Omaha daily bee., 1905-09-11
HAY COOKER SAVES FUEL
Army Experiments Prove Utility Of This
Novel Plan for Cooking,
FOOD PREPARED WITH LITTLE FIRE
Details of How to Make the Box and
Proceed in Using II Furnished
from Fort RILEY, where Il
was Perfected.

FORT RILEY. Kan, Sept 9-(Specinl) }
Although many short paragraphs have
recently appeared in the newspapers con-
cerning "hreless cooking" the process has
rot been thoroughly explained to the rub
lie, and Il still seems to be looked upon
as sort of a myth The experiments
carried on al Fort Riley. Kan, by Cap
tain NJ. s. Murray, commissary, L. s. Army,
and director of the training school for
bakers and cooks maintained by the war
department at that post have amply DEM
onstrated the feasibility OF the scheme and
It's peculiar adaptabllity to army cooking
particularly in the field Incidentally how
ever, they have also demonstrated that
it is adaptable to household use, and were
its merits generally known and the possi-
bilities It offers in the saving Of fuel fully
understood It would surely be widely
adopted
In Omaha, for instance, many modern
houses are heated throughout in winter
with furnaces and fuel gas is used in the
kitchens to cook the family meals In
summer fuel gas is still more extensively
used. and householders find that bills for
gas so consumed are very material items
OF expense. BY the use of the so-called
''hreless cook stove" costing nothing but
the little labor and material necessary to
fuel bills can be made. and the process
is so simple as TO at least warrant a
trial. What this reduction would amount
TO can be roughly estimated by the house
wife when she is informed that many
dishes can be perfectly cooked in the fire.
less stove without using the gas burner
more than five minutes-a saving of over
% per cent in the case of many Of these
dishes, which, If cooked over a gas range,
would require the use of the gas burner
for an hour or more
Great Saving in Fuel.
Foodstuffs that are cooked by boiling
over an ordinary gas or coal range are
immersed In water which is usually brought
to the boiling point and kept there until
the cooking process is completed. As the
heat is being constantly given off into the
surrounding atmosphere, It is necessary
in order to maintain 1t, to keep the fire
burning during the entire time. II is
clear then, that II the radiation of the
heat could be prevented after the water
has been brought to the boiling point the
cooking process would continue without
the fire. This. OF course, is an impossible
ity. But to cook most food preparations
It is not necessary to maintain the heat
at 212 degrees; in fact. vegetables and meats
can, as a rule. be cooked at a considerably
lower temperature than that. It is this
fact that makes the f1reless cooker a possl-
bility.
Hay. paper. felt and some other similar
substances are nonconductors of heat
Therefore. II vessel containing. for in
stance, the ingredients of a stew be placed
over a fire and the contents heated to the
boiling point and then sealed and tightly
packed in hay the contents will retain a
sufficient amount of the heat for a sufficient
length of time to complete the process OF
cooking
An eastern manufacturer is about to
place upon the market a hreless cook stove
but while It will doubtless be worth it's
price and more, II will be quite expensive
and no better in its results than such an
one as can be constructed, without cost
by anyone who can use carpenters TOOLS
the principle involved being the same in
either case. BY following the simple direc-
tions given below the reader can make a
fireless cooker as good as the best and
which will surprise and delight him with
it's results.
How to Make the Box.
He will provide himself with a strong
wooden box. eighteen inches square and
sixteen inches thigh, inside measurement,
with a closely fitting hinged cover, a
quantity of clean hay, hay mattress
eighteen inches square and four inches
thick, and an earthen jar eight inches high,
outside measurement, including the cover,
which must fit closely over the top of the
jar, and of a diameter sufficient to furnish
the desired capacity. This jar must be of
such nature that It can be used to cook
! food or boil water over a fire. An iron
or granteware jar will do, but earthenware
is better. The hay mattress may be easily
made of any strong cloth, tied through
so that II will retain it's shape, care being
taken To make the ends and sides square,
so that 1t will 1t closely into the box.
All these dimensions may be changed to
suit his convenience or fancy. They are
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