HEAT FOR COOKING
GENERAL DISCUSSION
47. Inasmuch as heat is so important a factor in the cooking of foods, it is absolutely necessary that the person who is to prepare them be thoroughly familiar with the ways in which this heat is produced. The production of heat for cooking involves the use of fuels and stoves in which to burn them, as well as electricity, which serves the purpose of a fuel, and apparatus for using electricity. In order, therefore, that the best results may be obtained in cookery, these subjects are here taken up in detail.
48. Probably the first fuel to be used in the production of heat for cooking was wood, but later such fuels as peat, coal, charcoal, coke, and kerosene came into use. Of these fuels, coal, gas, and kerosene are used to the greatest extent in the United States. Wood, of course, is used considerably for kindling fires, and it serves as fuel in localities where it is abundant or less difficult to procure than other fuels. However, it is fast becoming too scarce and too expensive to burn. If it must be burned for cooking purposes, those who use it should remember that dry, hard wood gives off heat at a more even rate than soft wood, which is usually selected for kindling. Electricity is coming into favor for supplying heat for cooking, but only when it can be sold as cheaply as gas will its use in the home become general.
49. The selection of a stove to be used for cooking depends on the fuel that is to be used, and the fuel, in turn, depends on the locality in which a person lives. However, as the fuel that is the most convenient and easily obtained is usually the cheapest, it is the one to be selected, for the cost of the cooked dish may be greatly increased by the use of fuel that is too expensive. In cooking, every fuel should be made to do its maximum amount of work, because waste of fuel also adds materially to the cost of cooking and, besides, it often causes great inconvenience. For example, cooking on a red-hot stove with a fire that, instead of being held in the oven and the lids, overheats the kitchen and burns out the stove not only wastes fuel and material, but also taxes the temper of the person who is doing the work. From what has just been said, it will readily be seen that a knowledge of fuels and apparatus for producing heat will assist materially in the economical production of food, provided, of course, it is applied to the best advantage.
COAL AND COKE
50. VARIETIES OF COAL.--Possibly the most common fuel used for cooking is coal. This fuel comes in two varieties, namely, anthracite, or hard coal, and bituminous, or soft coal. Their relative cost depends on the locality, the kind of stove, and an intelligent use of both stove and fuel. Hard coal costs much more in some places than soft coal, but it burns more slowly and evenly and gives off very little smoke. Soft coal heats more rapidly than hard coal, but it produces considerable smoke and makes a fire that does not last so long. Unless a stove is especially constructed for soft coal, it should not be used for this purpose, because the burning of soft coal will wear it out in a short time. The best plan is to use each variety of coal in a stove especially constructed for it, but if a housewife finds that she must at times do otherwise, she should realize that a different method of management and care of the stove is demanded.
51. SIZES OF COAL.--As the effect of coal on the stove must be taken into consideration in the buying of fuel, so the different sizes of hard coal must be known before the right kind can be selected. The sizes known as stove and egg coal, which range from about 1-3/8 to 2-3/4 inches in diameter, are intended for a furnace and should not be used in the kitchen stove for cooking purposes. Some persons who know how to use the size of coal known as pea, which is about 1/2 to 3/4 inch in diameter, like that kind, whereas others prefer the size called chestnut, which is about 3/4 inch to 1-3/8 inches in diameter. In reality, a mixture of these two, if properly used, makes the best and most easily regulated kitchen coal fire.