Debt (Details) Share data in Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Dec. 28, 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2011 USD ($)	Dec. 28, 2013 Mueller Xingrong Credit Facility [Member] Bank	Sep. 24, 2013 Mueller Xingrong Credit Facility [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 24, 2013 Mueller Xingrong Credit Facility [Member] CNY	Dec. 29, 2012 Leucadia National Corporation [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 28, 2013 Credit Agreement [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 11, 2012 Credit Agreement [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2012 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] USD ($)	Sep. 24, 2012 Revolving Credit Facility [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 28, 2013 Term Loan Facility [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2012 Term Loan Facility [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 28, 2013 Mueller Xingrong Credit Facility [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2012 Mueller Xingrong Credit Facility [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 28, 2013 2001 Series IRB [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2012 2001 Series IRB [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 28, 2013 Other [Member] USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2012 Other [Member] USD ($)
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt	$ 235,333,000	$ 234,870,000										$ 200,000,000	$ 200,000,000	$ 28,033,000	$ 26,570,000	$ 7,250,000	$ 8,250,000	$ 50,000	$ 50,000
Less current portion of debt	(29,083,000)	(27,570,000)
Long-term debt	206,250,000	207,300,000
Debt, stated interest rate (in hundredths)												1.54%		5.88%		1.16%
Debt instrument maturity date												Dec. 11, 2017		Sep. 24, 2014		Dec. 31, 2021
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Repurchase of common stock (in shares)							10.4
Issuance of long-term debt	0	200,000,000	0							200,000,000
Total cost of common stock repurchased							427,300,000
Debt instrument variable rate basis								Borrowings under the Agreement bear interest, at the Company's option, at LIBOR or Base Rate as defined by the Agreement, plus a variable premium. LIBOR advances may be based upon the one, three, or six-month LIBOR.
Basis spread on variable rate, LIBOR, minimum (in hundredths)								1.125%
Basis spread on variable rate, LIBOR, maximum (in hundredths)								1.625%
Basis spread on variable rate, LIBOR, (in hundredths)								1.375%
Basis spread on variable rate, Base Rate loans, minimum (in hundredths)								0.125%
Basis spread on variable rate, Base Rate loans, maximum (in hundredths)								0.625%
Basis spread on variable rate, Base Rate loans (in hundredths)								0.375%
Credit facility commitment fee, minimum (in hundredths)								0.25%
Credit facility commitment fee, maximum (in hundredths)								0.375%
Outstanding letters of credit								10,000,000
Terms of the letters of credit								1 year
Number of banks in the credit agreement syndicate				4
Line of credit facility maximum borrowing capacity					74,000,000	450,000,000			550,000,000		350,000,000
Maturity date				Sep. 24, 2014
Aggregate annual maturities of debt [Abstract]
2014	29,100,000
2015	1,000,000
2016	1,000,000
2017	201,000,000
2018	1,000,000
Thereafter	2,200,000
Interest paid	4,900,000	8,400,000	10,800,000
Interest capitalized	$ 1,200,000	$ 0	$ 0