Please see the [Transcriber’s Notes] at the end of this text.

THE FIRELESS COOK BOOK

The
Fireless Cook Book

A Manual of the Construction and Use of
Appliances for Cooking by Retained Heat

WITH 250 RECIPES

By
MARGARET J. MITCHELL

Author of “Cereal Foods and Their Preparation”; formerly Dietitian
of Manhattan State Hospital, New York; Director of
Domestic Science in Public Schools, Bradford, Pa.;
Instructor in Domestic Science, Drexel
Institute, Philadelphia, Pa.

Garden City New York
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
1913

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THAT OF TRANSLATION
INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES, INCLUDING THE SCANDINAVIAN

COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
PUBLISHED, MAY, 1909

Assistance is gratefully acknowledged from Mr. Abraham Henwood, Professor of Chemistry at Drexel Institute, who supplied valuable information and revised the chemistry in the [Appendix].

Thanks are also due to Mrs. Runyon, manager of the lunch room in the Buffalo Chamber of Commerce, and to Miss Armstrong, director of the Drexel Institute Lunch Room, for information furnished by them upon the subject of fireless cookery with large quantities; and to many others who have aided the author by advice, information, and encouragement.

PREFACE

The aim of this book is to present in a convenient form such directions for making and using fireless cookers and similar insulating boxes, that those who are not experienced, even in the ordinary methods of cookery, may be able to follow them easily and with success. The fact that their management has been so little understood has been the cause of failures among the adventurous women who, attracted by their novelty, have tried to experiment with them and have come to the mistaken conclusion that they are not practical, have limited scope, and are altogether a good deal of a disappointment. Such women have made the statement that they are not adapted to cooking starchy foods; that they will not do for most vegetables; that raised breads and puddings cannot be cooked in them, and that there is little economy in using them! It has invariably been found, however, that a better understanding of their management has resulted in complete success, followed inevitably by enthusiasm.

The first few chapters of the book give directions for making and using a cooker, methods of measuring, and some tables for quick reference, followed by a large number of frequently tested recipes, some of which are entirely original, but many of which are based on the well-tried recipes from such books as Miss Farmer’s “Boston Cooking School Cook Book,” Mrs. Lincoln’s “Boston Cook Book,” Miss Smedley’s “Institution Recipes,” and Miss Ronald’s “Century Cook Book,” somewhat modified and adapted to hay-box cookery. “The Fireless Cooker,” by Lovewell, Whittemore, and Lyon, has furnished some excellent ideas, such as the refrigerating box and home-made insulated oven and insulating pail, which have been elaborated in this book. Miss Huntington’s bulletin, “The Fireless Cooker,” has also been suggestive of a number of experiments which are to be found in the Appendix.

The chapter on “Institution Cookery” was introduced in the hope that many small institutions, boarding-house keepers, and those who are managing lunch-rooms, would be induced, by finding recipes arranged in suitable quantities for them, to introduce fireless cookers into their kitchens, and benefit by the great saving in labour and expense which is specially necessary to those who are dependent upon their kitchens for support. When a little experience is gained by using them, it will be found that all the other recipes in the book can be enlarged without minute directions.

It will be noticed that nearly every recipe in the book states how many persons it will serve, the idea being that, in spite of the variable quantities which different people use, this would act as a guide to those who wish to plan rather closely. Where two numbers are given the variation is in proportion to the difference between the amount eaten by men and by women.

The Appendix describes or suggests a series of experiments illustrating the scientific as well as the practical side of fireless cookery. Many of them would be easy for the average housekeeper to carry out, and would illuminate the subject to an extent which would repay her; but they are specially planned for students of household economics who have time and opportunity for such work, and who are supposed to know more than mere methods of housework, and to require an explanation of the principles involved.

CONTENTS

THE FIRELESS COOK BOOK

The Fireless Cook Book

I
THE FIRELESS COOKER

Does the idea appeal to you of putting your dinner on to cook and then going visiting, or to the theatre, or sitting down to read, write, or sew, with no further thought for your food until it is time to serve it? It sounds like a fairy-tale to say that you can bring food to the boiling point, put it into a box of hay, and leave it for a few hours, returning to find it cooked, and often better cooked than in any other way! Yet it is true. Norwegian housewives have known this for many years; and some other European nations have used the hay-box to a considerable extent, although it is only recently that its wonders have become rather widely known and talked about in America. The original box filled with hay has gone through a process of evolution, and become the fireless cooker of varied form and adaptability.

Just what can we expect the fireless cooker to do? What foods will it cook to advantage?

Almost all such dishes as are usually prepared by boiling or steaming, as well as many that are baked—soups, boiled or braised meats, fish, sauces, fruits, vegetables, puddings, eggs, in fact, almost everything that does not need to be crisp can be cooked in a simple hay-box. If the composition of foods and the general principles of cookery are well understood, but little special instruction will be needed to enable one to prepare such dishes with success; though even a novice may use a fireless cooker if the general directions and explanations, as well as the individual recipes, are carefully read and followed. While such dishes as toast, pancakes, roast or broiled meats, baked bread and biscuits, are impossible to cook in the simpler form of hay-box, the insulated oven, the latest development of the fireless cooker, opens up possibilities that may lead to a much wider adaptation of home-made insulators to domestic purposes. Roast meats, however, may first be cooked in the oven and completed in the hay-box or cooker, or they may be cooked in the hay-box till nearly done and then roasted for a short time to obtain the crispness which can be given only by cooking with great heat.

During ordinary cooking there is a great loss of heat, due to radiation from the cooking utensil and escaping steam. If, however, this heat could be retained, the food would continue to cook in the absence of fire. This is what occurs in the hay-box. Hay, being a poor conductor of heat, will, if closely packed around a kettle of boiling food, maintain, for a number of hours, a sufficiently high temperature to continue the cooking process. The familiar practice of using newspapers or carpet in keeping ice from melting depends upon the same principle. In both cases a material which is a poor conductor of heat, when interposed between the surrounding air and articles which are either colder or hotter than the air, being found to preserve their temperature. Other materials than hay or papers will act in the same way; such, for instance, as excelsior, sawdust, wool, mineral wool, and others. A vacuum will have the same effect as insulating materials. The “Thermos Bottle” and similar inventions, which are glass bottles surrounded by a vacuum and contained in metal cases, will keep foods hot or cold for many hours. If heated with a little boiling water before boiling food is poured in they will even cook some foods satisfactorily. A vacuum is expensive, as it is difficult to obtain, and therefore the ordinary fireless cooker is better suited to every-day use; but if one of these bottles is at hand it may be utilized in cases of illness or on journeys or in other unusual circumstances, when a cooker is not available.

The general trend of recent scientific investigation seems to indicate more and more clearly that the prevalent idea that all food must be cooked at a high temperature, such as that of boiling water (212 degrees Fahrenheit), is a mistaken one. Experiments have shown that starches are made thoroughly digestible at temperatures varying from 149 degrees to 185 degrees Fahrenheit. Cellulose, the woody fibre of vegetable foods, becomes perfectly softened at a temperature considerably below 212 degrees, while albuminous materials, of which all animal and many vegetable foods are largely composed, are not only well-cooked at a low temperature, but are decidedly more easily digestible than when cooked at the higher temperatures of boiling or baking.

SPECIAL ADVANTAGES OF THE FIRELESS COOKER

First, its economy, not only of fuel and of space on the stove, but of effort, of utensils, and also of food materials and flavour. It has been stated that 90 per cent. of the fuel used in ordinary cooking will be saved by the hay-box. This percentage will vary with different housekeepers, as some understand the economy of fuel much better than others, but there is no doubt that it is very great when the cooker is used. This is especially true when the fuel is gas, kerosene, gasolene, or denatured alcohol (possibly the coming fuel for common use). Where a wood fire or, particularly, where a coal fire must be maintained, the fuel saved by the cooker will manifestly be less than with such fuels as can be readily extinguished when their use is over, but even in such cases there is some economy of fuel. One must use the cooker to realize the saving in work that it means. Think what it is to have a method of cooking involving no necessity for remaining in the kitchen to keep up a fire or watch the food! As most hay-box cooking takes a considerable length of time, and many articles are not specially injured by overcooking, this means that foods can often be placed in the box and left for hours, while the housekeeper is enabled to go out for a day’s work, or to occupy her time in other ways, with a mind free from all care of the meal that is cooking. The user of a hay-box will soon find, too, that utensils are not so hard to wash after lying in hay as when food has been dried or burned on, and as the scraping and scouring given to ordinary utensils wears them out very fast, there is here also a considerable economy of utensils. There is found to be a very great saving of food materials on account of “left-over” foods and others that might be utilized, if the long cooking which they require to make them palatable did not involve such expense in the way of fuel as to offset the advantage of using them, such as in the case of soup stock, tougher cuts of meat, etc. Special attention is paid in this book to the preparation of a variety of cheap foods and “left-overs.”

The absence of heat and odours in the kitchen is another of the advantages of this cookery. On the hottest summer days a cooker will not increase the heat of the room, while even in a living-room, onions, turnips, cabbage, and such ill-smelling foods could be cooked with no suspicion of the fact on the part of the family or visitors. The fact that a cooker can also be made attractive in appearance, and used in rooms not ordinarily used for cooking, is of interest to some people who are not able to command even the ordinary amenities of housekeeping life.

In the matter of flavour there is a distinct gain in fireless cookery. Many are familiar, by experience or hearsay, with the specially delicious flavour of food cooked in primitive ways, such as burying the saucepan in a hole in the ground, of clambakes, or of cooking food by dropping heated stones into the mixture, in which cases the closely covered food is slowly cooked at a low temperature. The praises given to such cookery are often ascribed to the “hunger-sauce” that usually accompanies outdoor cookery, but not with entire justice, for there is a real difference in flavour.

As it has been well proved that tasteless food is less easily or thoroughly digested than food which has a good flavour, owing, probably, to the fact that high-flavoured food stimulates the flow of digestive juices, the advantage lies in this respect also with hay-box food over much of the ordinary food served.

The bearing of fireless cookery upon the servant-problem might well fill a chapter by itself. Any woman who uses this device for a year can become eloquent upon this subject. When cooking no longer ties one to the kitchen, is no longer a labour that monopolizes one’s time, dishevels one’s person, and exasperates the temper, the cook may go. We shall save her wages, her food, her room, and her waste, and have more to spend in ways that bring a more satisfactory return.

DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING A HAY-BOX OR FIRELESS COOKER

The box may be an unpainted one such as can be obtained for a few cents from any store where one of suitable size and shape is used, or it may be a handsome hardwood chest, or even an old trunk. In selecting it, choose one made of sufficiently heavy boards to admit of having hinges and a hasp put on it. If it is to be used in a dining-room, or where attractive appearance is to be desired, it may be covered with chintz or denim, or a coat of paint, if not made of finished hard wood. An old ice-box, one that has a hinged lid at the top, has been utilized for this purpose with success. A barrel makes an excellent hay-box, especially for very large kettles, but the cover cannot easily be hinged and must, therefore, be weighted to hold it down tight. In size the box should be from two to five inches larger in every dimension than the kettle it contains. The kettle is, therefore, the first thing to be secured, and full directions for choosing it are given on [page 13]. The next point to consider is the packing material. When this has been chosen, the directions for packing the box, given on [page 15], will tell how much space must be allowed for insulation and, consequently, of what size the box must be. If it is so large as to admit of more insulation than that absolutely required, there is no objection, only a possible gain. If it is intended to pack the box with more than one utensil this will also have a bearing upon its size. Allow nearly, or quite, double the insulation between the utensils that is provided on the other sides, otherwise there may be difficulty in removing one utensil while the other is still cooking.

Hinges and a hasp, or some device to hold the cover of the box shut, will be necessary, as the packing should be such that there is a little upward pressure on the cover.

A cushion is desirable to cover each kettle used, one which is thick enough to fill the hay-box after the kettle is in place. For making these cushions use muslin, denim, or any thing of the kind that is at hand, filling them, generally, with the same material as that used in packing the box. Shape them like a miniature mattress, joining two pieces which are the dimensions of the top of the box with a strip which is from two and one-half inches to four or five inches wide, the width depending upon the material with which the cushion is stuffed, some materials requiring thicker insulation than others.

Hay-Box With Two Compartments.

Partly packed compartment of hay-box, showing pail in place for packing. Cushion. “Space adjuster.” Small pail to fit in “space adjuster.”

Finished compartment of hay-box. Cushion. Large Pail. Pan and cover.

The packing material may be either hay, straw, paper, wool, mineral wool, excelsior, ground cork, Southern moss, sawdust, or any other non-conducting material that is adapted to filling the space between the kettle and the box. If hay is used, choose soft hay. Wool is, perhaps, the best heat retainer of those mentioned, and it is easy and pleasant to handle. Clean, soft wool may be purchased at woollen mills and elsewhere. It should cost about thirty-five cents a pound, but as it is very light it requires much less, by weight, than of some other cheaper materials. Mineral wool can be purchased at large hardware stores. It costs about five cents a pound, but about five times as many pounds are required as an equivalent for wool. Cheap cotton batting can be obtained at dry-goods stores; ground cork from large grocers. This is used by them as packing for grapes or other fancy fruits. Sawdust, obtainable at sawmills, and perhaps elsewhere, must be well dried before using. Excelsior is used by many kinds of merchants, and can be bought for about two cents a pound. Hay is plentiful in country places and can also be purchased at feed-stores in the cities. Southern moss, easily procurable in the Southern States, can be found at many upholsterers’ in the North as well. Newspapers and hair, such as is used by plasterers, are available in city and country.

The utensils. Perhaps the best shape for the cooking utensil, that is, one which will have the least possible radiating surface, is a pail about the depth of its own diameter. The sides should be straight and perpendicular to the bottom. The cover should fit securely into place. If a smaller utensil is to be used inside the large one, which is often a great convenience, it must not be so high that the cover of the larger pail will not go on. A “pudding pan” may be used for the inside utensil, resting on the rim of the pail; but care must be taken, with this arrangement, that a cover is secured that will fit the pan closely.

To select the material best adapted for cooker utensils one must consider its wearing quality, its heat-absorbing power, to some extent, and also the action upon it of the water, acids, salts, etc., which are found in the foods. For instance, iron utensils, as well as most tinware that has been used for any length of time, will rust with the long subjection to heat and moisture; acids will make a disagreeable taste with iron or old tin utensils; while acids in such long contact, with even new tin might also form poisonous tin salts in sufficient quantity to be decidedly injurious. Earthenware would seem ideal except that it is likely to break when over the flame. It is desirable that the covers be of the same material as the utensil, or of some other rust-proof material. It will pay to get the best, when buying these kettles, for they will last well, with reasonable care, and a poor utensil will soon be of no use whatever. Well-enameled iron, except for its weight, is good; also the best quality of agate ware, ordinary aluminum, or, perhaps best of all, for very large utensils at least, cast aluminum. Aluminum is expensive, but its light weight, excellently fitting parts, and lasting qualities commend it above other materials, and it will be found to pay in the end.

The size of the pails will depend to some extent upon the number of people to be served, although there is a minimum size, below which there is not a sufficient bulk of food to cook well. Under the heading “[Practical Suggestions on the Use of the Fireless Cooker],” this matter of quantity is more fully discussed. For a family of five or six persons a six-quart pail with a pan to fit inside of it has been found satisfactory. It will be convenient to have also a larger pail for large pieces of meat, such as hams.

Method of packing the box. This will vary somewhat with the different insulating materials used. These may be classified as:

Those into which the cooking utensil may be set without any intervening covering, among which are hay, excelsior, and paper.

Those requiring a covering material to keep them in place and to protect them from contact with the utensil, among which are wool, mineral wool, cork, sawdust, and cotton.

Figure No. 1.
Pasteboard cylinder to fit the pail.

Boxes to be filled with the first class of insulating materials are packed in the following manner:

Line the box and cover, smoothly, with one thickness of heavy paper, or several thicknesses of newspaper. This will prevent cold air from finding its way through the cracks, and dust and pieces from sifting out. Asbestos sheeting also makes a good lining. Pack in the bottom of the box a firm layer of insulating material not less than three or four inches in depth. This must raise the cooking pail to within from three to five inches of the top of the box. Set the utensil in the middle of the space allowed for it on this layer, and pack around it, very tightly, until level with the top of the kettle. When this is removed it will be found to have left a hole just large enough for it to slip into again. A little manipulation will make the rim of this pocket less ragged than at first. The cushion for boxes packed with excelsior or hay should be at least four inches thick. In packing with paper, lay first an even layer three or more inches thick of folded papers, filling the space around the kettle with soft, crumpled papers. In place of the top cushion, make a bundle of papers folded to just the right size. This can only be done when perfectly flat pail covers are used, unless a supplementary soft cushion be first laid over the pail.

The box is now ready for cooking, but if, after considerable use, the material shrinks so that the whole space is not firmly filled, a little more may be added. There should always be at least a slight pressure when the cover is closed. The paper lining described on [page 20], while not necessary to this class of boxes, is an improvement.

Figure No. 2.
Showing how to cut the cloth pieces for lining a home-made cooker.

Figure No. 3.
Showing the cloth lining just about to be placed in the box.

Boxes to be filled with the second class of material are packed in the following manner:

Line the box with a smooth covering of paper or asbestos, tacked into place. Pack a layer of insulating material, three inches or more in thickness, in the bottom, laying a piece of heavy paper on this. Sew two or three thicknesses of pliable cardboard into the form of a cylinder that will fit around the utensil loosely. ([Fig. No. 1].) It must be of the same height as the kettle. Set this cooker-pail, surrounded by the cylinder, on the layer in the box. Holding the kettle in place with one hand, pack tightly around it, to the level of the top of the pail. (See [page 12].) The efficiency of the box depends largely upon this packing. Cut a round hole, the size of the cooker nest, in a piece of heavy pasteboard, to fit the top of the box. Lay this over the packing, so that it will cover it completely. The box is now ready for its cloth lining. To make this, cut three pieces of cloth; one to be one-inch or more larger than the top of the box, with a round hole cut in its centre, one inch smaller than the diameter of the cooker-pail ([Fig. No. 2]:1); another to be a round piece one-inch larger than the diameter of the pail ([Fig. No. 2]:2); and the third to be a strip one-inch wider than the height of the pail, and long enough to go around it with an inch to spare ([Fig. No. 2]:3). Sew the ends of this strip together to make a cylinder. Into one end of this cylinder sew the round piece. The other end is to be sewed into the large piece, taking in each case a half-inch seam. When this is put into the box it will line the nest for the kettle, and cover the pasteboard which rests on top. ([Fig. No. 3].) Remove the pail and tack this cloth lining in place, turning in the edges where it is tacked to the box. A paper lining may be substituted for cloth in the following manner:

Figure No. 4.
Showing the manner of cutting the paper covering for a fireless cooker.

Take a sheet of very heavy paper, at least one inch larger in every dimension than the top of the box. Draw a circle in the centre of it the size of the pail. In the centre of this circle cut a small hole large enough to insert the blade of a pair of scissors. From this hole, cut to the circle, so as to strike it at intervals of about one and one-half inches. ([Fig. No. 4].) Fit the paper over the top of the packing in the box so that this circle will come just over the nest for the pail. Put the cooker-pail into the nest and it will crease the points down at exactly the right place. [Figure No. 5] shows the cooker completed. A paper lining is in some respects to be preferred to cloth. It is easy and quick to make and can be readily replaced if it becomes soiled.

With either class of cooker more than one nest may be made. It is well, in that case, to have a wooden partition put into the box before packing it, although this is not strictly necessary. Each portion of the box can then be packed independently and for utensils of different sizes if desired.

Figure No. 5.
Showing the paper lining of a fireless cooker in place.

If possible, when packing a box with mineral wool, do the work out of doors, wearing a pair of gloves, as particles from it fly into the air and are extremely irritating to the throat and skin. Twenty-five pounds of mineral wool will pack a nine-quart pail in a box fifteen by fifteen inches and eleven inches high. Five pounds of wool will pack the same box for using a nine-quart pail. If a smaller pail is used, more wool or mineral wool will be required.

Sawdust is one of the easiest materials to handle. It packs easily and does not require a cloth covering, heavy paper answering the purpose perfectly. Proceed with the packing as for wool or mineral wool and such other materials, omitting the pasteboard top. In place of this and the cloth covering use a paper lining.

“Space adjuster” before it is covered; and small pad to fill the space below the pail.

The “space adjuster” is a padded cylinder which slips into a cooker pocket and makes a receiver for a smaller cooker-pail than that for which the cooker was packed. It can be made by putting together two pasteboard cylinders of equal length, one of which will fit rather loosely outside of the small pail, and the other of which will slip easily into the cooker pocket and line it from top to bottom. When the small cylinder is stood inside of the larger one the space between the two should be firmly packed, preferably with a soft material such as cotton or wool. To keep the filling in place while packing it the cylinder may be wound with twine, as shown in the accompanying [illustration]. It may then be covered with a fitted muslin cover. Sew two tabs on this cover, with which to lift the space adjuster out. When slipped into the cooker pocket, and the small pail placed in the new pocket thus formed, there will be found to be a space below the pail, which may be filled by a round cushion made for the purpose.

Section view of “space adjuster” showing the pail and cushion in place.

Ready-made hay-boxes and fireless cookers are to be found on the market, some of which have advantages over the home-made article along with some disadvantages. First of the disadvantages is, perhaps, the cost, the expense being considerably greater than for the home-made box. Also the choice in the matter of shapes and material for the utensils cannot be as great as in home-made boxes, and some of the cookers are unpractical in minor details. On the other hand, the commercial cookers are ready for use, some of them being excellently adapted to their purpose, and to many people this would offset the cost. Those that are made of metal, on the plan of refrigerators, perhaps not boxes at all, would appeal to certain housekeepers as likely to be more cleanly than upholstered boxes. But, as food is always in tightly-covered vessels, and as experience has shown that ordinary care will prevent anything from being spilled, a hay-box having been kept sweet and clean without refilling for over a year, the danger of uncleanliness is not so great as would at first appear. Doubtless where servants are entrusted with the use of the cooker there would usually be a greater necessity for guarding against untidiness.

In selecting a ready-made cooker certain points should be considered. See that the parts fit closely together, are simple and strong in construction; that there are no seams or pockets in the kettles which would be difficult, if not impossible, to get clean; that the kettles are a suitable size, namely, not too large, if they are to cook food for a small family, and not too small to ensure sufficient heat for proper cooking; and that there is no air space over the cover that will not be filled when the cooker is closed. In the case of the metal cookers a round cover with a single hinge is a point of weakness, for the cover is not sufficiently supported to endure the strain of constant use. Many of the cookers also use tin very considerably, which is objectionable. Doubtless there will be constant improvements in these inventions, as there is a growing demand for them and an increasing intelligence as to their use.

MATERIALS NEEDED FOR A HOME-MADE FIRELESS COOKER

• A box or barrel (see [page 9]).
• One pair of strong hinges.
• A hasp.
• Material for stuffing (see [page 11]).
• One or more large pails (see [page 13]).
• One or more small pails or pans (see [page 13]).
• Muslin, 1¹⁄₂ yards or more, depending upon the size of the box.
• A cooking thermometer.
• Heavy pasteboard.
• Pliable pasteboard.
• Brown paper.
• Tacks and screws.

PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOR USING A FIRELESS COOKER

While success in using a cooker is reasonably sure if directions are clear and detailed, and can be followed exactly, yet it is well to understand, in a general way, the conditions of success in order that a deviation from directions, if such should ever be found necessary, will not mean failure.

As the cooking depends upon the retention of heat, it stands to reason that there must be heat to retain. A pint of food does not contain as much heat as a quart, even though both be of the same temperature to begin with. This can be demonstrated by setting a pint and a quart of boiling water side by side. The pint will lose its small amount of heat and grow cold much sooner than the quart, with its larger amount. After an equal time eight quarts of food in the cooker have been found to register 15 degrees Fahrenheit higher than one and one-half quarts, other conditions being the same. This explains the failures of some beginners which are due to the fact that such a small quantity of food was taken that there was not sufficient heat to begin with. Obviously this danger is less with foods requiring only a slight cooking, since, even with small quantities, some time elapses before the food grows too cold to cook at all.

The total quantity of food is, therefore, seen to be an important factor in success. The larger the amount of food, the higher the temperature will be at the end of a given length of time. Where the amount is very large, as in the case of hotel and institution cookery, this gain is so great that the time required for cooking is materially reduced.

The proportion between the amount of food and the size of the utensil in which it is cooked is equally important. Experiments have shown that one and one-half quarts of water, in a pail just large enough to hold it, will register 15 degrees Fahrenheit more than the same measure of water in a nine-quart pail at the end of an hour; while at the end of twelve hours there is 28 degrees of difference. It is thus seen that a well-filled kettle is more likely to cook successfully than one partially filled. When it is impossible to cook in a smaller pail, and thus avoid vacant space in the kettle, the difficulty may, to some extent, be offset by using a pan for the food with sloping sides and broad rim, such as a “pudding pan,” which may be set into the cooker-pail and, by resting upon its rim, will be suspended in it. This arrangement admits of filling the lower part of the pail with boiling water or with boiling food, in case a second kind of food is to be cooked for the same length of time.

Space between the pail and packing material is also likely to be disastrous, so that it is not advisable to try to use a small pail in a “nest” made for a large one without the “space adjuster” described on [page 22]. Even the space which results after a short use of a newly packed box will be sufficient for the escape of some heat and should always be filled in.

Place the cooker near the stove, since it is important to transfer the food very quickly from one to the other. The cooker should be open, the cushion removed and everything in readiness before the food is taken from the fire; then, before it has time to stop boiling, it should be in place in the box. Loss of time at this juncture owing to uncertain movements is a fruitful source of failure among beginners.

Keep the box tightly closed from the moment the food is put into it until it is entirely done, as if for any reason the box is opened before the appointed time, the contents must be reheated to boiling point before being replaced.

The time for cooking foods on the stove, previous to putting them into the cooker, is usually very short. Food in large, solid masses, as ham, pot roasts, moulds of bread, etc., must be boiled until thoroughly heated to the centre, obviously requiring longer boiling the larger and denser the pieces are. Food that is broken and less compact will be readily penetrated by heat and will be boiling hot nearly or quite as soon as the surrounding water. Such foods need only a moment’s brisk boiling before being put into the cooker. Cereals, although in fine particles, easily settle into a dense, impenetrable mass during the long period of undisturbed cooking, unless boiled until they are slightly thickened.

The length of time for cooking in the cooker depends upon several factors: (1) the kind of cooker, whether well or ill packed, and whether good or poor insulating material is used; (2) the skill of the cook in getting the kettle into the box quickly; (3) the amount, toughness, density, and size of the pieces; (4) whether hard or soft water is used. If hard water is used foods require more cooking to become tender than with soft water. Hard water may be softened, however, by the addition of a little baking soda. The time given in this book is adapted to a home-made cooker, well packed with any of the materials suggested in the section giving directions for packing the cookers. With some commercial cookers a shorter time may be sufficient.

It is frequently stated that few foods are injured by overcooking, but while this is true of a great many foods, it has not proved to be the case with all. Potatoes, rice, custards, raised mixtures, such as dumplings, suet pudding, and brown bread, as well as many other foods, are decidedly injured by overcooking. The recipes generally state the minimum and maximum time which each food should have. This information will also be found easily accessible in the [classified index]. There is danger in leaving meats or soup stock or even cereals in the cooker long after they have cooled down, as they will be likely to spoil.

Needless to say, careful reading of all the directions given, and following them in every particular, will be necessary until one becomes well acquainted with this novel method of cookery. Mistakes in temperature tests, in measuring, in time, and in other conditions, may result in failures, which must not be imputed to the cooker, but to the cook.

It will probably not be long, after the first experiment with a cooker, before several compartments are fitted up; in which case it is difficult to remember what food is in each and at what time it is to be removed, since it is left for so many hours. To meet this difficulty a slate, hung in the kitchen near the box, will be found a great convenience. It may be permanently ruled and arranged in the form of a table, to be filled out with pencil. A good form to use is the one given below. The compartments may be numbered or described.

II
THE PORTABLE INSULATING PAIL

A cheap, portable retainer, for keeping food hot or cold on picnics, automobile trips, and other outings, will be found a great convenience and will fill a long-felt want. Tight-fitting covers, fastened in place, will be necessary to keep food from spilling; and very cheap, easily obtained insulating material should be used for these pails, so that in case the packing becomes soiled it can be discarded without loss. Newspapers, hay, or excelsior are best for the purpose. The object in using such pails is not to cook the food, though this might be done if the inner pail were small enough or the outer pail large enough to allow of sufficient insulation, but to keep food already cooked, or nearly cooked, at a temperature which will make it appetizing. For this purpose a couple of inches of insulation, with such materials as those suggested, will answer very well. If an ordinary fibre or wooden household pail is used, this will carry two or three quarts of food. Take for the inner utensil one just large enough to hold the food, and pack the outer pail to accommodate it, like any hay-box or cooker. If designed for frequent use it will pay to make a fitted cushion, but for a single occasion it will not be worth while to take this trouble. Any small cushion or pillow can be used, merely turning the corners under, if it is square. In order to protect it from danger of becoming soiled, lay a number of thicknesses of newspaper over the inner pail before putting on the cushion. Be careful to pack it so that the cushion will fill the upper space completely. A cover must be found for the outer pail, and if a wooden cover is not at hand, a round tray or large kettle cover that will fit it may be utilized. A butter pail, tin pail or candy pail will have its own cover.

To fasten the covers on, tie a loose slip-knot in the middle of a piece of very strong twine ([Fig. No. 6]:1); before pulling it up tight, slip the noose over the cover of the pail and draw the remainder of the knot out till it is loose enough to go around the pail. If it is placed under the rim near the top of the utensil, or under the fastenings of the handle, it will be held by them from slipping off. Then draw the knot up tight, and tie the two ends of twine over the top. ([Fig. No. 6]:2.) For greater safety, especially on the outer pail, it will be well to use two such strings, placing the loops at right angles to one another. Soft copper wire might be used for this purpose instead of twine. When the food is in the inner pail, tie on the cover, put it again on the fire until it is boiling hot, and place it quickly in the insulating pail. More than one kettle of food may be placed in the pail if there is room. Food thus insulated will keep hot for hours, even in cold weather.

Figure No. 6.
1. Method of tying slip-knot. 2. Method of tying the cover on a pail.

Obviously, this arrangement will work equally well in keeping cold foods cool in summer, such as ice water, or cool drinks. Even frozen creams and ices, if packed well in a mould, covered tin pail or can, sealed and surrounded with a small quantity of ice and salt, and the whole thus insulated, will keep for many hours. To seal the mould, dip a narrow strip of muslin in melted fat and lay it quickly over the crack between the cover and mould.

III
THE REFRIGERATING BOX

As we have seen in the case of the insulating pail, the principle involved in cooking by retained heat may be reversed, and the heat may, by similar means, be excluded from foods which are to be kept cold. Ice-boxes and refrigerators are made with this end in view. They are constructed with heavy walls, usually, if not always, with an interlining of some non-conducting material, to exclude the heat of the atmosphere. Where such an article is needed permanently, or for large quantities of food, the various refrigerators on the market are better adapted to the purpose than a home-made box. But, in cases of temporary necessity or to supplement a refrigerator, the home-made refrigerating box will doubtless find a use. Ingenuity will suggest variations in the manner of applying the principle of insulation to keeping foods cold, but by way of suggestion two forms of refrigerating boxes are described below.

Refrigerating box packed with three crocks.

Take three or more stoneware crocks with well-fitting covers of the same material. The size of the crocks must be determined by the quantity of food to be kept. Good results in the way of temperatures have been obtained with those holding a half gallon, but the amount of food accommodated in them is, of course, small.

Proceed exactly as for packing a cooker, except that the crocks must be set in place so that all of them touch the central one, which is to be filled with ice.

Although any insulating material suitable for cookers will answer for a refrigerating box, sawdust will be found the easiest to handle, for the reason that its fine particles will more readily fill the acute angles between the crocks, which must be carefully packed or the insulation is not complete. It will be best to make one narrow cushion that may remain in place over the central crock, except when the ice is to be renewed, and two others, each of which can be removed singly when the crock under it is to be opened. Put the food into dishes or pails that can be removed with it and washed. This will obviate the necessity for taking out the crocks frequently and will mean a considerable saving of ice. In lieu of one solid piece of ice, broken pieces will be found to answer excellently. Fill the ice-crock as full as possible, and do not open it until it needs refilling. A little observation of your own individual box will be necessary to tell you just how long your crock of ice will last. It will probably be safe, in any case, to leave it two full days after filling it before opening it. If no foods that have not been reasonably cooled are put into the refrigerating box it is possible that the ice may last three or four days.

Aside from the efficiency of the insulation, the consumption of ice will depend largely upon the amount and temperature of the food in the other crocks and the frequency with which they are opened to the warm outside air; therefore chose as cool a place as possible for the box to stand, and open it only when necessary. Try to think of all the articles you want from it before taking off the cushion. Better results in the way of temperature can be obtained with these boxes than with many commercial refrigerators, although the skill and care in using either will be a large factor in the economy of ice. When it is necessary to open the box, let it be for as brief a time as possible, as every moment that it is open means an increase of temperature and, consequently, a loss of ice.

Another variety of refrigerating box may be made by thoroughly insulating a tin pail partly filled with ice, or a bread box, containing a crock for ice. Allow the same amount of insulation as that called for with the various packing materials used for hay-boxes or cookers, and pack them similarly. It will not often be necessary to remove the inner box if care is taken in handling the dishes of food; but when it is to be scalded, take it out, wash it well, boil or scald it with soda and water, and cool it again before replacing it in the packing.

IV
COOKING FOR TWO

While the fireless cooker is, perhaps, especially adapted to families of average size, or larger, there is no reason why small quantities of food cannot be equally well cooked, provided the cooker is properly made with that in view.

A large utensil will involve a great waste of gas and time, for in every case it will be necessary to heat a considerable quantity of water which is only required to fill the utensil. Select, instead, a two-quart pail, pack it very tightly in a moderately small box, allowing, however, the requisite thickness of insulation (see [page 16]). This will be suitable for much of the cooking to be done, such as vegetables, steamed breads, etc., that are cooked in much water; but for such articles as oatmeal, stews, puddings, and some vegetables, use a small pudding pan, just fitting into the pail and resting on its rim, with a cover that will closely fit the pan. The pail must always be filled with boiling water or food to touch the upper pan, and if these conditions are fulfilled and the food is put quickly, and while boiling hard, into a cooker which stands close to the range, it will be found to cook as perfectly as larger amounts. Two kinds of food can thus be cooked at once, but, when only water is used in the lower pail, it can be kept in the cooker during the meal, and will be hot when the time comes for washing the dishes.

The fact that almost all the recipes in this book tell the number of persons which they will serve will make the quantity to be cooked easy to ascertain. Where articles are to be cooked in moulds, as steamed breads, puddings, meat loaves, etc., one-half pound baking powder cans may be used. It will be safer to test them to see whether or not they leak. The only change in the method of cooking such dishes that will then be necessary is shortening the time of boiling previous to putting them into the cooker. Small cuts of meat will also require shorter preliminary boiling. One-half the time given will be found sufficient. The great majority of dishes may be cooked as directed in the full-sized recipes, without any change on account of the small quantity.

For such purposes as preserving and baking (see [page 228]), a large pail will be needed, even by a family of two, and it is suggested that the cooker be packed first to accommodate such a pail, and the box then be made to receive also the two-quart pail by means of the space-adjuster described on [page 22].

V
MEASURING

All measurements given in this book are made in standard half-pint cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, quarts, pecks, etc. The dry materials are leveled even with the top of the cup, spoon, or other measure by filling it heaping full, then pushing off with a knife that which lies above the top. When held level with the eyes, nothing should be seen above the cup or spoon, and yet the receptacle should be completely filled. Where standard cups, with divisions in thirds and quarters, are not to be obtained, it will be better to use a straight-sided glass if one can be found which holds an exact half-pint. It will be easier to get an accurate half or third of a cupful in such a measure than in one which grows smaller at the bottom, as most cups do. A cupful or spoonful of liquid is all that they can be made to hold.

Such materials as flour, powdered sugar, mustard, meal, and others, that pack as they stand, should first be sifted or stirred up, and must have any lumps pressed out. Do not shake such materials to level them, or they will settle and the measure will be incorrect. Half cupfuls or other fractions of a cupful of dry material, fat, etc., may be leveled with the back of a tablespoon.

To measure fractions of a spoonful, whether a teaspoon or a tablespoon, fill the spoon, level it, then with a knife divide halves lengthwise of the spoon; quarters crosswise of the halves; eighths by dividing these in halves; thirds crosswise; and sixths by dividing the spoon first in halves, then in thirds across the halves.

VI
TABLE OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

VII
TABLE OF PROPORTIONS

Batters; 1 cupful liquid to 1 cupful flour.

Muffin or cake dough; 1 cupful liquid to 2 cupfuls flour.

Dough to knead; 1 cupful liquid to 3 cupfuls flour.

Dough to roll out; 1 cupful liquid to 4 cupfuls flour.

6 teaspoonfuls baking-powder to 1 quart flour, if no eggs are used; or

1¹⁄₂ teaspoonfuls baking-powder to 1 cupful flour.

¹⁄₂ teaspoonful soda and 1 teaspoonful cream of tartar is about equivalent to 2 teaspoonfuls baking-powder.

¹⁄₂ cup liquid yeast equals ¹⁄₂ dry yeast cake, and ¹⁄₄ compressed yeast cake.

1 cupful liquid yeast, 1 dry yeast cake, or ¹⁄₂ compressed yeast cake to 1 pint liquid if bread is raised during the day.

¹⁄₂ cupful liquid yeast, ¹⁄₂ dry yeast cake, or ¹⁄₄ compressed yeast cake to 1 pint liquid if bread is raised over night.

1¹⁄₂ teaspoonfuls soda to 1 pint thick, sour milk.

1¹⁄₂ teaspoonfuls soda to 1 pint molasses.

1 teaspoonful soda to 1¹⁄₂ cupfuls thick, sour cream.

¹⁄₂ cupful corn-starch to 1 quart milk for blanc-mange.

1 teaspoonful salt to 1 quart soup stock, sauces, etc.

¹⁄₈ teaspoonful pepper to each teaspoonful salt.

2 to 4 egg yolks to 1 pint milk for soft custards.

2 or 3 whole eggs to 1 pint milk for cup custards.

1 teaspoonful salt to 1 quart water for boiling vegetables, meats, etc.

2 tablespoonfuls flour to 1 cup liquid for white sauces and gravies.

3 tablespoonfuls flour to 1 cup liquid for brown sauces.

Whites of 8 eggs make 1 cupful.

3 teaspoons equal 1 tablespoon.

16 tablespoons equal 1 cup.

2 cups equal 1 pint.

VIII
SEASONING AND FLAVOURING MATERIALS

Having always to substitute a familiar and time-worn flavouring, which is in the house, for the newer and particular flavour called for and required to give the distinctive “tang” to a dish, is what gives some people’s cooking a monotony that is no easier or less expensive to produce than a variety, if only the kitchen is as well supplied as it might be. Many different recipes can be made, using the same ingredients as a basis, by changing the flavouring, as in stews, cakes, etc. Macaroni and rice admit of a wide range of variation.

For the housekeeper who does not want all her cooking to taste alike, it will be found convenient to have always on hand a variety of flavouring and seasoning materials. A list is given below of the ones frequently called upon in this book; those which are commonly used in sweet dishes being grouped together, and those used in savoury dishes, such as soups, stews, etc., although in some cases these are used interchangeably:

Flavourings for Sweet Dishes

• Vanilla bean or extract
• Almond extract
• Orange rind and juice
• Lemon rind and juice
• Cinnamon
• Cloves
• Nutmeg
• Allspice
• Ginger
• Wine

Seasonings for Savoury Dishes

• Pepper
• Cayenne
• Curry powder
• Sage
• Summer savoury
• Sweet marjoram
• Thyme
• Bay leaves
• Worcestershire sauce
• Parsley
• Celery seed
• Celery leaves
• Dried peppers

Many of these can be prepared at almost no cost, and put away in tin cans or boxes, either whole or powdered with a mortar and pestle. The leaves of celery and parsley, the herbs and peppers may be washed well and hung near the kitchen stove or in the sun, if they can be kept free from dust and flies out of doors, or put into a warming oven. Orange and lemon rind make good flavourings for puddings and cakes, if correctly prepared, to vary the monotony of perpetual vanilla. The yellow part only of the rind should be grated, for cakes, or shaved off with a knife for custards and puddings, which can be strained to take out the pieces. Caramel is easy to make, and is useful in custards and creams.

To make caramel. Melt one cupful of sugar with one tablespoonful of water, in a frying-pan. Stir it constantly until it is a golden brown colour, add one-half cupful of water, one-half at a time. The sugar becomes very hot, and, if only a small amount of water is added, it does not cool it enough and will be so quickly turned to steam as to have almost the effect of exploding. If the sugar is allowed to become dark brown it will taste bitter. Such caramel is sometimes used to color gravies, but is not sufficiently delicate in taste for flavouring purposes.

Avoid using the same seasonings in every dish. It is better to put only a few flavours together for each dish than to mingle a great many and be obliged always to use the same. It is a good general principle, where several flavours are combined, to keep all somewhat equally balanced so that no one is conspicuously present. Public opinion seems to agree that the skilful cook is the one who makes something good, “but you can’t tell what’s in it.” This is done chiefly by the careful selection and equalizing of flavouring ingredients.

IX
BREAKFAST CEREALS

That so cheap and easy a food to prepare as cereals should so often be unappetizing, and even indigestible, because of poor cooking, is partly due to ignorance of the great improvement in flavour which long cooking gives them, and partly to the difficulties attending such long cooking. No one wants to rise two hours before breakfast to cook a cereal which is advertised on the package to cook in ten minutes or less, and those who do not have coal fires burning through the night are somewhat at a loss to know how to keep cereals cooking over night. The fireless cooker seems to fill a long-felt want in this direction. At the cost of a fraction of a cent for fuel it accomplishes an all-night cooking without danger of scorching, boiling dry, or needing to be stirred. The fallacious idea that boiling temperature is necessary for cooking starches and starchy foods has been proved false. As a matter of fact, a temperature of 167 degrees Fahrenheit is sufficient for the starch grains of some cereals, while long-continued cooking at much below boiling point will serve to soften and rupture the woody fibre which surrounds and entangles the starch and other nutrients. The nitrogenous or tissue-forming substance is probably rendered less easily digestible by boiling, and is perfectly cooked at a temperature which will cook the starches. Merely reaching these temperatures for a short time is not sufficient, however, to produce well-cooked cereals. A further change affecting the flavour, and perhaps the digestibility, is accomplished by long cooking.

The length of time required depends upon the amount and character of the woody fibre, whether the grains are left whole or ground fine, and the degree of cooking they may have had in the course of manufacture. Rolled oats and wheat are steamed to some extent, and do not, therefore, require as much cooking as whole or cracked wheat and oats. Preparations of corn, having more woody fibre than any of the other cereals, will, unless cooked during manufacture, require more cooking than equally finely ground preparations from other cereals. Rice requires the least cooking of all, as it contains the least woody fibre.

Rolled Oats

• 2¹⁄₂ cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup rolled oats

Look over the oats and remove any husks or pieces. Put water, salt, and oats in a pan, or pail that fits into a cooker-pail, boil them for five minutes, or until slightly thickened, stirring them frequently, then put the pan over a cooker-pail of boiling water and put it into a cooker for from two to twelve hours. Although soft and digestible after two hours, it is greatly improved in flavour by longer cooking. If cooked over night it will need to be heated, somewhat, before serving. This can be done by putting it over the fire while still in the cooker-pail of water. When the water in the pail boils, the oatmeal may be served.

Serves four persons.

Cornmeal Mush

• 4 cups boiling water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cornmeal
• ¹⁄₂ cup cold water

Mix the meal with the cold water, add it to the boiling salted water; let it boil five minutes, stirring it frequently, then set it in a cooker-pail of boiling water and put it into a cooker for from five to ten hours. If the mush is to be used for frying, use two cupfuls of milk and two cupfuls of water, reserving one-half cupful of the milk cold to mix with the cornmeal. When cooked, pour it into a wet bread pan, and slice it when perfectly cold. If coarsely ground meal is used, sift it through a coarse sieve before cooking it, to remove the largest particles of bran. Granulated meal will not require sifting.

Serves six or eight persons.

Hominy Grits

• 5 cups water
• 1¹⁄₂ teaspoons salt
• 1 cup hominy grits

Add the hominy to the boiling salted water, boil it for ten minutes, and put it into a cooker for ten hours or more.

Serves six or eight persons.

Cracked Wheat

• ¹⁄₂ cup wheat
• 1 cup cold water
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups boiling water

Soak the cracked wheat in the cold water for nine hours or more; add the boiling water and salt, and let all boil hard for ten minutes in an uncovered pan. Place the utensil in a cooker-pail of boiling water and put it into a cooker for ten hours. Reheat it to the boiling point and cook it again for ten hours.

Serves four or five persons.

Steel Cut Oatmeal

• ¹⁄₂ cup oatmeal
• 1 cup cold water
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups boiling water

Cook it in the same manner as cracked wheat. Serves four or five persons.

Pettijohn’s Breakfast Food

• 2¹⁄₂ cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup Pettijohn’s Breakfast Food

Add the salt and cereal to the cold water, stir until it boils, boil it for five minutes, or until it has thickened, and put it into a cooker for from two to twelve hours. It is improved by the longer cooking.

Serves four or five persons.

Cream of Wheat

• 3¹⁄₂ cups boiling water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¹⁄₂ cup cream of wheat

Put all together, stir until boiling, and put it into a cooker for from one to twelve hours.

Serves four or five persons.

Wheatlet

Cook it in the same way as cream of wheat.

Farina

Cook it in the same way as cream of wheat.

X
SOUPS

There are two classes of soup, (1) those made with meat stock, which is the water in which meat has been cooked, sometimes in combination with other materials for seasoning purposes, and (2) those made without meat stock.

Soups made with meat stock include:

Bouillon, made from lean beef, always served clear; or from clams.

Brown stock, made usually from beef, preferably one-half lean and one-half bone and fat, with seasonings of vegetables, herbs, and spices.

White stock, made from chicken or veal.

Consommé, made from several kinds of meat, seasoned highly with vegetables, herbs, and spices, and always served clear.

Broths or beef tea, made usually from lean mutton, lamb, or beef, and not clarified.

Soups made without meat stock include:

Cream soups, made from vegetable or fish stock with milk or cream and somewhat thickened with flour or corn-starch.

Purées, made from vegetables or fish put through a strainer, often with the addition of milk or cream. They also are thickened with flour or corn-starch and are usually thicker than cream soups. White stock also is sometimes used in purées.

Bisques are made like purees, except that pieces of vegetables, fish, meat, or game are served in them in addition.

SOUP MAKING

To make stock. Wash and cut the meat into small pieces or gash it frequently; crack the bone; let meat and bone soak in the cold water while preparing the seasonings; then add the seasonings, boil the stock ten minutes and put it into a cooker for from nine to twelve hours. When cooked, pour it through a wire strainer and set it away to cool. When cold, it should be kept in a refrigerator or other cold place. Be careful that the pail is well filled, or the soup will cool with the long cooking and may sour. If too small a quantity is cooked to fill the pail or pan it should be set over hot water. The cake of fat which forms on top when the stock is cold should not be removed until the soup is to be made, as it seals the stock and keeps out air and germs, thus helping to preserve it. When soup is to be made, the fat is taken off, the stock heated, and any desired seasonings or additions are put in.

To clear soup stock. Remove the fat, taste the stock, and if it needs more seasoning add it before the clearing. Put into each quart of the cold stock the slightly beaten white of one egg and one crushed egg-shell. Wash the egg before breaking it. Stir the stock constantly while heating it. Let it boil two minutes and set it in a cooker for one-half hour or more. Remove the scum and strain it through two thicknesses of cheese-cloth laid in a colander.

To remove fat from hot soup or broth. Skim off all that can be taken off with a spoon. With a succession of small pieces of soft brown paper take off the rest as if you were using blotting paper on the surface of the soup. When no spotted appearance is seen on the papers, the fat is all removed.

To bind soups. This name is given to the process of thickening cream soups and purées, the liquid and solid part of which would separate unless bound together. Melt the butter, and when it is liquid add usually an equal quantity of flour and rub them together till well blended. They are then added to the soup and stirred constantly till perfectly mixed. If the proportion of flour is greater than that of the butter it will be better to add a little of the soup to the flour and butter in a separate saucepan as for making [white sauce], and when enough has been added to make a smooth sauce, it may be poured into the soup.

Brown Stock No. 1

• 3 lbs. shin of beef
• 3 qts. cold water
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon peppercorns
• 6 cloves
• ¹⁄₂ bay leaf
• 3 sprigs thyme
• 1 sprig sweet marjoram
• 2 sprigs parsley
• ¹⁄₂ cup carrot
• ¹⁄₂ cup turnip
• ¹⁄₂ cup celery
• ¹⁄₃ cup onion
• 1 tablespoon salt

Prepare the meat as directed for making [stock], brown one-third of it in a frying pan with the fat. Wash the vegetables, scrape or pare them, and cut them in small pieces. Put all the ingredients together and bring them to a boil. When they have boiled for ten minutes put them into a cooker for from nine to twelve hours. Unless there is a large quantity of soup it is not safe to leave it more than twelve hours, lest it grow cold and sour; but nine or more quarts may safely be left for fifteen hours or more, provided the kettle is at least two-thirds full. Pour it through a wire strainer and cool it as rapidly as possible.

Brown Stock No. 2

• 1¹⁄₂ lbs. meat and bone, raw or cooked
• 1¹⁄₂ qts. water
• 6 peppercorns
• 3 cloves
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon shaved lemon rind
• 3 sprigs parsley
• ¹⁄₄ cup carrot
• ¹⁄₄ cup turnip
• ¹⁄₆ cup onion
• ¹⁄₄ cup celery
• 1 teaspoon salt

Do not use salt or smoked meats for soup stock, or any parts of meat which have become charred or blackened in the cooking. Very little of these would be enough to destroy the good flavour of soup.

Cut from the bones all the meat that is easy to get off. Tough ends from steak or roasts should be cut off before they are cooked, and saved for soup or stews. Cut meat for making soup in small pieces. Separate the bones at the joints and crack them if they are large. Soak the meat in the water while preparing the seasoning. Put all the ingredients together and bring them to a boil. Boil them for ten minutes and put them into a cooker for from nine to twelve hours, standing the pan or pail in a large pail of boiling water, unless this recipe fills the cooker pail. Strain the stock through a wire strainer, and cool it as rapidly as possible.

White Stock No. 1

• 1 chicken or fowl
• Water to cover the chicken
• Salt (1 teaspoon to 1 qt. water)

Cook chicken or fowl according to the directions given on [page 131] for stewed chicken. The water in which the chicken was cooked makes white stock.

White Stock No. 2

• 2 lbs. knuckle of veal
• 2 qts. cold water
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 12 peppercorns
• ¹⁄₂ cup celery or 1 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 onion

Prepare the meat as directed for making [stock]. Pare and slice the onion; cut the celery in pieces. If celery cannot easily be obtained, substitute dried celery leaves, using three or four sprays, or use celery seed.

Put all the ingredients together, let them boil for ten minutes, and put them into a cooker for from nine to twelve hours. Set the pail or pan in a larger cooker-pail of boiling water unless the soup nearly fills the cooker-pail.

Bouillon

• 3 lbs. lean beef from round or shoulder
• 2 lbs. marrow bone
• 3 qts. cold water
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon salt
• ¹⁄₂ cup carrot
• ¹⁄₃ cup onion
• ¹⁄₂ cup turnip
• ¹⁄₂ cup celery

Prepare the meat as directed for making [brown stock]. Use the marrow fat for browning the meat. Boil all together for ten minutes and put them into a cooker for from nine to twelve hours. Strain the stock through a wire strainer and cool it. When cold, remove the fat and clear the soup as directed on [page 59]. Serve in bouillon cups with crisp crackers.

Serves fifteen to twenty persons.

Beef Broth

• 1 lb. lean beef from round or shoulder
• 1 pt. cold water
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon salt

Wash and chop the meat fine, removing any pieces of fat. Add the salt and let the meat soak for one hour in a cold place. In a small cooker-pail or pan set over a larger cooker-pail of hot, but not boiling water, heat the broth till it registers 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Slip the pails into a cooker for one-half hour. Strain the broth through a coarse wire strainer, remove all fat by the directions on [page 59], and serve it immediately in a heated cup; or it may be chilled, or frozen to the consistency of mush.

Mutton Broth

• 3 lbs. mutton (from neck)
• 2 qts. cold water
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Few grains pepper
• 3 tablespoons rice or
• 3 tablespoons barley

Wipe the meat, remove carefully all skin and fat, as these impart a rank flavour to mutton broth. Cut the meat into small pieces, or put it through a food chopper. Cover the meat and bones with the water, add the salt, and when boiling put them into a cooker for from nine to twelve hours. If barley is used, soak it over night and cook it in a small pail or pan set into or over the broth in the same cooker-pail. When broth and barley are both boiling, put the pails together and slip them into the cooker. Rice would be over cooked if treated in this way, and should be cooked in the strained broth, or separately, for one hour in the cooker. When the broth is done, strain it and remove every particle of fat as directed on [page 59].

Consommé

• 3 lbs. lower part of round or shoulder of beef
• 1 lb. marrow bone
• 3 lbs. knuckle of veal
• 1 qt. chicken stock
• ¹⁄₃ cup carrot
• ¹⁄₃ cup turnip
• ¹⁄₃ cup celery
• ¹⁄₃ cup onion
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon shaved lemon rind
• 3 sprigs thyme
• 1 sprig marjoram
• 2 sprigs parsley
• ¹⁄₂ bay leaf
• 3 qts. cold water

Prepare the meat as directed for making [brown stock], using the marrow fat to brown half of the meat. Soak the raw meat and bone in the cold water while browning the remaining meat and preparing the vegetables and seasonings. Prepare the vegetables as directed for making [soup stock], and brown them in the butter. Bring all to a boil together, reserving the chicken stock. Boil for ten minutes, and put it into the cooker for from nine to twelve hours. Strain this stock through a wire strainer, add the chicken stock, and, if it is not seasoned sufficiently, add what seasoning it needs. Cool it as rapidly as possible, and when cold, clear it according to the directions on [page 59].

It is served, usually, with custard cut into fancy shapes; or with noodles, macaroni, or other Italian pastes, which are first cooked as directed on [page 143]; or with delicate vegetables, such as peas or string beans, or other vegetables cut into fancy shapes; or with cooked chicken, cut in dice, and green peas. A poached egg is sometimes served in each plate of soup.

Serves sixteen or twenty persons.

Mock Turtle Soup No. 1

• 1 calf’s head
• 6 cloves
• 8 peppercorns
• 6 allspice berries
• 2 sprigs thyme
• ¹⁄₃ cup sliced onion
• ¹⁄₃ cup carrot cut in dice
• 1¹⁄₂ teaspoons salt
• 2 cups [brown stock]
• ¹⁄₄ cup butter
• ¹⁄₂ cup flour
• 1 cup stewed tomatoes, strained
• Juice ¹⁄₂ lemon
• Madeira wine

Clean and wash the calf’s head, reserving the tongue and brains to use for some other dish. Soak it for one hour in enough cold water to cover it. Boil it in a covered pail for twenty minutes with three quarts of salted water and the vegetables and seasoning, and put it into the cooker for from nine to twelve hours. Remove the head; cut off the face meat and reserve it; boil the stock until it is reduced to one quart. Strain and remove the fat from it as directed on [page 59]; or cool it, and remove the hard fat. Melt the butter, add the flour and stir it until it is well browned; then add the [brown stock], one-half at a time, stirring it constantly, and allowing the mixture to boil before adding the second cupful of liquid. To this add the head stock, tomato, one cupful of the face meat cut in dice, and the lemon juice. Simmer for five minutes. Just before serving it add Madeira wine to taste, more salt and pepper, if desirable, custard cut in dice, and egg balls or forcemeat balls. If the soup is prepared, as it may be, some time before it is to be served, slip the pail into the cooker until time for serving. If kept many hours it will need to be reheated.

Mock Turtle Soup No. 2

• 1 calf’s or lamb’s liver
• 1 calf’s heart
• 1 knuckle of veal
• Water to cover (about 2 qts.)
• ¹⁄₃ cup onion
• ¹⁄₃ cup turnip
• ¹⁄₃ cup celery
• 4 cloves
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 yolks of [hard-cooked eggs]
• ¹⁄₂ lemon
• Madeira wine

Wash the meat, cover it with cold water in a cooker-pail. Let it stand in a cold place while the vegetables are being prepared. Wash the vegetables and cut them in small pieces. Put them and the seasonings with the meat, bring all to a boil, and boil it for ten minutes. Put it into a cooker for nine hours or more. Strain it, and add to it one cupful of the heart and liver meat cut into small dice. Pour it into a tureen in which the lemon and the egg yolks, cut in quarters, have been placed. Add Madeira wine to taste. The remaining heart and liver may be used for stew or hash.

Serves ten or eleven persons.

Vegetable Soup with Stock

• 2 qts. [brown stock]
• ¹⁄₂ cup turnip
• ¹⁄₂ cup carrot
• ¹⁄₂ cup celery
• ¹⁄₂ cup cabbage
• ¹⁄₄ cup onion
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons rice or barley

Wash and pare the vegetables. Put all but the celery through a coarse food chopper. Cut the celery in fine pieces. Boil all the ingredients together hard for one minute. Put them into a cooker for three hours or more. If barley is used, soak it over night in cold water and boil it till soft; or cook it in the cooker with boiling salted water for five or six hours.

Cream of Celery Soup

• 2 cups [white stock]
• 3 cups celery, cut small
• 1 cup water
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups hot milk
• 1 cup hot cream
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¹⁄₈ teaspoon pepper

Cook the first four ingredients together in a cooker for three hours or more. Rub them through a sieve; bind the soup with the butter and flour, as directed on [page 59], and add the milk, cream, and seasonings.

Serves six or eight persons.

Asparagus Soup

• 3 cups [white stock], or
• 3 cups water in which asparagus has cooked
• 1 can asparagus, or
• 1 pt. cooked asparagus
• ¹⁄₄ cup butter
• ¹⁄₄ cup flour
• 2 cups hot milk
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
• ¹⁄₈ teaspoon pepper
• 1 slice onion

If canned asparagus is used, drain and rinse it. Cut off the tips about an inch long, and reserve them. Put the stalks of asparagus, stock or asparagus water and onion into a cooker-pail. When boiling, put them into a cooker for two and one-half hours or more. Rub through a sieve, bind it with the butter and flour, as directed on [page 59], and add the remaining ingredients and the tips.

Serves six or seven persons.

Tomato Soup with Stock

• 1 qt. [brown stock]
• 1 can or 1 qt. tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 4 tablespoons butter
• ¹⁄₃ cup flour
• 1¹⁄₂ teaspoons salt

Cook the first three ingredients for one hour or more in the cooker. Rub through a strainer, bind it with the butter and flour, as directed on [page 59], and add the salt. Or bind the soup before putting it into the cooker, and strain it just before serving.

Serves eight or ten persons.

Creole Soup

• 1 qt. [brown stock]
• 1 pt. tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons chopped green sweet peppers
• 2 tablespoons chopped onion
• ¹⁄₄ cup butter
• ¹⁄₃ cup flour
• ³⁄₄ teaspoon salt
• Few grains of cayenne
• 2 tablespoons grated horseradish
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• ¹⁄₄ cup macaroni rings

Cook the pepper and onion in the butter for five minutes, add the flour, then the stock and tomatoes gradually, and cook all in the cooker for one hour or more. Rub it through a sieve, and add the remaining ingredients. The macaroni rings are made by cutting cooked macaroni into very short lengths. Do not soak macaroni for making rings.

Serves six or eight persons.

Ox Tail Soup

• 1 small ox tail
• 1¹⁄₂ qts. [brown stock]
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
• Few grains of cayenne
• 2 tablespoons butter
• ¹⁄₄ cup Madeira wine
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• Flour

Cut the ox tail into small pieces, wash it, drain it, and sprinkle it with the salt, pepper, and flour. Brown it in the butter. Add it to the stock with the vegetables, which have been cut small or with French vegetable cutters. Put it into the cooker for two hours or more. Add the seasonings and lemon juice.

Serves six or eight persons.

Julienne Soup

• 1 qt. [brown stock]
• ¹⁄₄ cup carrot
• 2 tablespoons peas
• 2 tablespoons string beans
• ¹⁄₄ cup turnip

Clarify the stock and add the cooked beans and peas and the carrot and turnip, which have been cut into thin strips one and one-half inches long and cooked for two hours in the cooker. When boiling hot, serve it.

Serves four or five persons.

Macaroni Soup

• 1 qt. [brown stock]
• ¹⁄₄ cup macaroni rings

Cook the macaroni in boiling salted water for two hours in the cooker. Drain it in a colander. Cut it into very short lengths to make rings. Heat them in the stock.

SOUPS MADE WITHOUT STOCK

Vegetable Soup

• ¹⁄₃ cup carrot
• ¹⁄₃ cup turnip
• ¹⁄₂ cup celery
• ¹⁄₂ cup onion
• 1¹⁄₂ cups potato
• 1 pt. tomatoes
• 5 tablespoons butter
• ¹⁄₂ tablespoon parsley
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon pepper
• 1 qt. water

Wash the vegetables, scrape the carrot, pare the turnip, potatoes, and onions, remove the leaves and strings from the celery, and cut the vegetables in small pieces, or put all except the potatoes and celery through a coarse food chopper. Measure the vegetables after they are prepared. Put them all, except the potatoes and parsley, into a frying pan with the butter, and cook them for ten minutes; add the potatoes and cook them for two minutes more, then put all the ingredients, except the parsley, together in a cooker-pail, and when they are boiling put them into a cooker for three hours or more. Add the parsley just before serving. “Left-over” vegetables, in pieces, may be added, in place of an equal measure of any of the first five given.

Serves six or eight persons.

Bean Soup

• 1 pt. beans
• 2 qts. water or stock
• 1 onion
• ¹⁄₂ lb. lean, raw beef, if stock is not used
• 2 tablespoons Chili sauce
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2¹⁄₂ teaspoons salt
• ¹⁄₄ teaspoon pepper
• 2 stalks celery