Dear Donut Dunkers:
It’s finally been revealed. THE secret. Not the thought-to-be-secret recipe from former employees or long-time patrons, but instead THE SECRET.
How do we know? Because this time, it comes from a family member, and a direct family member who actually worked at Green’s Donuts during his childhood.
That’s right, we’re talking about a son of THE Milton Green, founder of THE Green’s Donut Shop at 3101 Chapline Street in South Wheeling. The shop opened in 1938, those fluffy and flakey pastries became the city’s standard, and this descendant was at the shop in the wee hours of the morning like donuts makers had to be when patrons would flock for the fresh and gooey goodness they could smell for blocks before pulling into the parking lot.
“The secret to Green’s Donuts is a word,” said Leif Green, a native of Wheeling who’s been California dreamin’ since he was 18 years old.
Oh no … not … love?
“It’s not love, silly,” Leif insisted. “That would be gross in so many ways.”
OK, so?
“The secret to the yumminess we always hear about when it comes to Green’s Donuts was a tall, thin piece of equipment that looked like a skinny refrigerator,” Leif said matter-of-factly. “It was called the proofer and, because donuts have yeast, they have to rise and that takes a long time. But the proofer, you see, expedited that process, and there were these shelves and this water system that made them rise.
“So, when the donuts fried, they came out nice and flaky inside like a croissant but that grease still gave them that special edge everyone loved so much,” the entertainment executive explained. “It was a shame it closed in the 2000s when it did, but there was no one left to keep it going the way it would need to so the quality remained.”
Leif still hears about the “Wheeling Trifecta” on the “Memories of Wheeling” Facebook page, and that would be DiCarlo’s Pizza, a sandwich from Coleman’s, and then the decadent donuts from Green’s.
“And it does make me sad that we’re the only one that people can’t have anymore,” he said. “Oh, well, there ya go … geez … I guess you’re going to get it out of me. Ya know, the other secret …”
There’s another?
“Yeah, yeah, yeah … so, I guess there was a little bit a love that went into each one of those donuts,” Leif grudgingly divulged with a very broad smile. “There, OK? Gosh! …”
Only a Green family member would know for sure.
Sincerely,
Wheeling MythBusters
