Morris Cohen made many significant contributions to the Baking Industry.  He was employed by Interstate Bakeries for 40 years and retired in 1963.  He started his career in Chicago with the Schultz and Purity groups.  Later, he was promoted to the general office in Kansas City and rose to become the Director and then the Vice President of Engineering.

Morris was the holder of 8 patents pertaining to the baking industry:  belt washer, switching conveyor means, method of treating dough, method and means for sheeting and elongating dough, coating and rolling apparatus, method and means for making jelly rolls, method and means for continuous dough feed, and traveling hearth oven conveyor.  These inventions have had a profound effect on the baking industry.

Morris was the inventor of the Wendway conveyors, which most bakeries have heavily relied upon for the last half century.  He was also the inventor of the direct expansion cooling system for dough mixers which are used by the majority of bakeries today.  The baking industry would look a great deal different if it were not for the contributions of Mr. Cohen.

Mr. Cohen was active in industry affairs being very involved in the formation of the first BISSC.  He was Chairman of the first subcommittee responsible for writing Flour Equipment Standard #1.

Morris played a major role in the development of the first pony tail tying system which is the forerunner to our current bread bag tying.  The pony tail tying system started by leaving the end seal off one end of the wrapped loaf and tying the open end with a twist tie.

He was responsible for the development of the Tender Kurl process which mechanically twisted the dough to simulate hand twisted bread.  This was a big step forward in the bread make up process.  In 1946 he designed and built a high speed bread line using a continuous tunnel proofer.  This was the forerunner of the modern high speed bakery production process.

Mr. Cohen’s numerous contributions to the baking industry are evident in every bakery. Mr. Cohen was not only an inventor, but a real innovator who brought together new processes and equipment to improve the efficiency of the baking industry.

Click on the images below to view .pdf files of the inductee’s biography and plaque.