Chapter M: E. James: ‘How to Decorate our Ceilings, Walls, and Floors.’ (11)

The “Mistress” is made with a convertible open and closed fire, and can be had with doors, forming a hot closet for plates, &c., underneath (between the legs). The fire of this range is suited for roasting in front, and every range is fitted with a set of cooking utensils. The ovens are upon the Leamington principle. This firm also make many other patterns of this type of range suited for various requirements.

The “Yorkshire” range (so named as it is the pattern in general use in that county) is made to suit many purposes. It is a range especially adapted for bread, cake, and pastry baking, the ovens invariably having an excess heat at bottom; the flues are ascending, and the range therefore works with less draught. The range consists of a fire-box situated in the usual position, and the flues are carried from the top of the fire to the right or left, as in the Leamington range, but the bottom of the oven or ovens forms the upper surface of this first flue instead of the hot plate, i.e. the bottom of the oven is on a level with the top of the fire-box; the flue passes from the fire under the bottom of the ovens, then up the further side, and lastly across the top into the chimney, the results being like those obtained with the “Thorncliffe” range, but the only available hot-plate is that immediately over the fire and on top of the ovens. The space under the ovens (where the ovens of a Leamington pattern range would exist) is sometimes entirely closed, but more usually occupied by hot closets, which are heated by the fire that passes across the top of them, similar to the “Thorncliffe” before mentioned. This description of range is not commonly met with in the south of England, but any range maker is prepared to supply it.

There is a combination of the Yorkshire and Leamington ranges made with an ordinary Leamington oven on one side with hot plate above it, and a Yorkshire oven on the other side with hot closet below it. This is a good and useful combination, but the hot plate is necessarily contracted. This and the Yorkshire range require brick flues.

It must be understood that the ranges mentioned are but a few well-known patterns that possess certain improvements upon the Leamington range. There are numberless other makes equally good, but it would occupy the major portion of this work to treat them all; and although those mentioned possess improvements upon the Leamington pattern, we must leave it to the intending purchaser to say whether the improvements are to his advantage. It must be said in favour of the Leamington range, that for general good results and simplicity in working and cleaning, it has always met with general approval, and probably no other make of range will remain in favour without interruption for upwards of 30 years as this has done.

Although certain makes of ranges have been specified, as having brick flues, yet the majority, if not all of them, can be had with iron flues at a proportionate extra expense, if so ordered, and this extra expense is a good investment if permanency is desired.

A most useful arrangement is to have a small portable range fixed in the scullery, or any other convenient position, to act as an auxiliary to the large range. The convenience of this arrangement is especially felt when the large range, during some repair, or the periodical boiler cleaning, cannot be used; or when company increase the requirements, or in summer, when only a small amount of cooking is needed, the small range will do the necessary work, and this also applies when only servants are remaining in the house.

This auxiliary range can be connected into a copper flue, or into the large range flue, but it must be seen that the damper of this small range is tightly closed when it is not in use, otherwise it will seriously interfere with the efficiency of whatever else is being worked by the flue.

With the old-fashioned open ranges there is a common complaint of the chimney smoking. This will be found in probably every instance to be effectually cured by the adoption of a close-fire range or “kitchener.”

Fire-bricks.--This is a subject upon which much misunderstanding has often arisen between manufacturers and users of kitchen ranges, as it is unfortunately no rare occurrence for the fire-bricks of quite a new range to be found cracked, after, say 2-3 months’ wear, whereas another set of bricks of exactly the same make and the same clay, in the same range, will last 2-3 years, or even longer. This may be sometimes caused by negligence. For instance, if fire-bricks are fitted tightly, they will, when heated, crack, as no room is left for expansion; but, what is more commonly the cause of failure, is firstly, the influence of the poker, and secondly the practice of putting out the fire (at night) with water. This rapid cooling and contraction causes a fracture, the same as putting cold water into a hot empty boiler.

Most makers are now making iron cheeks of suitable construction to take the place of fire-bricks, and the results are said to be satisfactory, though quite contrary to the principles already laid down as to a minimum use of iron in grates.

There is a rather general idea that fire-bricks assist in heating the ovens. This, however, is incorrect; the object of fire-bricks is to protect the oven sides from the direct action of the fire, as this would in a short time injure them.

There are now to be obtained several makes of fire-resisting cement. This material is gaining favour, and will no doubt come into general use for the purposes for which it is intended. It is a clay-like material, and is used for repairing cracked fire-bricks or the interior lining of any description of furnace or fire-box; for rendering the joints of stoves and ranges air-tight; and it is also successful in temporarily repairing cracked boilers as it adheres to an iron surface as well as to any other material.

After cementing up the crack or damaged part, a fire is immediately made, and in 10 minutes the cement will be found to have set as hard as the iron itself, and it has a valuable property in not shrinking as it dries. This material is also used for lining the fire-boxes of kitchen ranges in place of fire-bricks, as it is much more lasting; its applications are very numerous, it being suitable for any and every purpose where heat is to be resisted. There are a few directions that must be followed to make the application successful, but these are provided by the manufacturers. Two of the best makes that have had considerable trial and are now in favour are the “Etna” cement (Verity Bros., 98 High Holborn), and the “Purimacos.”

Grills.--Grilling stoves, for coke or charcoal fuel, invariably take the form of an open-topped shallow furnace, above which is suspended the gridiron; Fig. 77 shows the general details. The furnace is sometimes supported on legs, but more generally the space underneath is utilised as a hot closet for plates, &c., and in some instances a hot closet is fitted above (as illustrated). The gridiron, which is made with fluted or grooved bars, is suspended at such an angle as to cause the gravy to run down freely into the pan in front provided to receive it. The method of suspending the grid permits of its being raised or lowered as the heat dictates. All grills are constructed to work with a down draught, i.e. the air that passes into the chimney has to first pass _downwards_ through the fire and then up the flue provided behind. By this means, all products of combustion are carried away, and the fire may be said to be burning upside down.

Grills are also made to work with a series of Bunsen (atmospheric) burners in place of fuel beneath the gridiron.

Grills are made in various sizes for domestic or business requirements. The one illustrated in Fig. 77 is made by the Eagle Range & Foundry Co., 76 Regent Street, London, but they can be obtained of all range merchants and manufacturers.

Steam.--It has been long anticipated by many competent authorities that steam cooking would come into general favour, to the prejudice of cooking ranges, and although this has not come to pass, any description of food cooked by steam (in a proper manner) is by many considered superior to that cooked by any other method. But it may be here mentioned that to gain good results the steam must be dry, i.e. there must be a moderate pressure developed in the boiler and the steam should not be permitted to condense too quickly; if the steam pipe is of any length it should be felted, or covered with some non-conducting material. Steam at no pressure (atmospheric pressure only), although a gas, may be said to be saturated with moisture, whereas if a little pressure is developed it becomes dry, and may be compared to hot air. Steam without pressure has the further disadvantage of condensing very rapidly, and the moisture is objectionable for several reasons.

One advantage possessed by steam cooking is that the kitchen does not become over heated, as the boiler, if desired, can be placed in a basement or elsewhere, provided it is convenient for stoking; and there is, of course, economy of space.

Steam can be economically used for every description of cooking purpose, and for heating water, by placing a coil of steam pipe in the water that is to be heated.

Fig. 78 represents a steam boiler which requires to be fixed in brickwork. They are also made cylindrical (vertical) in shape with the furnace within them, and so require no setting, except connection with the chimney. A description of a steam boiler will be found under “motors,” the boiler and fittings in each case being nearly identical, except that a pressure-gauge is not always used with a boiler for cooking purposes, and a different means is provided for water supply generally, as illustrated. The reference letters indicate:--_a_, inlet valve, regulated by stone float _c_ and balance-weight _h_; _b_, cold supply-pipe from main; _d_, safety-valve; _e_, water gauge; _f_, steam delivery pipe; _g_, manlids.

In many instances, especially when the boiler is in a kitchen range, a steam chest is used. This is a square wrought-iron box, of nearly the same capacity as the boiler, and situated somewhere near but in a more conveniently accessible position.

All the fittings are attached to this chest, which is connected to the boiler by 2 pipes one above and one below water level (2 pipes being necessary to equalise the pressure). The chest is of service when the boiler is not easily accessible, as the fittings should always be situated where they can have regular attention, cleaning, &c., and it is very necessary to see that the water inlet valve and safety valve are in proper working order.

Sometimes in small steam boilers in kitchen ranges the inlet valve is dispensed with, and an ordinary cast-iron supply cistern is used, with a ball valve in the usual way; but the cistern must have a lid that can be secured, and the pipe between the cistern and boiler must have a deep syphon to prevent the water being blown back by the steam. This system, however, cannot be recommended, as it is not reliable. When this system is adopted it is generally where the boiler is also used for hot-water supply, and only when comparatively no pressure of steam is required for 1-3 small kettles. See also p. 1004.

Gas.--Gas cooking stoves are now growing in favour, as being very convenient and cleanly, instantaneously lighted and extinguished, and producing no smoke, soot, or ashes. They are portable, and the cost of fixing is generally small; but, as with all gas contrivances, they can only be adopted where gas is to be obtained. The makers claim economy over coal-burning ranges, greater simplicity in working and cleaning, less attention, unvarying heat, &c. There are, however, drawbacks in not having means of working a high-pressure boiler for bath supply, &c. (this, however, is now being overcome), and there are sometimes complaints of waste of gas, as servants cannot always be relied upon to turn off or lower the gas at intervals when it is not required.

Gas ranges have now attained a high degree of perfection, and the results are very satisfactory. There is no obnoxious taste commonly associated with meat cooked by this means, and it has been proved that no difference can be discerned even by the most fastidious between joints cooked in gas and coal-burning ranges. Gas ranges are made in numberless sizes and shapes to meet every requirement, from the small “Workman’s Friend,” which is large enough to cook a steak and boil a quart of water, to those that are used in large institutions, hospitals, &c., to cook for hundreds daily.

Ordinary gas is sometimes used, but more generally it is “atmospheric gas,” which is a mixture of gas and air burnt by a “Bunsen” burner, giving a blue flame. In lighting an atmospheric burner, it should be turned on full for a ¼ minute before the match is applied, otherwise it will light back in the air chamber of the burner, which will also happen if the burner is not turned on full when lighting. If necessary, the gas can be turned down immediately after it is lighted. When one of these burners lights back, it will be found to be burning the ordinary gas as it issues from the nozzle in the air chamber. This of course gives no heat where it is required, and if allowed to burn for a short time it will choke the burner with soot. There is a little objection experienced at first in lighting an atmospheric burner, as it lights violently with a slight explosion, but one quickly gets used to this.

Fig. 79 is the “Eureka” gas cooker (John Wright & Co., 155A Upper Thames Street, London). This range is double cased and jacketed on the sides, back, and door with a non-conducting material to prevent loss of heat. The top of the oven is formed of fire-brick, over which the waste heat passes, heating it to a high temperature, and adding to the efficiency. The oven interior can be had either galvanised or enamelled by a new process which the makers highly recommend, and the oven fittings are so made that they can be removed wholly for cleaning purposes and leave no ledges inside where grease could accumulate. The hot plate is formed of loose wrought-iron bars, which can be removed for cleaning purposes. This range is made in all sizes, with from 1-4 ovens, and boilers are fitted when desired. Hoods can be fitted to these (and to any other make) to carry away any objectionable smell and vapour from the hot plate, the hood being connected with a flue. A hood is of course not necessary when the range stands in an opening under a chimney.

Fig. 80 is a Fletcher’s cellular cast-iron cooker (Thos. Fletcher & Co., 83 Upper Thames Street, London). This cooker is jacketed with slagwool, to prevent loss of heat; the whole is constructed of cast iron, the interior being in panels to prevent cracking. This range is also made in all sizes, with every convenience, and is of very strong construction. It will be noticed with gas ranges that they are especially well adapted for pastry and bread baking, as the ovens have a perfect bottom heat.

Fig. 81 is Leoni’s “Nonpareil” gas kitchener (General Gas Apparatus Company, 74 Strand, London). These cookers are greatly patronized for large works, institutions, &c. They are fitted at W. Whiteley’s where they cook for 3000 persons daily. They are also made in small and medium sizes for domestic requirements. This and other makes of gas ranges are provided with means of grilling by deflected heat, which is very successful.

Fig. 82 is the “Metropolitan gas kitchener” (H. and C. Davis & Co., 198 and 200, Camberwell Road, London). This is constructed of wrought iron, the whole of the top, sides, door, and back being jacketed with a non-conductor. The outer casing is of galvanized iron, the inner casing is not galvanized, but is treated with a preparation to prevent rust. These are made in all sizes.

The ovens of gas ranges are ventilated upon the same principle as the ovens of other ranges, but as there are no flues to discharge the steam and smell into, a hood, as just spoken of, must be provided, otherwise the smell may pervade the house.

These are but a few of the many makes of gas stoves.

In addition to ranges many other forms of gas apparatus adapted for cooking are made, such as hot-closets, hot-plates, salamanders, grills, coffee roasters, &c., &c. Gas ranges can now be obtained upon hire from nearly all gas companies at very low charges, in fact, the charges can but barely cover first cost, but the reason for this low charge is obvious. See also p. 1004.

Oil.--Oil cooking stoves are to be recommended for their convenience where gas and the more bulky fuel, coal, are not attainable. They are especially well adapted for camping out, picnics, &c., and in many instances they can be recommended for domestic use. With ordinary care, they may be said to be odourless and smokeless, very cleanly, and the makers assert that they are very economical. They are so constructed that neither the oil nor products of combustion in any way come in contact with whatever is being cooked, and consequently there is no faint or objectionable flavour. They can be stood upon a table or in almost any position with perfect safety, and as will be seen from the illustration (Fig. 83), every part is easily accessible.

Fig. 83 is Rippingille’s “A B C Oil Kitchener” (Holborn Lamp and Stove Company, 118 Holborn, London), with oven, boiler, and hot-plate, price 3_l._ 18_s._ 6_d._ These stoves are made in sizes from the breakfast-cooker (15_s._) to those with 2 ovens, and suitable for a family, costing about 5_l._ They are also made for boiling only, in different sizes, and even fitted with a small hot-water circulating apparatus for heating.

_Pots and Pans._--Iron is cheap, and lasts. It is all very well so long as it is kept clean; but that seldom happens. Buy a saucepan brush and silver sand, and see that it is used. See that your iron saucepans are lined with tin, and not with brown rust and dirt, and know once for all that an iron saucepan 6 months old should be as bright inside as it was on the day when it was bought. Understand yourself, and then try to explain to others, that a saucepan, whether of tin, iron, or anything else, must be scrubbed both outside and in. How common it is to see a saucepan crusted outside with soot, which no one has ever attempted to remove. It gets red hot, and burns the saucepan as well as its contents, and the bill of the ironmonger grows apace, and the soup is burnt and spoilt, and every one blames the cook, while no one thinks of the scrubber. There are not a few cooks, old enough to know better, who direct that the scrubbing of saucepans should be done by the hand. Why the hand is to be hardened and the nails to be ground down to the quick, in order to do slowly what a 6_d._ saucepan-brush would do quickly, is hard to say. Another excellent saucepan scrubber, though not so common or so cheap as the brush, is a small square piece of steel chainwork--a piece of chain armour, in fact. A bunch of twigs or a wisp of straw, though better than nothing generally, leaves something to be desired in the way of brightness. When the soot disappears from the outside, and the dirt from inside, half the faults of iron saucepans disappear also. For beef tea, however, some recommend glass or earthenware--a soda-water bottle or a jampot, if there is nothing better--to be set inside the saucepan of boiling water, however bright it may be; for invalids are fastidious, and beef tea always tastes of the saucepan if possible. Tin saucepans, especially the low-priced ones, are by no means cheap. They are often met with in the homes of the poor, and in poor localities in towns ironmongers underbid each other until the cost of a saucepan only reaches a few pence. How dear these saucepans are in the long run, no one knows who has not used them on the open fireplace, upon which in these poor homes they are generally placed. It is impossible to fry in them without risk of losing the bottom; it is difficult to stew, because the heat passes through very rapidly. Tin is little trouble to clean, so there is no excuse for dirt or dulness, outside or in. The fault often lies in leaving the lid on after cleaning is done, and the result is damp and rust. All saucepans should be kept in a dry place, bottom upwards, and without their lids; if they are dried before the fire so much the better. A clean tin saucepan may be used for many purposes where iron is inadmissible; but “clean” is not to be interpreted as meaning a saucepan carelessly wiped out with a greasy cloth, and left to dry or to rust as chance may befall. Rust and dirt are not flavourless articles of cookery. Suppose clear soup or jelly is to be made. In an iron pan it will be not clear, but thick; in a clean tin pan or even a fish-kettle it will be not the fault of the pan, but of the cook, if the jelly be not as clear as glass. The least speck of rust, the smallest remainder of yesterday’s cooking will spoil either jelly or soup. Why, indeed, should not tin serve all purposes, since it is with tin that all copper pans are (or should be) lined? And copper pans are the _ne plus ultra_ of culinary furniture. The grand difference lies in the fact that tin pans are thin, the heat penetrates them quickly, and therefore they are apt to burn, while copper is thick and a slow conductor of heat. Perhaps something may also be said on the score of shape. There is an ugly seam round the bottom of tin pans, where rust is likely to collect; and the best block-tin saucepans are generally made with sides sloping in towards the top, as if for the express purpose of producing lumps in all gravies and rust in all weathers. Why this form ever was or continues to be fashionable, it is not easy to say. There is, however, another argument in favour of copper stewpans, namely this--that cooks will take the trouble to clean them, while they think half the time and labour wasted on tin, which can be replaced at small cost. Let us grant, as readily as you please, that copper is the best material; still it is certain that its cost will always place it out of reach of modest housewives; therefore the first substitute is plenty of soap, sand, and labour expended on iron or tin. The next substitute and a more common one, is enamel-lined iron. The difficulties here are two. First, the enamel is apt to chip, when all the defects of the native iron appear; secondly, the heat quickly penetrates, and is not quickly evaporated. An enamelled pan keeps its contents at boiling heat for some time after it is removed from the fire. It very often boils over, and it needs careful watching to prevent burning. An enamelled pan is not one to be selected for slow stewing. The substitute in many ways best of all is but little used in England. Earthenware pots have the many advantages of being cheap to buy, easy to clean, slow to burn, giving no unpleasant flavour to anything cooked. Perhaps the reason of their unpopularity is to be sought in the prevalence of open fires, and the fact that not all earthenware will stand any closer proximity to the fire than the top of an iron stove. Those delicate brown porcelain cooking utensils lined with white are excellent for delicate cookery on a close stove, but they are not suited to the rough wear and tear of an every-day kitchen, and considering their fragility, one cannot call them cheap. What we want is good strong brown earthenware, glazed inside, hardy enough to be set on an open fire, strong enough to withstand a few taps, and withal cheap enough to be readily replaced. That such a thing may be had, every one knows who has travelled out of England and kept their eyes open. They are common enough in Switzerland, in many parts of Germany, and our grandmothers would have said they were common in this country, as indeed they were 50 years ago. Though not common now, they are still to be bought, in price ranging from a few pence to 2_s._ One purpose for which they are particularly suited is the making of broth or stock out of odds and ends. Earthenware may be kept on the fire day after day, and finally lifted off the fire to grow cold with its contents; no draining or trouble is necessary, and no sour or metallic flavour will remain to shock the most fastidious palate. You may make by turns jelly and oatmeal porridge, and the same pot serves equally well for both--good for slow stewing on the hob, but perfectly serviceable on an open fire. There is perhaps no cooking material for common use to equal earthenware.

Copper must be lined with tin, for unlined copper, whether clean-scoured or not, is extremely unwholesome. Upon this point much indecision prevails in the public mind, and it is well to speak positively, as many cases of poisoning from copper saucepans are on record. Turning to frying-pans, there is for the impecunious householder no refuge from iron and tin. A copper frying or sauté pan is not found in many houses. Nevertheless, there is no occasion to burn the outside of cutlets; and if the inside is raw, the cook is to blame, not the metal. “Once burnt will burn again.” A new pan does not burn; therefore, why should an old one? No frying-pan should be washed or scoured; it should be wiped while hot with a cloth. But this rule presupposes no scraps left on the edges, no burning on the bottom; it assumes, in fact, that the frying be well done. If the pan be burnt, you must scrub and scour it until it is bright, for nothing so effectually spoils both the flavour and the appearance of cooking as the black bits that detach themselves from the sides of dirty pans. For omelets, copper, enamel, tin, are all used effectually by a careful cook; while no one of the three will serve the purpose with unskilful fingers. But every housewife who wishes first-class omelets served on her table will do well to invest in a copper pan, since there are few dishes to which the utensils at command of the cook make so great a difference. Then, again, porcelain and earthenware might be used with great advantage. The great art in making omelets is that they shall not be cooked so slowly as to be tough, nor yet so quickly as to be over-coloured; and the happy medium is difficult to attain when cooking with metal that, like iron, is a very rapid conductor of heat. English middle-class kitchens are often furnished with a strange mixture of niggardliness and extravagance. Any one accustomed to foreign customs will have been struck with the modest but well-chosen _batterie de cuisine_ commonly seen abroad in houses of the lower middle classes. There the mistress selects her own stock by the light of her own experience; here an order is given to some ironmonger, who furnishes the kitchen according to precedent, and in sublime indifference as to the first principles of cookery. The general absence of so trifling a luxury as wooden spoons may account for the quality of the unpleasant mixture commonly known as melted butter. And the extreme reluctance of mistresses to invest in such an article as a frying-basket, while they waste double its cost every week by bad frying without it, may be cited as another example of ignorant saving (E. A. B. in the _Queen_.)

An extensive catalogue might here be given of the various appliances used in the kitchen, such as mincing, cutting, slicing, whisking, mixing, knife-cleaning, bread-making, and other domestic machines, but it could serve no useful purpose. All ordinary requisites can be purchased at any ironmonger’s, in all degrees of size and quality. Sundry new and ingenious implements are introduced to public notice every year, and a great many may be found in the price lists of the large firms, such as Mappin and Webb, 18 to 22 Poultry; Farrow and Jackson, 8 Haymarket; Spong, 226 High Holborn; Kent, 199 High Holborn; J. Baker and Sons, 58 City Road; Wilson and Son, King William Street, Strand; and several others. In the _Ironmonger_ for May and June, 1885, appeared an account of an ingenious machine for washing crockery, adapted to the needs of large establishments. See also p. 1006.

THE PROCESSES OF COOKERY.

Much useful information is to be derived from Prof. Mattieu Williams’s Cantor Lectures on the Scientific Basis of Cookery, from which some of the following paragraphs are borrowed.

_Roasting._--Williams shows that “in roasting a joint before the fire without any screen, the radiant heat from the coal is only used; the meat is heated only on one side, that next to the fire, and, as it turns round, is radiating its heat away from the other side to the wall, &c., of the kitchen. If a meat screen of polished metal is placed behind the meat, the rays of heat not intercepted by the meat itself are received upon the screen, and reflected back towards the meat, and thus both sides are heated.”

There is an old rule well known all over the world of cookery, and that is, “white meats well done, black meats underdone;” this applies to all meats of the four as well as of the two-legged sort, but then it means properly well done, and properly underdone. To attain this end the first thing which demands attention is the making up of the fire. It should be regulated according to the size and the nature of the article which is to be roasted, and should be so managed as to last all-aglow the whole length of time which the roasting will take. In the case of joints of meat the following are the main points to be attended to. The joint should be trimmed neatly; cut off the end or flaps of a sirloin of beef (this makes a very good stew for the kitchen dinner, or maybe used to make stock with greater advantage than roasting it with the joint in the point of view both of economy and of taste), a piece of buttered paper should be tied on with string over the fat, and not removed until just before the joint is done. If it can possibly be avoided do not use skewers to fix up the joints, but use string instead; and when practicable perpendicular roasting is preferable to horizontal, as not requiring the use of the spit. Place the meat at first 18 in. from the fire, or even farther off if it be a large joint and the fire greater in proportion. When the meat is well warmed, gradually bring it nearer, and from that time never cease basting the joint at regular intervals, but this you must not overdo. The time that meat takes to roast is usually set down at 15-20 minutes for every lb. the joint weighs, but this is a very broad rule, so many circumstances tending to modify it. The quality of the meat, the age of it, whether it be fresh killed or not, the season of the year, the nature of the fire, and the position of it as regards currents of air in the kitchen, must all be taken into consideration. One thing only is certain, and that is, that when the joint begins to smoke it is nearly if not quite done, and at this stage 2-3 minutes more or less at the fire will make or mar the success of the joint as a piece of artistic roasting. (The G. C.)

In Ovens.--“The oven is an apparatus for cooking by radiation. In this case the meat or other object of cookery receives radiant heat from the heated walls of the oven. If this chamber, with radiant walls, be so arranged that the heat shall be radiated equally on all sides, and is capable of regulation, it becomes a roaster, which theoretically does its work more perfectly than an open fire, even when aided by a screen.” (Williams.)

Williams has “not the slightest hesitation in affirming that moderate-sized joints properly roasted in a closed chamber, are far better than similar joints cooked with the utmost skill in front of a fire. The smaller the joint, the greater the advantage of the closed chamber.”

Roasting-ovens are now attached to all the best forms of kitcheners.

On one point in the philosophy of roasting, Williams differs from Rumford. He thinks “it desirable--and has tested this theory experimentally--to begin at a temperature above that which is to be maintained throughout the roasting. The object of this is to produce a crust on the surface of the meat that shall partially seal it, and keep in the juices as much as possible. Then the temperature may fall to the average, which should be well kept up, and rather raised towards the last. This comes about automatically in the ordinary course of cooking with a roasting-oven.”

He adds that “sealing is more demanded by a joint of beef than by one of mutton of given size, because in the beef there is more of cut surface, exposing the ends of the fibres of the meat. In a leg of mutton, for example, this exposure is only at one end, the rest is partially protected by the skin of the leg.”

_Basting._--“The _rationale_ of basting appears to be that it assists in the sealing, and diminishes the evaporation of the juices of the meat, the chief difference between well-roasted and ill-roasted meat depending upon this.” In roasting, “the meat is stewed in its own juices. The flavour depends on this: no water being used, these juices are not diluted--they are, on the contrary, more or less concentrated by evaporation; but if this evaporation be carried too far, a drying-up occurs, and this desiccation is accompanied with toughness and indigestibility, as well as sacrifice of flavour. The smaller the joint, the greater the risk of such desiccation.”

_Grilling._--“This principle brings us at once to grilling, which is another kind of roasting, i.e. of cooking by radiation. A beef steak or mutton chop is not roasted by turning it round and round in front of the fire, because so large a surface is exposed in proportion to the mass, and such treatment would evaporate from that large surface too much of the juices. Rapidity is the primary condition of success in grilling. When a large and specially-constructed grill, placed over a large coke or charcoal fire, is available, the heat radiated on the exposed surface of the meat rapidly browns or carbonises the exposed surface, and partially seals its pores.”

_Boiling._--“When water is heated in a glass vessel over a flame where the action may be watched, bubbles are first seen growing on the sides of the glass, gradually detaching themselves, and rising to the surface. These are merely bubbles of air that was dissolved in the water. After this, other and larger bubbles form on the bottom just above the flame. At first they are flat, and continually collapsing. Presently they become hemispherical, but still they collapse; then they become more and more nearly spherical, and afterwards quite spherical; afterwards they detach themselves, and start upwards, but perish in the attempt, by collapsing somewhere on the way. At last they reach the surface, and break there, ejecting themselves as steam into the air. Now the water boils, and a thermometer dipped into it registers 212° F. After this, it matters not whether the boiling is very violent or only the gentlest simmering, no further rise of the thermometer is perceptible, showing that the simmering temperature and the ‘galloping’ temperature are the same.”

“The actual cooking temperature for animal food is considerably below the boiling point of water, and is regulated by the coagulation of albumen, which commences at rather below 160° F., i.e. more than 50° below the boiling point of water.”

To “apply this practically to the boiling of an egg for breakfast. By the ordinary method of the 3 minutes’ immersion in continually boiling water, the white becomes hard and indigestible before the yolk is fairly warmed, and ½ minute too much, or ½ minute too little, will nearly ruin the operation.”

“The proper mode is to place the egg in boiling water, and then remove the saucepan from the fire altogether, and leave the egg in the water from 10 minutes to ¼ hour. About ½ pint for 1 egg, ¾ pint for 2 eggs, or 1 pint for 4 eggs, is the quantity demanded if the saucepan is well covered.”

_Stewing._--“The prevailing idea in England is that stewed meat only differs from boiled meat by being kept in the water for a longer time--that stewing is simply protracted boiling. I venture, nevertheless, to declare the total fallacy of this, and to assert that, so far as flesh food is concerned, boiling and stewing are diametrically opposite, as regards the special objects to be attained. In boiling a joint--say, a leg of mutton--the best efforts of the cook should be directed to retaining the juices within the meat, and allowing the smallest possible quantity to come out into the water. In stewing, the business is to get as much as possible out of the meat, to separate the juices from the meat and convey them to the water. This is the case, whether the French practice of serving the liquid _potage_ or _bouillon_ as a separate dish, and the stewed meat or _bouilli_ as another, or the English and Irish fashion of serving the stewed meat in its own juices or gravy, as in the case of stewed steak, Irish stew, &c.

“The poor French peasant does more with 1 lb. of meat, in the way of stewing, than the English cook with three or four. The little bit of meat, and the large supply of vegetables are placed in a pot, and this in another vessel containing water--the _bain-marie_ or water bath. This stands on the embers of a poor little wood fire, and is left there till dinner-time, under conditions that render boiling impossible, and demand little or no further attention from the cook; consequently, the meat, when removed, has parted with its juices to the _potage_, but is not curled up by the contraction of the hardened albumen, nor reduced to stringy fibres. It is tender, eatable, and enjoyable, that is, when the proper supply of saline juices of the meat _plus_ the saline juices of the vegetables, have been taken into the system.

“Whether the _potage_ and the meat should thus be separated, or whether they should be stewed together, as in an Irish stew, &c., is merely a matter of taste and custom; but that a stew should never be boiled, nor placed in a position on the fire where boiling or ‘simmering’ is possible, should be regarded as a primary axiom in cooking where stewing is concerned.”

_Braising._--This takes its name from the French word _braise_, the red embers of a wood fire being so called. There are proper pans sold for this kind of cooking, called braising-pans; they are rather shallower than ordinary stewpans, and they have the edges of the lid turned up to hold live coals, it being necessary to have heat from above as well as below in braising. It is also necessary as much as possible to exclude the air. Should there be no braising-pan in the house it is possible to do it, but less well, in an ordinary stewpan, which will have to be put into the oven.

_Frying._--“Frying ranks with boiling and stewing, rather than with grilling. When properly conducted, it is one of the processes in which the heat is communicated by convection, the medium being hot fat instead of the hot water used in the so-called, and mis-called ‘boiling’ of meat. I say ‘when properly conducted,’ because it is too often very improperly conducted in domestic kitchens. This is the case whenever fish, cutlets, &c., are fried on a merely greased plate of metal, such as a common frying-pan. Pancakes or omelettes may be thus fried, but no kind of fish or meat. These should be immersed in a bath of fat sufficiently deep to cover them completely. To those who have not reasoned out the subject, such complete immersion in so large a quantity of fat may appear likely to produce a very greasy result. The contrary is the case.

“Let us take, as an example, the frying of a sole. On immersing this in a bath of fat raised to a temperature above that of boiling water, a violent hissing and crackling noise (‘frizzling’) is heard. This is caused by a series of small explosions due to the sudden conversion of water into steam. The water was originally on the surface and between and within the fibres of the flesh of the sole. The continual expansion of this water into vapour, and its outbursting, prevent the fat from penetrating the fish, so long as the temperature is maintained above 212° F., and thus the substance of the sole is cooked by the steam of its own juices, and its outside is browned by the superheated fat.

“Now, let us suppose that a merely greased plate, like the bottom of a frying-pan, is used. Only one side of the sole is cooked at first--the side in contact with the pan--therefore it must be turned to cook the other side. When thus turned, the side first cooked with its adhering fat is cooling; its steam is condensing between its fibres, and the fat is gradually entering to supply the place of steam, while the other side is cooking. Thus it is more greasy than if rapidly withdrawn from the bath of hot fat, and then allowed to drain before the steam commences to condense. A stew-pan, or any other suitable kind of kettle, may be used, if provided with a wire basket for lifting; or a frying-pan of the ordinary kind, if deep enough.”

To fry rissoles, or anything which requires to be fried all over at one time, a wire basket must be used, a stewpan large enough round to receive the basket, and deep enough to hold a sufficient quantity of melted fat to completely cover whatever is to be fried. Place the rissoles in the basket, set the stewpan containing the fat on the fire, and when the fat is boiling, at once plunge the basket into it and hold it there until they are sufficiently cooked, which will be when they have attained a delicate golden colour. The greatest care will be necessary in watching for the moment of boiling, this will be when the fat ceases to bubble and splutter; it will then become perfectly silent, and almost immediately a light blue steam will rise from it, which is the sign of boiling, the frying must then instantly commence, for it will soon after begin to smoke, and if put into the fat while in this condition the rissoles would be quite spoilt, both in colour and flavour. For cutlets, soles, or anything flat, you may use a cutlet-pan or frying-pan and fry one side at a time. Lard, butter, and sweet oil are all used, and for very delicate frying they are necessary. Whitebait must be done in oil, omelettes in butter, as also cutlets if you wish them to be particularly nice; but for most things and for all ordinary occasions there is nothing better than good well-clarified dripping.

_Kitchen odours._--All “greens,” to use a familiar expression, especially cabbage, as we know, have a horrible tendency to create noxious vapours; whilst onions, it need not be said, permeate the remotest recesses of a building, not only while they are cooking, but while they are being prepared for the saucepan or the frying-pan. To thoroughly deodorise the boiling cabbage or the frying onion is next door to impossible, but the effluvium may be mitigated. A large piece of bread is sometimes put upon the knife’s point whilst onions are being peeled, in order to prevent the tearful effect which the pungent esculent produces on the eyes; and we have lately been told in a popular cookery book that the offensive results of cabbage boiling may be well nigh got rid of, by wrapping up in a piece of clean white linen rag a large lump of bread, and putting it in the saucepanful of water in which the cabbage is being cooked. The same plan, no doubt, would be equally effective in the case of broccoli, which, if possible, is a greater offender than cabbage in emitting offensive fumes. The obnoxious reek is mitigated, we are told, by some cooks, by boiling broccoli in two waters--parboiling them to begin with; then taking them out of the saucepan, straining them, allowing cold water to run over them for a few minutes, and placing them in a fresh pot of boiling water. What applies here may be extended, no doubt, with beneficial results to most greenery, not forgetting the cauliflower--another marked offender in the way of creating bad odour. It is, however, very frequently the careless manner in which the water used in the boiling of vegetables is thrown away, which produces the worst stench of which the kitchen is guilty. Nothing is so detestable as this smell of “green water,” and the cook who allows it to get the upper hand of her is either very careless or very incompetent. If the water be thrown recklessly down the sink, and no means are adopted to deodorise it, hours will elapse ere the fumes can be dissipated, during which they will have found their way all over the house. Where the drainage and such like appliances are in perfect order (or, indeed, where they are not more particularly), it should be held as an essential part of the scullery-maid’s duty to pour gallons of fresh water, both boiling and cold, down the sink immediately after the cabbage water. If this be done freely, and a liberal sprinkling of Sanitas Powder or other inoffensive deodoriser be then distributed about the sink or drain trap, we need not be troubled, as we constantly are, by bad smells when dinner is over.

RECIPES FOR DISHES.

In the presence of such a number of cookery books as already exist, it is obviously impossible to offer a selection of original recipes. Every known dish has been subjected to variations till the list is practically endless. The idea which has guided the writer of this section is general utility. Many of the recipes are gleaned from the replies of experienced housewives in the correspondence columns of recent numbers of the ‘Queen’ newspaper; than this, no more valuable and inexhaustible source of current information exists, and the reader in quest of additional recipes or instructions cannot do better than consult the weekly pages of that pre-eminent “ladies’” newspaper.

=Soups.=--The foundation of all soups is or should be found in the stockpot, an institution that is too often neglected, especially in small households where economy is most necessary. As the nutritive elements of all foods, both animal and vegetable, are readily extracted by the prolonged application of hot water, it follows that much feeding material which is of too coarse or rough a character to be brought to table can be made useful by simmering till all its virtue is exhausted. Hence the value of the stockpot. If the odds and ends accumulated in the kitchen do not suffice to make the quantity of stock required, they must be supplemented by stock prepared specially. The following recipes for making stock are sufficient for all ordinary needs.

_Common Stock._--(_a_) 6 lb. shin of beef, 6 qt. water. Cut all the meat off the bones, and cut the meat across and across, and sprinkle a teaspoonful of salt over it and put it at once into the 6 qt. water in an earthen vessel, while you do as follows: wash and cut up 2 carrots and 2 turnips and leave them in clear water; then put at the bottom of your soup pot (the digesters are the best) 2 slices of bacon, a piece of butter as large as 2 walnuts, a Spanish onion stuck all over with cloves, another cut up in rings, 2 large lumps of white sugar, a few peppercorns, a small bunch of marjoram and thyme tied up in muslin, as much grated lemon peel as would cover sixpence, and then put in the carrots and turnips. Let these all be browned at the bottom of the stockpot, stirring all the time, until the bacon looks well enough done to be eaten, then put in the meat and the water it has stood in, and the bones broken; leave the lid off at first, so that you may watch for the rising of the scum, which must be instantly removed, or the colour of your soup will be spoiled; when you have carefully skimmed it, and no more rises, put the lid tightly on the digester, and leave your soup to simmer gently and evenly for 5 hours. Do not throw away the scum; it is not dirty, provided you have wiped the shin of beef clean before you cut it up; and this scum, although it would spoil the clearness of your soup, is really beef-tea, and worth using in the stockpot. When the 5 hours are nearly elapsed, have ready a large kettle of quite boiling water, then strain the soup through a close sieve into a perfectly clean earthen jar, and immediately put back into the digester all the contents of the sieve, and pour the kettle of boiling water upon them, and let this stew all night. The next morning strain it into another earthen jar, and leave it to set. The first stock is now ready to scrape every atom of fat from the top of it, then wipe the top with a clean soft cloth, and all the edges of the jar, then turn it upside down on a large dish, and scrape the fat and sediment from the other side. Wash the earthen jar, and dry well before the fire, and then put your stock back, and you will have a perfectly clean soup with a delicious flavour, and without requiring any clearing with whites of eggs, which always impoverishes the soup. To colour it, take pieces of bread, toasted very brown, and put into the stock when you warm it: and before sending to table put a teaspoonful of sherry at the bottom of the tureen, and pour the almost boiling soup upon it. Of course, it must be strained, to prevent the pieces of toast going in; and you can either use it plain, or with cut vegetables in it. Those sold in tins are best; but they require washing in water, and then warming in some inferior stock, and must be well strained, and then put with the wine at the bottom of the tureen, before you pour your soup into it. The next day scrape and wipe your second stock, and do just the same with it, and it comes in for gravies, for entrées, or for thick soups, and sometimes is as clear as the first stock.

(_b_) Slack’s patent digester is the most useful and economical of stockpots. Its management is quite simple, but care must be taken when filling it to leave sufficient room for the steam to pass away through the hole in the cover. A sheep’s milt is a good foundation for stock.

(_c_) Procure from a heel shop a cowheel that has been boiled, crack it up and simmer for several hours in salt and water; when done, strain, and there will be about a gallon of good jelly. If the heel is uncooked, boil till half done, then throw the first water away, or the jelly will be too rancid for soup.