Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1905-04-26
IMPORTANT STORY, If TRUE.
Interesting Report Of Stove that will Cook
Without Fuel.


Every woman in South Carolina
will be interested in the fircless cook
stoves described in recent consular
report. The report is taken from an
address by Mrs. Back, wife of the
director of the industrial school at
Frankfort, Germany. The fireless
stove is called the hay box.
Every house wife knows that a pot
of coffee can be kept for considera-
BILE length of time, without the aid
of fire, simply wrapping it in a dry
towel to hide the escape of heat.
s At the Paris exposition of 1867
much attention was attracted by a
wooden box lined with wool and felt,
which was called "the Norwegian
automatic kitchen" In this box
food, which had been boiled for only
a very few minutes, continued to
cook slowly and in two or three
hours was found to be ready for the
table. For some unexplainable rea-
son all efforts to bring this useful
novelty into general use proved un-
successful until the matter was re-
Gently taken up systematically and
with more enthusiasm in Baden. The
propaganda is now being successfully
pushed in Berlin, Munich, Frankfort
and other cities by means of popular
lectures and public demonstrations of
the convenience and practical value
of this method of cooking.
Mrs. Back stated that she has now
been using the hay box for thirteen
years, and that it has greatly reduced
for hor the cares and annoyances of
housekeeping. At first she used the
box merely for the purpose of keep
ing finished food warm, but it was
not long before she discovered the
process of cooking in the box. She
thereupon extended it's use, making
series of experiments which resulted
in pleasant surprises.
She soon found that she could fin
ish in the box all boiled and roasted
meats, sauce, fish, soup, vegetables,
fruit, pudding, etc. Of course the
box cannot be used for beef steaks,
outlets, pancakes and the like, arti-
cles whose chief attraction lies in
the crispness resulting from cooking
on hot stove, but when food Of this
kind is being prepared it is great
comfort to the housewife to know
that the rest of the meal is ready
and hot in the box.
In general it will be found that
two or three minutes of actual boil
ing on the fire is amply sufficient for
vegetables, while roasted meats re-
quire twenty to thirty minutes. Most
articles should remain tightly closed
in the box for two or three hours,
though they can be left there to keep
hot for ten or twelve hours, if neces-
sary. Rice, dried beans, lentils,
dried fruit, ETC., should first be soaked
IN cold water. After being allowed
to boil for from two to five minutes,
one or two hours in the box will pre-
pare them thoroughly for the table.
Cabbage should be prepared in the
evening before it is used. 1t should
be placed in the pot with very little
water, cooked we'll in it's juice, and
put over night in the hay box. Just
before dinner on the following day it
should be warmed on the stove.
Caulihower and other soft vegetables
should be merely brought to a boil
then placed for an hour or two in
the box. 1t will be found that soups
are greatly improved by being al
lowed to develop for two or three
hours in the hay box. The covers
of the box should, of course, not be
lifted when the pots are being trans
ferred to the box. BY the old method
of cooking, it is necessary to boil
dried beans two and one-half to
three hours. When the hay box is
used, boiling for five minutes will be
found sufficient. This will give
clear idea of the amount Of fuel
saved.