Debt (Details)	12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Dec. 25, 2010 USD ($)	Dec. 26, 2009 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Mueller Xingrong Line of Credit [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Mueller Xingrong Line of Credit [Member] CNY	Dec. 25, 2010 Mueller Xingrong Line of Credit [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Credit Agreement [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 6% Subordinated Debentures [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 26, 2009 6% Subordinated Debentures [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 25, 2010 6% Subordinated Debentures [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 2001 Series IRB [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 25, 2010 2001 Series IRB [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 Other [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 25, 2010 Other [Member] USD ($)
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt	$ 197,741,000	$ 190,246,000						$ 148,176,000		$ 148,176,000	$ 9,250,000	$ 10,000,000	$ 50,000	$ 50,000
Debt, stated interest rate (in hundredths)				6.89%	6.89%			6.00%		6.00%	1.23%
Debt instrument maturity date								Nov. 01, 2014			Dec. 31, 2021
Debt instrument, Face amount								299,500,000
Repurchase and extinguishment of debt								151,300,000
Extinguishment of debt									500,000
Debentures redemption price per principal amount (in hundredths)								100.00%
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Line of credit outstanding				40,265,000		32,020,000
Less current portion of debt	(41,265,000)	(32,020,000)
Long-term debt	156,476,000	158,226,000
Maturity date of credit facility				2012-07-28	2012-07-28		2016-03-07
Line of credit facility maximum borrowing capacity				50,000,000	350,000,000		350,000,000
Debt instrument variable rate basis							Borrowings under the Credit Facility bear interest, at the Company's option, at LIBOR or Base Rate as defined by the Credit Agreement, plus a variable premium. LIBOR advances may be based upon the one, two, three, or six-month LIBOR.
Basis spread on variable rate, LIBOR, minimum (in hundredths)							1.50%
Basis spread on variable rate, LIBOR, maximum (in hundredths)							2.00%
Basis spread on variable rate, LIBOR, (in hundredths)							1.75%
Basis spread on variable rate, Base Rate loans, minimum (in hundredths)							0.50%
Basis spread on variable rate, Base Rate loans, maximum (in hundredths)							1.00%
Basis spread on variable rate, Base Rate loans (in hundredths)							0.75%
Credit facility commitment fee, minimum (in hundredths)							0.25%
Credit facility commitment fee, maximum (in hundredths)							0.375%
Outstanding letters of credit							11,300,000
Terms of the letters of credit (in years)							1Y
Number of banks in the credit agreement syndicate				4	4
Initial line of credit facility maximum borrowing capacity					330,000,000
Initial maturity date of previous credit agreement				Jul. 16, 2011	Jul. 16, 2011
Aggregate annual maturities of debt [Abstract]
2012	41,300,000
2013	1,000,000
2014	149,200,000
2015	1,000,000
2016	1,000,000
Thereafter	4,200,000
Interest paid	$ 10,800,000	$ 11,400,000	$ 10,100,000