In making bread the housekeeper often finds it difficult to hold her sponge or dough at the right temperature so that it will rise in a shorter period of time. She will find a sponge box or bread raiser a great help in keeping the right temperature. Such a box can be made from an ordinary dry-goods packing box.
Fig. 4.—Sponge box.
A box 20x20 inches is a convenient size. About ten inches from the bottom of the box a shelf made of slats or strips of wood rests on cleats fastened to the sides of the box. A second shelf is placed four inches above the lower one. The shelves can be removed when cleaning the box. Below the lower shelf a sheet of galvanized iron slightly wider than the shelf is inserted. It is curved in order to make it slip in and stay in place securely. This prevents scorching the lower shelf when a lamp is placed below and also helps to distribute the heat more evenly. The door is hinged and fastened with a thumb-latch or hook and staple.
Several small holes are bored in the lower and upper parts of the sides and in the top of the box to promote circulation of air. A cork which has been bored through the center to admit a straight thermometer is inserted in one of the holes in the top of the box. A Fahrenheit chemical thermometer that registers as high as 100 degrees can be used. Such a thermometer may be ordered through a hardware dealer or directly from an instrument dealer.
To avoid all danger of fire, the box should be lined with asbestos or tin when a kerosene lamp is used for heating the box. If an electric light is used, the lining is not needed. A 16-candlepower light will heat the box nicely. A small and inexpensive night lamp is placed in the bottom of the box and a shallow pan of water is placed on the lower shelf so that the air in the box will be kept moist.
The bowl of sponge or pans of dough are placed on the upper shelf. The temperature of the box should be kept as near 86° F. as possible (80° to 88° F.) when bread is being made in the quick way. If a sponge is set overnight 65° to 70° F. is the better temperature until the dough is made in the morning, after which the temperature may be increased to 86° F. The temperature in the box may be varied by raising or lowering the flame of the lamp or by using warm or cold water in the shallow pan.
PLAN No. 814. DISH DRAINER
Perhaps no time spent in housework is more begrudged by the housekeeper than that spent in washing and wiping dishes. A dish drainer not only saves time and labor but it does away with the too often insanitary dish towel.
