eventually, they're
gonna get baked and hardened.
Once solidified,
this resin becomes the
center, or core, of the ball.
Yeah, this is the core.
There are nearly two
dozen core shapes
in the Ebonite stock room.
And it's the shape of each one
that defines how
the ball's gonna roll.
Hey, Billy, can I have
one of those cores?
Yeah.
So, this is the
beginning of the ball.
Let me ask the obvious question.
Why is it not perfectly round?
Well, to answer that question,
we first got to look
at the idea of mass.
BLOOMFIELD: Even
though the bowling ball
is classified by weight,
the real issue isn't
how gravity pulls on it,
but how hard it is to shake and
twist as it goes down the lane.
Some balls, like house balls,
have a perfectly
round core inside
and, therefore, a
perfectly symmetrical axis.
Those balls roll exactly
as you'd expect every time.
But balls with
asymmetrical cores
twist more readily in one
direction than another.
So these balls don't
roll down the lane.
They actually wobble.
It gives it, essentially,
power steering.
So you're creating an imbalance.
An imperfect ball allows
the player more control.
Right. It's a perfectly
imperfect ball.
UNGER: To take advantage
of this power steering,
it's crucial to know
how that core is
positioned inside the ball
and which way it
will ultimately spin.
Ah, a fresh basket of cores.
A core twists along three axes.
The "X" and "Y" axes dictate
the all-important wobble,
so they're measured and marked.
We're ready to move on.
Hey, where do they put
the finger holes in this?
Then the axes are drilled.
Let it fall right in there.
UNGER: I'm just gonna
suction some of this resin
as it's coming off here.
Two holes, a big
one and a small one.
And voilà.
We have the hole.
Very important.
Now, eventually,
this little doodad will be
positioned inside this hole.
This pin will stay in place
throughout the entire
process, layer after layer,
from core to veneer,
pointing to this hole.
But what exactly
is it pointing out?
All right, gentlemen.
Lou and I are with Ron Hickland,
who's the chief
engineer here at Ebonite.
I've drilled this hole,
and I essentially know
that it's gonna tell the
pro shop, eventually,
where this core
is inside the ball.
But why drill it here?
Why not drill it over
here or over here?
Things you drilled
are identifying the
principal axes of this core.
This is the hardest axis
about which to twist the bore.
This is the easiest
one, the big hole.
The pro shop needs to know
where these two
points are located
so that they can best
orient your finger holes
for control over that wobble.
Really, what's going on here
is, the orientation of these holes
is gonna allow you ball
motion for some type of hook.
The more hook you have, the
more entry angle you can achieve.
The more entry
angle you can achieve,
the likelier you
are to get a strike.
So, essentially, it's
an "X" on the map
to the guy who
drills the finger holes,
telling him or her how to
get the most out of your ball.
Exactly.
So, what happens next?
So, now that we've
crafted our core,
it's time to turn this
odd-looking shape into a ball.
And for that, we mark our holes,
center the core into a
second, spherical mold,
and fill it in to
form the outer core.
This is my favorite
part at Ebonite.
Paper clips hold that together.
Sounds easy, right? Not quite.
Every ball has to be 27
inches in circumference,
but it can weigh anywhere
between 6 and 16 pounds.
So how do you
make same-size balls
with such varying weights?
Well, it all comes
down to tiny bubbles.
So Ebonite's task next is
to create a spherical object
without undoing all the
engineering of that core.
Well, to do that, they
wrap the inner core,
the core we've been
dealing with, in an outer core
that is a much lower density.
Ebonite uses filler made
of tiny glass microbubbles.
They're like mini
Christmas ornaments,
as light as Styrofoam but
extremely durable and tough.
To get the balls
to the right weight,
they mix these glass bubbles
with another, denser filler.
Varying the proportion
of these two fillers
changes the ball's weight
without changing its size.
To get the most out of
the ball's power steering,
it's critical not only
where you place the core,
but how it's centered.
We can't have that sticking out.
How's that? Okay?
- MAN: Too short.
- Too short?
- You cut it too short.
- I cut it too short.
He's trying to center the mass,
but he's also trying
to orient it exactly right.
HICKLAND: Ultimately, when
you have the proper orientation,
you're gonna create
what's called a top weight.
The top weight is
used by the pro shop
to know exactly how
deep to drill the finger holes
so when it's all said and done,
you can get the ball balanced
the way you want it to be.
As the resin dries inside
the mold, our creations
are actually starting to
look like bowling balls.
Well, I'm here
with Brian Hickey,
who's the director of
operations here at Ebonite.
And what we have
here is our mold.
We poured our
resin filler in here.
Now, Brian, how do
I get this thing apart?
- Crack it like an egg.
- Crack it like an egg? Really?
The introduction of the
asymmetrical core in the '90s
gave bowling a
big popularity boost.
It was easier to bowl a strike,
so more and more
people came out to play.
Now some 70 million Americans
hit the lanes every year.
So to keep up with
the growing sport,
Ebonite makes up
to 5,000 balls a day.
That's a lot of balls.
Once again, Discovery's
slowing up production...
in American industry. [Laughs]
At the Ebonite
factory in Kentucky,
our bowling balls have
the power-steering core.
Now we need some traction,
so we put the ball into a third
mold and pour in some plastic.
This is no ordinary
plastic coating.
It's chemically constructed
to give the ball a
firm grip on the lane,
allowing the bowler
even more control.
Hey, Alicia, give
the professor a drink.
Look at that. It looks
like red wine here.
It looks like blood.
When she served it up to me,
it consisted of polyol molecules
and isocyanate molecules,
and they are now reacting with
one another like crazy in there.
As the molecules grow, it
becomes more and more viscous,
until, finally, it's so viscous
that if I begin pouring it...
it should harden
right before our eyes.
UNGER: Cool!
Can I touch that?
BLOOMFIELD: You can
touch it. It's already gelled.
BLOOMFIELD: The other
cool thing, which you can't see,
is the third material
in here, the plasticizer.
At this temperature, the
plasticizer starts evaporating,
leaving microscopic
holes in the ball's surface.
UNGER: These holes
will soak up some of the oil
that coats the lane
and create traction.
Traction allows the
ball to change rotation
onto its preferred axis
and hook so that it hits
the pins from the side.
This side area, known
as the pocket, is key,
because it gives the best angle
for strike after
strike after strike.
It only takes two minutes
for the polyurethane coating
to harden on the ball's surface,
but it's still got a lot
more baking to do.
The plastic, that urethane
outer shell, is still forming,
the chemicals
are still reacting,
and this ball continues
to get harder and harder.
In the oven, the veneer
cooks, and the plasticizer
continues evaporating to
achieve the right porosity.
In this case, the
more porous it is,
the better the performance.
The balls pass from
the piping-hot oven
right into the fridge.
That feels real nice.
This cools the plastic down so
we can finish making our balls.
The exposed pinheads
are now the markings
that the pro shop will look for
when they drill
the finger holes.
The only way to
prove that this ball
has the high performance
we claim, the power steering,
is to test it.
BLOOMFIELD: If the
ball is made correctly,
the spin will eventually
rotate the ball
onto its preferred axis,
marked, still, by the
pinhead and this etched sign.
Ready? Get set. Go.
Look what's over here now.
It loves that axis. That's
the power steering.
This ball turns its rotation
to spin about that pin.
UNGER: We got power
steering. We got traction.
Now we need some speed.
That's where polishing comes in.
This process gives
the ball its tread,
helping it slice through
the lane's oily finish
and speed toward the pins.
The result, incredible
striking power.
To polish the ball, we first
smooth over any rough patches.
This grinder shaves
1/10 of an inch
off the circumference
in just 30 seconds.
The balls are
weighed one last time
and then showered in polish.
The oil conditions of the lane
will then determine the
amount of polish you want.
If the ball's too glossy,
it will hydroplane on
a heavily oiled lane.
This ball may look finished,
but there's one more step.
ROGER: We'll get your hole size,
and then we'll go back there
and start drilling the holes.
Don't make bowling
harder than it is.
I like the way you think, Roger.
All the calculating
and engineering,
the physics, and chemistry,
it all comes down to this
final stop on the assembly line,
the pro shop,
where they can literally make
or break a bowler's game.
Reach around my arm right
there, and let's see how you do.
- You ready?
- Yeah, I'm ready.
- Do you want me to grab your...
- [Laughter]
The pro shop
measures our fingers
and the span of our grip
then uses the two
axes, still clearly marked,
to map out the holes.
I'm ready. Let's go, Rog.
Then he drills.
Now, if they're off on
their measurements,
even the highest-performing ball
thrown by the most expert
bowler will miss its mark.
Every model of every Ebonite
ball goes down these lanes
to answer the very
critical question,
will this ball do what
it's designed to do?
HICKLAND: This is kind of really
where the rubber meets the road.
So, how do these guys
measure and analyze their balls?
They use telemetry...
What we have is a
tracking system here,
and what it does
is it uses video
to actually record the
ball going down the lane.
Recorded and analyzed
against the expectations
of that particular ball.
As the ball goes down a
lane, it collects the information
as to where the
ball is on the lane,
and then what you
can actually see
is the ball path
that the ball took.
It allows us to see exactly how
the core relates to the cover,
relates to the ball, relates
to the lane condition
as the bowler's using it.
Oh. Cool.
My custom-made bowling
ball has the right telemetry.
Where's the thumb hole?
[Man laughs]
But will it help get my
game out of the gutter?
'Cause it's bad.
When I'm down
here, I still got the ball.
So when I get ready
to come through here,
thumb comes out, follow
through with the fingers.
You just opened up a
whole new world for me.
- Then you're able to guide it.
- Wow.
I'm learning here
that the right ball
still won't strike if it's
in the wrong hands.
But with some
really good coaching,
it all starts coming together.
You're gonna do all
this. It's got to be clean.
All right.
And, eventually, well,
it's not a perfect game.
- [Laughter]
- Yes!
But I am very proud.
And I'm gonna enjoy this moment
because it's the last time
it's ever gonna happen.
This could be the most
highly engineered product
on the face of the planet.
Fairfield, California,
is home to the
world-renowned Jelly Belly.
What makes a Jelly Belly
more than an ordinary jelly bean
are gourmet flavors
that, amazingly, taste
just like the real thing.
Piña colada, strawberry,
whatever your taste,
it all starts with
a simple test.
At Jelly Belly, the first
step in composing a flavor
is pretty low-tech.
Humans and their
taste buds and noses
sample various flavors
and pick the one they like.
This is what you might
call molecular gastronomy.
Every flavor you've ever
tasted tastes that way
because of specific
molecules it contains.
Lemons.
They smell like lemons
largely because of a
molecule called limonene.
And they taste tart because
of three other molecules,
citric acid and
vitamins A and C.
Pear starts with butyl acetate,
cotton candy with
methyl furaneol,
and coconut with
gamma-octalactone.
Once the staff settles
on the flavor of choice,
then the process moves
on to a gas chromatograph.
It analyzes the flavor's
chemical composition
and generates a recipe.
These ingredients
form the recipes
that eventually produce
Jelly Bellys in the billions.
So, who's the man
behind the bean?
His name is Herm Rowland.
Herm, you're
C.E.O. of Jelly Belly?
- ROWLAND: Yeah.
- You're a force of nature.
When you walk in the room,
you can just feel your energy.
Do you ever walk
in here and just say,
"Make me banana-cream pie, and
I want it by the end of the week"?
No. I wouldn't do that.
But you have how many flavors?
Well, there's 50 official,
but we probably
make 100 altogether,
with all the different
seasonal flavors.
They even make a few
flavors that are, well, disgusting.
UNGER: You don't
really eat this, do you?
ROWLAND: Oh,
sure. Eat it. It's good.
It's right on.
- Isn't it right on?
- Mmm, vomit.
- Oh!
- [Laughs]
It's okay to spit.
Mm, yeah, vomit,
a flavor based on
the Harry Potter craze
is, believe it or
not, a top seller.
Now, if that's not gross enough
for you, how about earwax?
Normally, you'll go to a
flavor company and say,
"Get me earwax."
"Well, earwax.
What's that taste like?"
Everybody's earwax
tastes different, right?
So, I let my ears go
for a couple weeks,
and then I dug 'em out
and mixed it up and tasted it.
From this lab and, yeah,
even the boss's ears
comes Jelly Belly
flavors-turned-confections.
At the heart of
every Jelly Belly
is four ingredients.
Water, corn syrup,
corn starch, and sugar.
- This is where it starts?
- MAN: This is.
In the, uh...
- In our kitchen.
- The kitchen?
It comes from this, sort of,
big, heated cauldron of, uh...
- Corn syrup...
- Corn syrup.
- Sugar...
- Sugar.
Starch, water.
- It's a slurry.
- A slurry, of course.
And then you pump it through
these pipes and down in here.
MAN: That's correct.
UNGER: Oh, here it
comes. Check this out.
It's starting to fill up with...
Kind of looks like turkey gravy.
This is the first ingredient
I add to the slurry.
It's a highly
concentrated flavor
we generated back in the lab.
This amount of flavor
and this amount of color
will color and flavor over
400 pounds of bean centers.
This is enough for 400
pounds of Jelly Belly beans?
- That's correct.
- Just that much?
This is kind of like a nuclear
bomb of cherry, isn't it?
MAN: It's getting there.
This is enough color for the
same 400 pounds of beans?
- That's correct.
- All right, so in we go.
MAN: Try to hit the vortex.
UNGER: Wow. That
thing goes red pretty fast.
MAN: We'll fire off the switch
and let it head down to
be deposited in our molds.
UNGER: So, we're gonna
send this downstairs?
MAN: Yes, we are.
All these kitchen cauldrons
need to be synchronized.
So, as our slurry level drops,
a sensor alerts a
central computer.
Then part of our mix
goes to storage for cooling,
and that's gonna be
used later in the process.
This is where you can see
the Jelly Belly bean taking
shape for the first time.
It is injected into these
molds made of cornstarch.
So, why do they use cornstarch?
Well, it's porous,
and that soaks up moisture
to help speed up the drying.
Here, everything moves fast.
These injectors here
spit out bean centers
at the rate of more
than 35,000 a minute.
There are two of these machines
cranking out more than
4 million beans an hour.
You look mesmerized, Lou.
It's kind of like
watching the ocean.
Here's my question
for you... Captain.
The bean is rounded on the
top. It's rounded on the sides.
Now, why doesn't
gravity just flatten the bean
and push it down like a pancake?
Because of surface tension.
The surface of any liquid
acts as an elastic membrane.
When gravity tries
to flatten the bean,
the bean's surface stretches,
and surface tension fights back,
rounding the top of the
bean like this water balloon.
Rounded just right,
the Jelly Bellys are poured
down a conveyor belt
and sent through a steam
oven, like a Jelly Belly sauna.
It heats 'em up to 80 degrees
and prepares them
for the next step.
UNGER: Take a look at this.
This is the center
of a Jelly Belly bean.
And right now it is
more jelly than bean,
as compared to this,
the finished product
of the same flavor.
It's about 40% bigger.
Just like you or me,
you add a little sugar,
and you get fatter.
- Two scoops?
- MAN: Shake it on there.
In this process
called engrossing,
they add four layers of sugar.
That's gonna make
our bean 40% bigger.
Oh, look at that.
Loads and loads of
carbohydrate goodness.
BARRY: Now, come
down to the other end.
This whole process
is done by hand.
There are no machines
tracking the color
or the amounts of sugar.
It's just a bean
maker and his beans.
BARRY: Now, this candy's been
running for long enough already,
and the sugar has
packed on the center itself.
UNGER: So it's time to
add another layer of sugar.
One thing they are not in short
supply of here at Jelly Belly...
is this white stuff, sugar.
They'll go through one of
these big, giant canisters of sugar
in 20 minutes.
BARRY: We're gonna have
to pick up the pace a little bit.
UNGER: Driving
me like cattle here.
BARRY: Once it starts
running real rough,
you're taking a little too
long to get the sugar on.
Okay.
I'm gonna come down here and
put another scoop in real quick.
I need to catch it
back up to speed.
UNGER: I'm falling
this thing behind?
I'm slowing it down.
Now watch the pro do it.
We've got to give these
beans an even coat
and make sure they
don't stick together.
That's what the movement does,
but only if the sugar and syrup
are added at a
perfectly timed interval.
Now, Barry knows by
the sound of the beans
that I am way behind.
BARRY: This is what happens
when you don't put
sugar on fast enough.
UNGER: Like what
I was just doing?
When you're taking
your time, it'll...
You can't take too much
time while you make these.
We're here at the
Jelly Belly factory
in Fairfield, California.
And we've created the
cores for the Jelly Belly batch,
and we put 'em on a
strict diet of pure sugar.
Now it's time for a
heavy dose of flavor.
Okay, so, now with
the candies dry enough,
we're gonna put a wetting on it.
- A wetting?
- This is syrup and color.
Syrup and coloring?
Basically looks like... milk.
Ordinary jelly beans
have flavoring
only on the outside.
Not Jelly Bellys.
Their intense flavor is on the
inside as well as the outside,
which makes them unique.
Okay, more wetting, more sugar.
These beans are growing fast.
So, four times we got to
add the syrup and the coloring
and then more sugar
and so on and so on.
By adding all of that flavor,
we are creating a veritable
powder keg of taste.
All of that flavor's encased
inside this Jelly Belly bean
within this soft
shell of the candy.
What releases
it is biting into it.
Thus creating the Jelly Belly
experience on the taste bud.
That is a really pedestrian way
of explaining the
science of flavor.
Forgive me, Lou. But
what's really happening?
Most of what you
think of as flavor
is actually smell, not taste.
I can show you this.
Pinch your nose off and taste
this bean I've got in my hand.
Here you go. Got it? Ready?
- Yeah.
- Taste it.
- Yeah, I...
- What is it?
- I have no idea what that is.
- Now open your nose.
Oh, it's coconut.
That's it, right?
When a person chews,
flavor is unlocked,
and those molecules
hit the olfactory system
and create nerve impulses
that head to your brain,
and, bam, you taste the flavor.
So, how do you keep
the flavor in one bean
from jumping into
the bean next to it?
They have to keep the
little volatile flavor molecules
inside each bean
until you bite into it.
Jelly Belly puts a
shell around each bean
to keep those flavor
molecules in place.
[Beans rattling loudly]
Now, out of all the
processes we've done,
this is the loudest
in Jelly Belly.
You can't hear a thing in here!
What?
What?
Yeah, a little noisy in here.
At this point, we're adding
10 layers of color glaze,
which lock in the
flavor and form the shell.
This glaze is a sugary syrup
that's loaded up
with color and flavor
and gives our bean a nice shine.
Amidst all this deafening noise,
our beans are getting buffed,
kind of like a rock
in a rock polisher.
These Jelly Bellys
are basically finished.
After a coating of color
and glaze has been added,
they're dried in these tumblers
using this
blow-dryer, basically.
The flavor's locked inside, and
we're ready to eat these beans.
But first, we've
got to inspect them.
For the final stage
of our Jelly Bellys,
we filter them twice.
These cylinders
are like giant sieves,
and only the perfectly
sized Jelly Bellys get through.
The ones that are too
small or too big get trapped.
They reject about 1,000
pounds of beans every day here,
and the ones that
don't measure up
are packaged and sold
as... What else? Belly Flops.
After all this, some Bellys
manage to make it through,
because they're too long
or too thin or just determined.
They all look alike.
Ah!
That's a bad bean.
This bean tried to
make a break for it.
The good ones are
bagged, boxed, and shipped
at a rate of 100,000
pounds a day.
What started out
as a gooey slurry
loaded with volatile
flavors was molded, bathed,
and smothered in
layers of sweetness,
encased in a soft
but tasty shell.
It's now a fat, firm
treat, ready to eat,
packed with flavor like
no other bean out there.
Few of us recognize the
skill and labor necessary
to produce this humble,
trusty device, the toilet.
It is both part
engineering and art.
But in order for one of
these to be sold to you,
it must comply and meet
some pretty strict standards
in terms of the
amount of water it uses,
and that is an
ongoing challenge.
To find the very first toilets,
you'd have to go back
thousands and thousands of years.
In fact, archaeologists
uncovered
sitting-type toilets in Egypt
dating back to 2100 B.C.
But it wasn't until 1775 that
the first patent was issued
for a flushing toilet to
Alexander Cummings.
As you can tell by the
fully stocked shelves
here at the Kohler company,
we've come a long way
from, well, water closets
and chamber pots.
It's a fast-paced process
that the folks here at
Kohler have perfected.
Here at the plant in... where
else? Kohler, Wisconsin,
they crank out
thousands of toilets.
Few people would
ever see it this way,
but when you visit the john,
you're actually sitting on
a finely honed sculpture,
one that's made of
four different materials.
The main ingredient
is called slip.
It's a combination
of clays and minerals,
and when it
undergoes intense heat,
slip becomes ceramic and
gives a toilet its solid structure.
Ah, just on a little
bike ride down here
in the bowels of
Kohler, the basement.
It's down here where they
pump all that slip and they test it.
They test it some 35
times a day to make sure
the recipe for that slip is
just the way they want it,
nice and perfect.
So, what's in this
stuff, anyway?
I mean, I know it's kind of
a claylike liquid substance,
but what are the ingredients?
Actually, there are
four key ingredients.
BLOOMFIELD: Slip is made
up of two different types of clay.
Flint, a type of
quartz, and feldspar,
a substance that helps
fuse the materials together
in the kiln's intense heat.
UNGER: That's what helps
make toilets so rock-solid.
Finally, water is
added to the mix.
They age the
slip for three days,
then they pour the whole
mixture into toilet molds.
This is where Kohler
makes all of its molds.
They don't stop.
The workers here
are pouring plaster,
and the pace is frenetic.
- MAN: You want it?
- Yeah, sure.
Oh, man. Okay.
So, this is coming
out of here...
This is coming out of here at
about 12 gallons per minute.
It's like a fire
hose of plaster.
- UNGER: You got to work fast.
- BLOOMFIELD: There we go.
Okay, I got to go over. Oh!
Lou's creating
the various pieces
that make up our master mold.
Now that the plaster
has hardened,
the parts are assembled.
Lou, why use plaster?
I mean, this is another
delicate material here.
Why not use metal
or, you know, a steel
mold or a plastic mold?
That seems like it would hold
up better over the long run.
The slip dries not in the air.
It dries into the mold.
In this case, plaster is
absorbent like a sponge.
The slip is gonna dry
right into the mold and
the plaster and harden.
They'll pour out
the slip in the middle
and leave a hollow
shell of ceramic.
You need an absorbent
mold to make toilets.
So, this is all about a game
of drawing moisture
out of the slip.
Our mold's ready to go,
and there's only
one thing left to do.
Time to make the toilet.
Steve, I got the mold
here. Let's pour a potty.
The slip, our stew of liquefied
clay with minerals added,
is pumped through pipes
and into the molding area,
and this is where the
real technique comes in.
So you know this
is full, obviously,
when this funnel
starts to back up.
- You know you've done it.
- RISCH: Right.
- Ooh, watch out.
- Okay.
I've been here five minutes,
and I'm screwing up your toilets.
This is Steve Risch.
He punches in at 5:30 a.m.
and never stops moving.
Steve's been at it for 20 years,
hand making toilets,
sinks, and urinals.
So, at any one time, you've
got four or five processes
going on at the same time.
You've got toilets being poured.
You've got lids being made.
You've got these
stands being made.
You've got drainage happening.
You're like a chef making
a five-course meal here.
Except it's a toilet.
Today, we're making
a jet-assisted toilet.
That's Kohler's answer
to creating more
efficient toilets.
In 1994, Congress passed a law
that requires toilets
to use less water,
no more than 1.6 gallons.
The way this toilet does it
is by feeding most of the
water from the tank through a jet,
where it comes out
at a very high flow rate,
picks up the waste,
and blows it through this
curvy tube, known as the siphon.
Now, as the water goes
up and over the siphon
and down the far end, the weight
of that falling water and waste
creates a partial vacuum
at the top of the siphon
that sucks everything
else out of the bowl.
But when the job is done here,
the bowl is empty, and
everything is in your plumbing.
UNGER: So that's where that
hole is being made, right here.
- RISCH: That's the jet hole.
- UNGER: That's the jet hole.
That's the most
important jet, I think.
The one that really just gives
you the most bang for your buck,
you know?
The one that really
shoots the water right down.
RISCH: Yeah,
that pushes her out.
Pushes her out. And we
all know what the "her" is.
Tell me about the
temperature. You keep it, what?
85 in here at all
times? What is it?
The ideal temperature's 80.
You're sweating
all day long. It's hot.
RISCH: If it would be cold...
If that mold was
cold, it wouldn't work.
- No, it wouldn't work.
- Oh, it wouldn't work at all.
The high temperature
and low humidity
speed the drying process.
But there's a lot
of work to be done
before the clay
shell gets too dry.
When it dries out, it can crack.
That's why Steve and
Brian are working so fast.
If the clay shell
dries out and cracks
while it's still inside
the mold, it's a disaster.
Are these cracking because I'm
here slowing the process down?
- Mm.
- Yes?
- That was an affirmative?
- Yep.
Great. I didn't know there
was so much guilt involved
- in making toilets.
- [Laughs]
Already, it's starting to shrink
away from the bowl here.
So, really, we're racing
against the clock here.
You want me to clean
these off or do anything?
Grab them yellow sponges.
UNGER: Yep.
Then you can...
Nope, the other ones.
A damp sponge can close up
any hairline cracks that show up.
The toilets are drying.
The toilets are drying,
and that's a problem.
Because when you have toilets
drying, you have shrinkage.
And when you have
shrinkage, you have cracking.
And I'll tell you what's really
slowing the process down
is having a TV crew here.
It's your fault.
It's your fault.
Steve's gonna kill me.
Steve?
God, he's left me alone
with a toilet. This is scary.
They start early around here
at the Kohler plant in Wisconsin.
7 days a week, 365 days a
year, they crank out toilets.
So far, we've mixed
up our batch of slip,
which is essentially
liquid clay,
and we poured that
right into our mold.
Now, after just 90 minutes,
the slip is hard enough
to begin removing
the plaster mold.
It's time to finally get a
look at our handiwork.
Then you're gonna take it.
Just a little bit,
then I'll take it.
Okay. Hand it
over. Hand it to me.
Got it.
Oh, look at that.
That is a toilet.
I'm gonna lift up.
- And then...
- You're handing it over.
That way, the weight,
when you're handing the
weight across, it keeps it off of me.
So then I got the
weight more close to me.
You and I could do
"Dancing with the Stars."
Or "Dancing with the
Nonstars" or "The Toilet Stars."
- Whatever. Sure.
- Ready? Lift.
Yep. You're handing it over.
Oh, it's just like
a tango, kind of.
Just feel that synchronicity.
I mean, obviously, you'd
use them right side up,
- but they look great.
- Yep.
You can never stop
being too careful, right?
I mean, even at every
stage, they're still soft.
They're still very breakable.
RISCH: Not really
breakable here, but denting.
Our next step,
turn these toilets into
rock-hard ceramics.
This is the dryer
here at Kohler.
The ware will spend 16
hours in this heated tunnel,
124 degrees,
and its water content
will drop from 15%
to about a half a percent.
If Kohler didn't lower
the moisture content,
the water would flash to steam.
The toilet would explode like
popcorn in a microwave oven.
Just like 9th-grade
pottery class,
it's time to put a
glaze on our creation,
so we move down the
line to the glazing station.
Now, here each piece is
sprayed with a thin coat of glaze
that's made up of
glass-forming minerals and water.
This is the last step
before it goes into the kiln.
Though the clay
feels dry to the touch,
it's still loaded with moisture,
and it's pretty delicate.
I just broke a piece.
These are very fragile.
Is there a "Break it, you
bought it" policy here?
MAN: Yep.
That's really my first
break since I've been here.
Right after you
said, "You're hired."
Did you notice that?
Then I broke the sink.
See, I already started
to relax into my new job.
Bring it off the edge
and put one hand under.
Lay it down and
grab the back end.
So I'm pulling it forward,
then I'm gonna tip it this way?
So when I pull this forward...
What? Another... [Laughs]
They make more.
I feel really bad about this.
But I've seen how
hard it is to make a toilet
from beginning to end, and
now I feel really, really bad.
So, basically, I
just bought a toilet.
A sink. A toilet.
I've nearly destroyed
an entire bathroom.
I can only break
one toilet in one day.
From here, everything rolls
through a 380-foot-long kiln,
and it is hot in there.
The temperatures are more
than 2, 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
So it takes about 43 hours
for the ware to get from
one end of the kiln, right here,
all the way down
to the other end.
Now, these kilns
were built in 1928,
and they've been running 24-7.
It's during this
journey through the kiln
that our slip turns
into a ceramic
and the glaze turns into glass.
Here's what happens.
The intense heat of the kiln
causes atoms to share electrons,
creating incredibly
stiff and strong bonds
that can't bend
without breaking.
That's when the toilet becomes
a single solid, a ceramic.
Two days after these
pieces were first poured,
the makings of a bathroom
emerge from the kiln.
Wow!
Glistening, piping hot,
and ready to be tested.
Fresh from the
oven, new urinals.
Beautiful finished product.
Here's our toilet, glazed,
fired, now practically glass.
And, hopefully,
not as breakable as
the last one I touched.
[Chuckles]
Oh, yeah.
It's back on the
bike for the long trip
to Kohler's
equivalent of Area 51,
the top-secret testing zone.
Andy Weaverdane runs this
laboratory for the most part.
- Right, Andy?
- Mm-hmm.
And behind us is four
models of Kohler toilets,
where you're going to put them
through their paces, as it were.
Now, what happens, Andy,
when you start getting into
other more bulky
media, as you call it?
Let's just call it
what it is. A dookie.
[Weaverdane chuckles]
I mean, you get a
big dookie in there.
How do you simulate that?
Grab this stuff over here.
UNGER: This is about
as realistic as you get.
Now, we should add,
these are actual dried...
condoms filled with...
- Soybean paste.
- Soybean paste.
So this is as close to
the real thing as you get,
basically, in the lab.
So we got a bucket of dookies.
- We're gonna dump these in?
- One at a time.
Okay, but, total, how many
would go into the bowl for the test?
20. Up to 20.
Up to 20.
Well, that was
one hungry person.
- [Chuckles]
- Ugh.
14.15.
We're getting into gas-station-
bathroom territory here.
18. That's Bigfoot.
20.
That's "Who did this in here?"
By any standard,
that's pretty excessive.
WEAVERDANE:
That's very excessive.
Well, that handled
that like a breeze.
I couldn't resist the urge
to really challenge my toilet
just one more time.
So, let's just say
a 4-year-old, playing
where they shouldn't be,
- takes...
- [Squeaking]
this guy.
- UNGER: What's the word?
- WEAVERDANE: Water weenies?
Water weenies. That's
what I was looking for.
This is a real test.
I mean, there is in there a
goldfish and four water weenies.
Should we take
bets from the crew?
Mark says yes.
Steve?
George?
The duck's gonna kill it.
- No chance.
- UNGER: No chance?
I'm gonna say yes.
[Toilet flushes]
Oh!
- George and Faith, walk home.
- [Laughter]
Thank you for playing
today on "What's That Flush?"
- That was impressive.
- Pretty cool, huh?
- That was impressive.
- Probably could have done more.
You know, already, I bet
Hollywood is scrambling
to just make what I
just did a game show.
- Like that?
- Yep. Push it right in.
And any toilet that can
handle a load like that
is clearly ready for prime time.
Say bye.
UNGER: There it goes.
Kind of sad to see them leave.
They grow up so fast.
there's the story of
how it comes to be.
Hello. I'm Brian Unger.
BLOOMFIELD: I'm
Professor Lou Bloomfield.
UNGER: From the drawing
board to the assembly line,
it's how the ordinary is
actually extraordinary.
Today on "Some
Assembly Required,"
bowling balls, jelly
beans, and toilets.
If you think the bowling
ball is just a glorified marble,
- then think again.
- Yeah!
From the core to
the finger holes,
everything about
this ball is engineered
to improve your odds of
bowling a strike every time.
[Rocket whistles]
[Explosion]
How is a bowling ball
designed to help you
have the game of your life?
We're at Ebonite,
a world leader in
bowling balls, to find out.
I'm here with
Jennifer and Loretha.
We're at the very, very head of
this assembly for bowling balls
at Ebonite in Hopkinsville,
Kentucky, folks.
And this is essentially where
we find the nucleus of the ball,
where that gets formed.
And all these mixtures
of resins, these plastics,
are all brought
together to this tube.
Now, I'm just gonna
fill this mold here
with the resin that
becomes the core,
and, eventually, they're
gonna get baked and hardened.
Once solidified,
this resin becomes the
center, or core, of the ball.
Yeah, this is the core.
There are nearly two
dozen core shapes
in the Ebonite stock room.
And it's the shape of each one
that defines how
the ball's gonna roll.
Hey, Billy, can I have
one of those cores?
Yeah.
So, this is the
beginning of the ball.
Let me ask the obvious question.
Why is it not perfectly round?
Well, to answer that question,
we first got to look
at the idea of mass.
BLOOMFIELD: Even
though the bowling ball
is classified by weight,
the real issue isn't
how gravity pulls on it,
but how hard it is to shake and
twist as it goes down the lane.
Some balls, like house balls,
have a perfectly
round core inside
and, therefore, a
perfectly symmetrical axis.
Those balls roll exactly
as you'd expect every time.
But balls with
asymmetrical cores
twist more readily in one
direction than another.
So these balls don't
roll down the lane.
They actually wobble.
It gives it, essentially,
power steering.
So you're creating an imbalance.
An imperfect ball allows
the player more control.
Right. It's a perfectly
imperfect ball.
UNGER: To take advantage
of this power steering,
it's crucial to know
how that core is
positioned inside the ball
and which way it
will ultimately spin.
Ah, a fresh basket of cores.
A core twists along three axes.
The "X" and "Y" axes dictate
the all-important wobble,
so they're measured and marked.
We're ready to move on.
Hey, where do they put
the finger holes in this?
Then the axes are drilled.
Let it fall right in there.
UNGER: I'm just gonna
suction some of this resin
as it's coming off here.
Two holes, a big
one and a small one.
And voilà.
We have the hole.
Very important.
Now, eventually,
this little doodad will be
positioned inside this hole.
This pin will stay in place
throughout the entire
process, layer after layer,
from core to veneer,
pointing to this hole.
But what exactly
is it pointing out?
All right, gentlemen.
Lou and I are with Ron Hickland,
who's the chief
engineer here at Ebonite.
I've drilled this hole,
and I essentially know
that it's gonna tell the
pro shop, eventually,
where this core
is inside the ball.
But why drill it here?
Why not drill it over
here or over here?
Things you drilled
are identifying the
principal axes of this core.
This is the hardest axis
about which to twist the bore.
This is the easiest
one, the big hole.
The pro shop needs to know
where these two
points are located
so that they can best
orient your finger holes
for control over that wobble.
Really, what's going on here
is, the orientation of these holes
is gonna allow you ball
motion for some type of hook.
The more hook you have, the
more entry angle you can achieve.
The more entry
angle you can achieve,
the likelier you
are to get a strike.
So, essentially, it's
an "X" on the map
to the guy who
drills the finger holes,
telling him or her how to
get the most out of your ball.
Exactly.
So, what happens next?
So, now that we've
crafted our core,
it's time to turn this
odd-looking shape into a ball.
And for that, we mark our holes,
center the core into a
second, spherical mold,
and fill it in to
form the outer core.
This is my favorite
part at Ebonite.
Paper clips hold that together.
Sounds easy, right? Not quite.
Every ball has to be 27
inches in circumference,
but it can weigh anywhere
between 6 and 16 pounds.
So how do you
make same-size balls
with such varying weights?
Well, it all comes
down to tiny bubbles.
So Ebonite's task next is
to create a spherical object
without undoing all the
engineering of that core.
Well, to do that, they
wrap the inner core,
the core we've been
dealing with, in an outer core
that is a much lower density.
Ebonite uses filler made
of tiny glass microbubbles.
They're like mini
Christmas ornaments,
as light as Styrofoam but
extremely durable and tough.
To get the balls
to the right weight,
they mix these glass bubbles
with another, denser filler.
Varying the proportion
of these two fillers
changes the ball's weight
without changing its size.
To get the most out of
the ball's power steering,
it's critical not only
where you place the core,
but how it's centered.
We can't have that sticking out.
How's that? Okay?
- MAN: Too short.
- Too short?
- You cut it too short.
- I cut it too short.
He's trying to center the mass,
but he's also trying
to orient it exactly right.
HICKLAND: Ultimately, when
you have the proper orientation,
you're gonna create
what's called a top weight.
The top weight is
used by the pro shop
to know exactly how
deep to drill the finger holes
so when it's all said and done,
you can get the ball balanced
the way you want it to be.
As the resin dries inside
the mold, our creations
are actually starting to
look like bowling balls.
Well, I'm here
with Brian Hickey,
who's the director of
operations here at Ebonite.
And what we have
here is our mold.
We poured our
resin filler in here.
Now, Brian, how do
I get this thing apart?
- Crack it like an egg.
- Crack it like an egg? Really?
The introduction of the
asymmetrical core in the '90s
gave bowling a
big popularity boost.
It was easier to bowl a strike,
so more and more
people came out to play.
Now some 70 million Americans
hit the lanes every year.
So to keep up with
the growing sport,
Ebonite makes up
to 5,000 balls a day.
That's a lot of balls.
Once again, Discovery's
slowing up production...
in American industry. [Laughs]
At the Ebonite
factory in Kentucky,
our bowling balls have
the power-steering core.
Now we need some traction,
so we put the ball into a third
mold and pour in some plastic.
This is no ordinary
plastic coating.
It's chemically constructed
to give the ball a
firm grip on the lane,
allowing the bowler
even more control.
Hey, Alicia, give
the professor a drink.
Look at that. It looks
like red wine here.
It looks like blood.
When she served it up to me,
it consisted of polyol molecules
and isocyanate molecules,
and they are now reacting with
one another like crazy in there.
As the molecules grow, it
becomes more and more viscous,
until, finally, it's so viscous
that if I begin pouring it...
it should harden
right before our eyes.
UNGER: Cool!
Can I touch that?
BLOOMFIELD: You can
touch it. It's already gelled.
BLOOMFIELD: The other
cool thing, which you can't see,
is the third material
in here, the plasticizer.
At this temperature, the
plasticizer starts evaporating,
leaving microscopic
holes in the ball's surface.
UNGER: These holes
will soak up some of the oil
that coats the lane
and create traction.
Traction allows the
ball to change rotation
onto its preferred axis
and hook so that it hits
the pins from the side.
This side area, known
as the pocket, is key,
because it gives the best angle
for strike after
strike after strike.
It only takes two minutes
for the polyurethane coating
to harden on the ball's surface,
but it's still got a lot
more baking to do.
The plastic, that urethane
outer shell, is still forming,
the chemicals
are still reacting,
and this ball continues
to get harder and harder.
In the oven, the veneer
cooks, and the plasticizer
continues evaporating to
achieve the right porosity.
In this case, the
more porous it is,
the better the performance.
The balls pass from
the piping-hot oven
right into the fridge.
That feels real nice.
This cools the plastic down so
we can finish making our balls.
The exposed pinheads
are now the markings
that the pro shop will look for
when they drill
the finger holes.
The only way to
prove that this ball
has the high performance
we claim, the power steering,
is to test it.
BLOOMFIELD: If the
ball is made correctly,
the spin will eventually
rotate the ball
onto its preferred axis,
marked, still, by the
pinhead and this etched sign.
Ready? Get set. Go.
Look what's over here now.
It loves that axis. That's
the power steering.
This ball turns its rotation
to spin about that pin.
UNGER: We got power
steering. We got traction.
Now we need some speed.
That's where polishing comes in.
This process gives
the ball its tread,
helping it slice through
the lane's oily finish
and speed toward the pins.
The result, incredible
striking power.
To polish the ball, we first
smooth over any rough patches.
This grinder shaves
1/10 of an inch
off the circumference
in just 30 seconds.
The balls are
weighed one last time
and then showered in polish.
The oil conditions of the lane
will then determine the
amount of polish you want.
If the ball's too glossy,
it will hydroplane on
a heavily oiled lane.
This ball may look finished,
but there's one more step.
ROGER: We'll get your hole size,
and then we'll go back there
and start drilling the holes.
Don't make bowling
harder than it is.
I like the way you think, Roger.
All the calculating
and engineering,
the physics, and chemistry,
it all comes down to this
final stop on the assembly line,
the pro shop,
where they can literally make
or break a bowler's game.
Reach around my arm right
there, and let's see how you do.
- You ready?
- Yeah, I'm ready.
- Do you want me to grab your...
- [Laughter]
The pro shop
measures our fingers
and the span of our grip
then uses the two
axes, still clearly marked,
to map out the holes.
I'm ready. Let's go, Rog.
Then he drills.
Now, if they're off on
their measurements,
even the highest-performing ball
thrown by the most expert
bowler will miss its mark.
Every model of every Ebonite
ball goes down these lanes
to answer the very
critical question,
will this ball do what
it's designed to do?
HICKLAND: This is kind of really
where the rubber meets the road.
So, how do these guys
measure and analyze their balls?
They use telemetry...
What we have is a
tracking system here,
and what it does
is it uses video
to actually record the
ball going down the lane.
Recorded and analyzed
against the expectations
of that particular ball.
As the ball goes down a
lane, it collects the information
as to where the
ball is on the lane,
and then what you
can actually see
is the ball path
that the ball took.
It allows us to see exactly how
the core relates to the cover,
relates to the ball, relates
to the lane condition
as the bowler's using it.
Oh. Cool.
My custom-made bowling
ball has the right telemetry.
Where's the thumb hole?
[Man laughs]
But will it help get my
game out of the gutter?
'Cause it's bad.
When I'm down
here, I still got the ball.
So when I get ready
to come through here,
thumb comes out, follow
through with the fingers.
You just opened up a
whole new world for me.
- Then you're able to guide it.
- Wow.
I'm learning here
that the right ball
still won't strike if it's
in the wrong hands.
But with some
really good coaching,
it all starts coming together.
You're gonna do all
this. It's got to be clean.
All right.
And, eventually, well,
it's not a perfect game.
- [Laughter]
- Yes!
But I am very proud.
And I'm gonna enjoy this moment
because it's the last time
it's ever gonna happen.
This could be the most
highly engineered product
on the face of the planet.
Fairfield, California,
is home to the
world-renowned Jelly Belly.
What makes a Jelly Belly
more than an ordinary jelly bean
are gourmet flavors
that, amazingly, taste
just like the real thing.
Piña colada, strawberry,
whatever your taste,
it all starts with
a simple test.
At Jelly Belly, the first
step in composing a flavor
is pretty low-tech.
Humans and their
taste buds and noses
sample various flavors
and pick the one they like.
This is what you might
call molecular gastronomy.
Every flavor you've ever
tasted tastes that way
because of specific
molecules it contains.
Lemons.
They smell like lemons
largely because of a
molecule called limonene.
And they taste tart because
of three other molecules,
citric acid and
vitamins A and C.
Pear starts with butyl acetate,
cotton candy with
methyl furaneol,
and coconut with
gamma-octalactone.
Once the staff settles
on the flavor of choice,
then the process moves
on to a gas chromatograph.
It analyzes the flavor's
chemical composition
and generates a recipe.
These ingredients
form the recipes
that eventually produce
Jelly Bellys in the billions.
So, who's the man
behind the bean?
His name is Herm Rowland.
Herm, you're
C.E.O. of Jelly Belly?
- ROWLAND: Yeah.
- You're a force of nature.
When you walk in the room,
you can just feel your energy.
Do you ever walk
in here and just say,
"Make me banana-cream pie, and
I want it by the end of the week"?
No. I wouldn't do that.
But you have how many flavors?
Well, there's 50 official,
but we probably
make 100 altogether,
with all the different
seasonal flavors.
They even make a few
flavors that are, well, disgusting.
UNGER: You don't
really eat this, do you?
ROWLAND: Oh,
sure. Eat it. It's good.
It's right on.
- Isn't it right on?
- Mmm, vomit.
- Oh!
- [Laughs]
It's okay to spit.
Mm, yeah, vomit,
a flavor based on
the Harry Potter craze
is, believe it or
not, a top seller.
Now, if that's not gross enough
for you, how about earwax?
Normally, you'll go to a
flavor company and say,
"Get me earwax."
"Well, earwax.
What's that taste like?"
Everybody's earwax
tastes different, right?
So, I let my ears go
for a couple weeks,
and then I dug 'em out
and mixed it up and tasted it.
From this lab and, yeah,
even the boss's ears
comes Jelly Belly
flavors-turned-confections.
At the heart of
every Jelly Belly
is four ingredients.
Water, corn syrup,
corn starch, and sugar.
- This is where it starts?
- MAN: This is.
In the, uh...
- In our kitchen.
- The kitchen?
It comes from this, sort of,
big, heated cauldron of, uh...
- Corn syrup...
- Corn syrup.
- Sugar...
- Sugar.
Starch, water.
- It's a slurry.
- A slurry, of course.
And then you pump it through
these pipes and down in here.
MAN: That's correct.
UNGER: Oh, here it
comes. Check this out.
It's starting to fill up with...
Kind of looks like turkey gravy.
This is the first ingredient
I add to the slurry.
It's a highly
concentrated flavor
we generated back in the lab.
This amount of flavor
and this amount of color
will color and flavor over
400 pounds of bean centers.
This is enough for 400
pounds of Jelly Belly beans?
- That's correct.
- Just that much?
This is kind of like a nuclear
bomb of cherry, isn't it?
MAN: It's getting there.
This is enough color for the
same 400 pounds of beans?
- That's correct.
- All right, so in we go.
MAN: Try to hit the vortex.
UNGER: Wow. That
thing goes red pretty fast.
MAN: We'll fire off the switch
and let it head down to
be deposited in our molds.
UNGER: So, we're gonna
send this downstairs?
MAN: Yes, we are.
All these kitchen cauldrons
need to be synchronized.
So, as our slurry level drops,
a sensor alerts a
central computer.
Then part of our mix
goes to storage for cooling,
and that's gonna be
used later in the process.
This is where you can see
the Jelly Belly bean taking
shape for the first time.
It is injected into these
molds made of cornstarch.
So, why do they use cornstarch?
Well, it's porous,
and that soaks up moisture
to help speed up the drying.
Here, everything moves fast.
These injectors here
spit out bean centers
at the rate of more
than 35,000 a minute.
There are two of these machines
cranking out more than
4 million beans an hour.
You look mesmerized, Lou.
It's kind of like
watching the ocean.
Here's my question
for you... Captain.
The bean is rounded on the
top. It's rounded on the sides.
Now, why doesn't
gravity just flatten the bean
and push it down like a pancake?
Because of surface tension.
The surface of any liquid
acts as an elastic membrane.
When gravity tries
to flatten the bean,
the bean's surface stretches,
and surface tension fights back,
rounding the top of the
bean like this water balloon.
Rounded just right,
the Jelly Bellys are poured
down a conveyor belt
and sent through a steam
oven, like a Jelly Belly sauna.
It heats 'em up to 80 degrees
and prepares them
for the next step.
UNGER: Take a look at this.
This is the center
of a Jelly Belly bean.
And right now it is
more jelly than bean,
as compared to this,
the finished product
of the same flavor.
It's about 40% bigger.
Just like you or me,
you add a little sugar,
and you get fatter.
- Two scoops?
- MAN: Shake it on there.
In this process
called engrossing,
they add four layers of sugar.
That's gonna make
our bean 40% bigger.
Oh, look at that.
Loads and loads of
carbohydrate goodness.
BARRY: Now, come
down to the other end.
This whole process
is done by hand.
There are no machines
tracking the color
or the amounts of sugar.
It's just a bean
maker and his beans.
BARRY: Now, this candy's been
running for long enough already,
and the sugar has
packed on the center itself.
UNGER: So it's time to
add another layer of sugar.
One thing they are not in short
supply of here at Jelly Belly...
is this white stuff, sugar.
They'll go through one of
these big, giant canisters of sugar
in 20 minutes.
BARRY: We're gonna have
to pick up the pace a little bit.
UNGER: Driving
me like cattle here.
BARRY: Once it starts
running real rough,
you're taking a little too
long to get the sugar on.
Okay.
I'm gonna come down here and
put another scoop in real quick.
I need to catch it
back up to speed.
UNGER: I'm falling
this thing behind?
I'm slowing it down.
Now watch the pro do it.
We've got to give these
beans an even coat
and make sure they
don't stick together.
That's what the movement does,
but only if the sugar and syrup
are added at a
perfectly timed interval.
Now, Barry knows by
the sound of the beans
that I am way behind.
BARRY: This is what happens
when you don't put
sugar on fast enough.
UNGER: Like what
I was just doing?
When you're taking
your time, it'll...
You can't take too much
time while you make these.
We're here at the
Jelly Belly factory
in Fairfield, California.
And we've created the
cores for the Jelly Belly batch,
and we put 'em on a
strict diet of pure sugar.
Now it's time for a
heavy dose of flavor.
Okay, so, now with
the candies dry enough,
we're gonna put a wetting on it.
- A wetting?
- This is syrup and color.
Syrup and coloring?
Basically looks like... milk.
Ordinary jelly beans
have flavoring
only on the outside.
Not Jelly Bellys.
Their intense flavor is on the
inside as well as the outside,
which makes them unique.
Okay, more wetting, more sugar.
These beans are growing fast.
So, four times we got to
add the syrup and the coloring
and then more sugar
and so on and so on.
By adding all of that flavor,
we are creating a veritable
powder keg of taste.
All of that flavor's encased
inside this Jelly Belly bean
within this soft
shell of the candy.
What releases
it is biting into it.
Thus creating the Jelly Belly
experience on the taste bud.
That is a really pedestrian way
of explaining the
science of flavor.
Forgive me, Lou. But
what's really happening?
Most of what you
think of as flavor
is actually smell, not taste.
I can show you this.
Pinch your nose off and taste
this bean I've got in my hand.
Here you go. Got it? Ready?
- Yeah.
- Taste it.
- Yeah, I...
- What is it?
- I have no idea what that is.
- Now open your nose.
Oh, it's coconut.
That's it, right?
When a person chews,
flavor is unlocked,
and those molecules
hit the olfactory system
and create nerve impulses
that head to your brain,
and, bam, you taste the flavor.
So, how do you keep
the flavor in one bean
from jumping into
the bean next to it?
They have to keep the
little volatile flavor molecules
inside each bean
until you bite into it.
Jelly Belly puts a
shell around each bean
to keep those flavor
molecules in place.
[Beans rattling loudly]
Now, out of all the
processes we've done,
this is the loudest
in Jelly Belly.
You can't hear a thing in here!
What?
What?
Yeah, a little noisy in here.
At this point, we're adding
10 layers of color glaze,
which lock in the
flavor and form the shell.
This glaze is a sugary syrup
that's loaded up
with color and flavor
and gives our bean a nice shine.
Amidst all this deafening noise,
our beans are getting buffed,
kind of like a rock
in a rock polisher.
These Jelly Bellys
are basically finished.
After a coating of color
and glaze has been added,
they're dried in these tumblers
using this
blow-dryer, basically.
The flavor's locked inside, and
we're ready to eat these beans.
But first, we've
got to inspect them.
For the final stage
of our Jelly Bellys,
we filter them twice.
These cylinders
are like giant sieves,
and only the perfectly
sized Jelly Bellys get through.
The ones that are too
small or too big get trapped.
They reject about 1,000
pounds of beans every day here,
and the ones that
don't measure up
are packaged and sold
as... What else? Belly Flops.
After all this, some Bellys
manage to make it through,
because they're too long
or too thin or just determined.
They all look alike.
Ah!
That's a bad bean.
This bean tried to
make a break for it.
The good ones are
bagged, boxed, and shipped
at a rate of 100,000
pounds a day.
What started out
as a gooey slurry
loaded with volatile
flavors was molded, bathed,
and smothered in
layers of sweetness,
encased in a soft
but tasty shell.
It's now a fat, firm
treat, ready to eat,
packed with flavor like
no other bean out there.
Few of us recognize the
skill and labor necessary
to produce this humble,
trusty device, the toilet.
It is both part
engineering and art.
But in order for one of
these to be sold to you,
it must comply and meet
some pretty strict standards
in terms of the
amount of water it uses,
and that is an
ongoing challenge.
To find the very first toilets,
you'd have to go back
thousands and thousands of years.
In fact, archaeologists
uncovered
sitting-type toilets in Egypt
dating back to 2100 B.C.
But it wasn't until 1775 that
the first patent was issued
for a flushing toilet to
Alexander Cummings.
As you can tell by the
fully stocked shelves
here at the Kohler company,
we've come a long way
from, well, water closets
and chamber pots.
It's a fast-paced process
that the folks here at
Kohler have perfected.
Here at the plant in... where
else? Kohler, Wisconsin,
they crank out
thousands of toilets.
Few people would
ever see it this way,
but when you visit the john,
you're actually sitting on
a finely honed sculpture,
one that's made of
four different materials.
The main ingredient
is called slip.
It's a combination
of clays and minerals,
and when it
undergoes intense heat,
slip becomes ceramic and
gives a toilet its solid structure.
Ah, just on a little
bike ride down here
in the bowels of
Kohler, the basement.
It's down here where they
pump all that slip and they test it.
They test it some 35
times a day to make sure
the recipe for that slip is
just the way they want it,
nice and perfect.
So, what's in this
stuff, anyway?
I mean, I know it's kind of
a claylike liquid substance,
but what are the ingredients?
Actually, there are
four key ingredients.
BLOOMFIELD: Slip is made
up of two different types of clay.
Flint, a type of
quartz, and feldspar,
a substance that helps
fuse the materials together
in the kiln's intense heat.
UNGER: That's what helps
make toilets so rock-solid.
Finally, water is
added to the mix.
They age the
slip for three days,
then they pour the whole
mixture into toilet molds.
This is where Kohler
makes all of its molds.
They don't stop.
The workers here
are pouring plaster,
and the pace is frenetic.
- MAN: You want it?
- Yeah, sure.
Oh, man. Okay.
So, this is coming
out of here...
This is coming out of here at
about 12 gallons per minute.
It's like a fire
hose of plaster.
- UNGER: You got to work fast.
- BLOOMFIELD: There we go.
Okay, I got to go over. Oh!
Lou's creating
the various pieces
that make up our master mold.
Now that the plaster
has hardened,
the parts are assembled.
Lou, why use plaster?
I mean, this is another
delicate material here.
Why not use metal
or, you know, a steel
mold or a plastic mold?
That seems like it would hold
up better over the long run.
The slip dries not in the air.
It dries into the mold.
In this case, plaster is
absorbent like a sponge.
The slip is gonna dry
right into the mold and
the plaster and harden.
They'll pour out
the slip in the middle
and leave a hollow
shell of ceramic.
You need an absorbent
mold to make toilets.
So, this is all about a game
of drawing moisture
out of the slip.
Our mold's ready to go,
and there's only
one thing left to do.
Time to make the toilet.
Steve, I got the mold
here. Let's pour a potty.
The slip, our stew of liquefied
clay with minerals added,
is pumped through pipes
and into the molding area,
and this is where the
real technique comes in.
So you know this
is full, obviously,
when this funnel
starts to back up.
- You know you've done it.
- RISCH: Right.
- Ooh, watch out.
- Okay.
I've been here five minutes,
and I'm screwing up your toilets.
This is Steve Risch.
He punches in at 5:30 a.m.
and never stops moving.
Steve's been at it for 20 years,
hand making toilets,
sinks, and urinals.
So, at any one time, you've
got four or five processes
going on at the same time.
You've got toilets being poured.
You've got lids being made.
You've got these
stands being made.
You've got drainage happening.
You're like a chef making
a five-course meal here.
Except it's a toilet.
Today, we're making
a jet-assisted toilet.
That's Kohler's answer
to creating more
efficient toilets.
In 1994, Congress passed a law
that requires toilets
to use less water,
no more than 1.6 gallons.
The way this toilet does it
is by feeding most of the
water from the tank through a jet,
where it comes out
at a very high flow rate,
picks up the waste,
and blows it through this
curvy tube, known as the siphon.
Now, as the water goes
up and over the siphon
and down the far end, the weight
of that falling water and waste
creates a partial vacuum
at the top of the siphon
that sucks everything
else out of the bowl.
But when the job is done here,
the bowl is empty, and
everything is in your plumbing.
UNGER: So that's where that
hole is being made, right here.
- RISCH: That's the jet hole.
- UNGER: That's the jet hole.
That's the most
important jet, I think.
The one that really just gives
you the most bang for your buck,
you know?
The one that really
shoots the water right down.
RISCH: Yeah,
that pushes her out.
Pushes her out. And we
all know what the "her" is.
Tell me about the
temperature. You keep it, what?
85 in here at all
times? What is it?
The ideal temperature's 80.
You're sweating
all day long. It's hot.
RISCH: If it would be cold...
If that mold was
cold, it wouldn't work.
- No, it wouldn't work.
- Oh, it wouldn't work at all.
The high temperature
and low humidity
speed the drying process.
But there's a lot
of work to be done
before the clay
shell gets too dry.
When it dries out, it can crack.
That's why Steve and
Brian are working so fast.
If the clay shell
dries out and cracks
while it's still inside
the mold, it's a disaster.
Are these cracking because I'm
here slowing the process down?
- Mm.
- Yes?
- That was an affirmative?
- Yep.
Great. I didn't know there
was so much guilt involved
- in making toilets.
- [Laughs]
Already, it's starting to shrink
away from the bowl here.
So, really, we're racing
against the clock here.
You want me to clean
these off or do anything?
Grab them yellow sponges.
UNGER: Yep.
Then you can...
Nope, the other ones.
A damp sponge can close up
any hairline cracks that show up.
The toilets are drying.
The toilets are drying,
and that's a problem.
Because when you have toilets
drying, you have shrinkage.
And when you have
shrinkage, you have cracking.
And I'll tell you what's really
slowing the process down
is having a TV crew here.
It's your fault.
It's your fault.
Steve's gonna kill me.
Steve?
God, he's left me alone
with a toilet. This is scary.
They start early around here
at the Kohler plant in Wisconsin.
7 days a week, 365 days a
year, they crank out toilets.
So far, we've mixed
up our batch of slip,
which is essentially
liquid clay,
and we poured that
right into our mold.
Now, after just 90 minutes,
the slip is hard enough
to begin removing
the plaster mold.
It's time to finally get a
look at our handiwork.
Then you're gonna take it.
Just a little bit,
then I'll take it.
Okay. Hand it
over. Hand it to me.
Got it.
Oh, look at that.
That is a toilet.
I'm gonna lift up.
- And then...
- You're handing it over.
That way, the weight,
when you're handing the
weight across, it keeps it off of me.
So then I got the
weight more close to me.
You and I could do
"Dancing with the Stars."
Or "Dancing with the
Nonstars" or "The Toilet Stars."
- Whatever. Sure.
- Ready? Lift.
Yep. You're handing it over.
Oh, it's just like
a tango, kind of.
Just feel that synchronicity.
I mean, obviously, you'd
use them right side up,
- but they look great.
- Yep.
You can never stop
being too careful, right?
I mean, even at every
stage, they're still soft.
They're still very breakable.
RISCH: Not really
breakable here, but denting.
Our next step,
turn these toilets into
rock-hard ceramics.
This is the dryer
here at Kohler.
The ware will spend 16
hours in this heated tunnel,
124 degrees,
and its water content
will drop from 15%
to about a half a percent.
If Kohler didn't lower
the moisture content,
the water would flash to steam.
The toilet would explode like
popcorn in a microwave oven.
Just like 9th-grade
pottery class,
it's time to put a
glaze on our creation,
so we move down the
line to the glazing station.
Now, here each piece is
sprayed with a thin coat of glaze
that's made up of
glass-forming minerals and water.
This is the last step
before it goes into the kiln.
Though the clay
feels dry to the touch,
it's still loaded with moisture,
and it's pretty delicate.
I just broke a piece.
These are very fragile.
Is there a "Break it, you
bought it" policy here?
MAN: Yep.
That's really my first
break since I've been here.
Right after you
said, "You're hired."
Did you notice that?
Then I broke the sink.
See, I already started
to relax into my new job.
Bring it off the edge
and put one hand under.
Lay it down and
grab the back end.
So I'm pulling it forward,
then I'm gonna tip it this way?
So when I pull this forward...
What? Another... [Laughs]
They make more.
I feel really bad about this.
But I've seen how
hard it is to make a toilet
from beginning to end, and
now I feel really, really bad.
So, basically, I
just bought a toilet.
A sink. A toilet.
I've nearly destroyed
an entire bathroom.
I can only break
one toilet in one day.
From here, everything rolls
through a 380-foot-long kiln,
and it is hot in there.
The temperatures are more
than 2, 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
So it takes about 43 hours
for the ware to get from
one end of the kiln, right here,
all the way down
to the other end.
Now, these kilns
were built in 1928,
and they've been running 24-7.
It's during this
journey through the kiln
that our slip turns
into a ceramic
and the glaze turns into glass.
Here's what happens.
The intense heat of the kiln
causes atoms to share electrons,
creating incredibly
stiff and strong bonds
that can't bend
without breaking.
That's when the toilet becomes
a single solid, a ceramic.
Two days after these
pieces were first poured,
the makings of a bathroom
emerge from the kiln.
Wow!
Glistening, piping hot,
and ready to be tested.
Fresh from the
oven, new urinals.
Beautiful finished product.
Here's our toilet, glazed,
fired, now practically glass.
And, hopefully,
not as breakable as
the last one I touched.
[Chuckles]
Oh, yeah.
It's back on the
bike for the long trip
to Kohler's
equivalent of Area 51,
the top-secret testing zone.
Andy Weaverdane runs this
laboratory for the most part.
- Right, Andy?
- Mm-hmm.
And behind us is four
models of Kohler toilets,
where you're going to put them
through their paces, as it were.
Now, what happens, Andy,
when you start getting into
other more bulky
media, as you call it?
Let's just call it
what it is. A dookie.
[Weaverdane chuckles]
I mean, you get a
big dookie in there.
How do you simulate that?
Grab this stuff over here.
UNGER: This is about
as realistic as you get.
Now, we should add,
these are actual dried...
condoms filled with...
- Soybean paste.
- Soybean paste.
So this is as close to
the real thing as you get,
basically, in the lab.
So we got a bucket of dookies.
- We're gonna dump these in?
- One at a time.
Okay, but, total, how many
would go into the bowl for the test?
20. Up to 20.
Up to 20.
Well, that was
one hungry person.
- [Chuckles]
- Ugh.
14.15.
We're getting into gas-station-
bathroom territory here.
18. That's Bigfoot.
20.
That's "Who did this in here?"
By any standard,
that's pretty excessive.
WEAVERDANE:
That's very excessive.
Well, that handled
that like a breeze.
I couldn't resist the urge
to really challenge my toilet
just one more time.
So, let's just say
a 4-year-old, playing
where they shouldn't be,
- takes...
- [Squeaking]
this guy.
- UNGER: What's the word?
- WEAVERDANE: Water weenies?
Water weenies. That's
what I was looking for.
This is a real test.
I mean, there is in there a
goldfish and four water weenies.
Should we take
bets from the crew?
Mark says yes.
Steve?
George?
The duck's gonna kill it.
- No chance.
- UNGER: No chance?
I'm gonna say yes.
[Toilet flushes]
Oh!
- George and Faith, walk home.
- [Laughter]
Thank you for playing
today on "What's That Flush?"
- That was impressive.
- Pretty cool, huh?
- That was impressive.
- Probably could have done more.
You know, already, I bet
Hollywood is scrambling
to just make what I
just did a game show.
- Like that?
- Yep. Push it right in.
And any toilet that can
handle a load like that
is clearly ready for prime time.
Say bye.
UNGER: There it goes.
Kind of sad to see them leave.
They grow up so fast.