Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-07-29
THE MISSING SCIENCE.
PROFESSOR EDWARD ATklNSON'S
WONDERFUL COOKING BOX.


While tie ordinary cookery book is deficient
in any scientific instruction, yet there is one
noted cookery book which contains a famous
receipt. Mrs. Glass in her celebrated receipt
for cooking hare, says: "You must first
catch your hare" In my instructions for
cooking / lay down the rule, You must first
catch your heat, and then keep it where it
Will do the work in the right way"
THE NORWEGIAN COOKING BOX.
My first hint how to do this was derived
from description of the Norwegian cooking
box; l had never seen one The Norwegian
cooking apparatus consists of box of wood
lined with hair, felt or fur, and then with
metal. a smaller box made of metal adapt
ed to receive the food, fits loosely in this out
er case. The space around this inner box is
filled witt boiling water, and the heat being
kept in by the non-conducting outer wall
does its work upon the food, of course at
somewhat below the boiling point This
proves at once to you that there is no neces-
sary connection between the boiling point
which at our sea level is 2l2 degs. Fahrenheit
and the degree of heat necessary to do the
cooking o. our food. This fact was discover
ed, by accident even, by Count Rumford
who had thought that the way to boil meat is
to boil 1t, when, in fact, the way to spoil
meat is TO boil it. A leg of mutton was acci-
dentally loft by him in a drying room used
for other purposes, and exposed to heat
from about 40 degs TO $50 degs, as / re-
member the statement. In the morning, to
Count Rrmford's surprise, instead of being
dried up, it was nutritiously cooked and of
full flavor.
In order to convert the Norwegian cooking
box into constant cooker, all that was neces-
sary for me to do was to add a circulatory
apparatus similar TO the one with which your
bath boilers are heated. Into it a working
man may put the materials for u hearty
breakfast, light the lamp, go to bed, and on
getting W find his breakfast ready; but with
that appar ratus l could only simmer and stew,
and the American people will not be satisfied
with stews. In some of the reports of the
lectures which / gave to the workingmen
when put on file in the public libraries, curl
GUS comments have been made For instance:
I'VE don't want your pigwash," I've won't
have bone soup; we want sirloin," etc. ]
have therefore substituted a column of heated
air for the column of heated water in this
oven, In " hich you cannot only simmer and
stew, but also roast and bake There is, as
you will observe, no direct communication
between the lamp, or source of heat, and the
inside of the inner oven in which the food is
placed; therefore, if the lamp smokes or gives
of fumes of kerosene oil, for want of being
rightly TT mined, the food is not tainted
have made no attempt to promote the
general Introduction of this apparatus until
it should lie completely perfected and reduced
in cost. Iy first experimental ovens We're
wholly mude of metal, filled with non-con-
Quoting material, and were costly. We have
used this apparatus i'll my own family for
more thar one year, and have done at least
nine-tentts of our cooking with it. We ehave
been obliged TO light the range to warm the
kitchen, and, it being lighted, some of the
breakfast cooking has been done on it.
also light my household with kerosene OIL as
detest gas light Our family consists of
from ten to twelve persons. buy the best
oil by the barrel, and it costs me ten cents q
gallon My bill for lighting and cooking for
the year las been $50.
CHEAP AND GOOD LUNCHES.
A lunch has been established for the EN-
ployes in my own office as well as for my
self About twenty persons are served with
a substantial midday meal. every day; since
we began little over 1000 meals have been
served. We are obliged to buy our oil in small
parcels, al retail prices, therefore the cost of
u,
at wholesale it would have been one-half a
cent. The plan works to the great benefit of
the employees, whose midday lunch or dinner
costs then eighteen to twenty cents each for
food and fuel
Astonishing as these facts are in regard to
the economy of fuel, l am of the opinion that
this is purely a secondary matter. Economy
OF food Is OF the first Importance, coupled
with the saving of work on the part of the
cook.
l have proved, l think conclusivelv, that
the operation of heating room, or of heat
ing water for circulation through the house.
Is absolutely inconsistent with the true meth
ods of cooking. Heat cannot be properly
regulated for cooking when applied to other
purposes. If i ware to build again, L should
make arrangements for heating the water
from the furnace with small heater set
alongside The furnace for summer Use, and in
place of tie range in the kitchen | would put
a small heater, like fiatiron heater with a
place to boil water on the top. One of my
friends has built and furnished house in
this way and is quite enthusiastic over it. /
might add grill, which is very useful in
any household, but my main dependence for
cooking would be upon the lamp, or Aladdin
oven.
Ing thlnl, it will appear that there is a true
degree of heat by which fiavors are developed
or actually created; for instance, if we grind
green coffee we get no good result and no
true flavor; if we roast it too much we de-
stroy the favor and get an acrid and unpala-
table residuum. If we apply the exact de-
gree of heat to roasting the berry we develop
the flavor and other qualities which are de-
sired. | have lately observed that the same
rule seems to apply in the application of heat
to meat fish, vegetables, and meal, especially
cornmeal. If not cooked enough meat will
be sapid and fiavorless; if cooked too much,
havorless and soggy; if cooked at the exact
point, the finest fiavors are developed, espe-
cially in fish and fruit.
In order to maintain my reputation as a
man of figures, | will repeat again the sum
which mi ,ht be saved to the people of the
United States. The average expense of a
workingman i'll full work Is twenty five cents
per day for materials of food; the measure
of waste at moderate computation is 20 per
cent, or five cents per day. This includes
the waste Of rich and poor alike, of the first
class hotel and of the factory boarding house
The consu ming power of the United States
at the present time is that of over 81, ,0O0, 600
adults, counting two children of 10 or un-
der as one adult, and the objective point of
my work L. to save five cents day on So, ,OOO-
600, which would amount annually to about
81 900 900, )00.-Atkinsons LEND Hand"
Lots of Patience.
Man About Town (banteringly) - Pat,
you're the most artistic drinker ever saw
IL must have taken lots of nractica fo uat