Los Angeles herald., 1905-08-06
HAY BOX BETTER THAN
THE COMMON COOK STOVE
GERMAN INVENTION REDUCES
COST or FUEL
Simple Device conserves the Heat end
Enables the Housewife to Prepare
Meals without Watching the Food
she Is Cooking

,ivelv new article OF kitchen furni-
ture which has successfully stood the
test OF everyday use in the German
Fatheriand, where 1t is rapidly pelhs
adopted by rich and poor alike.
Cooking without fire? Not exactly
perhaps but with very little hre'
There IS no magic about 1t, nor is the
new system dependent for success
upon some recently discovered secret
OF nature. on the contrary the nay
box is 30 simple and inexpensive that
+ A. Is within the reach Of every woman
no matter how poor she may be.
Nearly every one knows two things
about cooking, namely that heat Is re-
ouired and that water will not ordi-
narily boil until its temperature has
risen to a12 degrees Fahrenheit, but
there are two other facts which are
spparently unknown to many, namely,
that no matter how long a raging fire
is kept up by wasting costly fuel, the
temperature of boiling water cannot be
raised above 212 degrees Fahrenheit
and, secondly, that it is not necessary
to maintain this degree of heat in COM
pleting the process of cooking. All that
is Indispensable in the preparation OF
a large class of materials is long con-
tinued exposure to the disintegrating
influence of high degree of heat. H.
therefore, an apparatus can be found
capable of preventing the escape or the
too rapid wasting Of heat previously
secured by means of fire, the continued
use of heat producing fire may ad-
vantageous1y be dispensed with In the
interest Of economy, comfort and
health.
Loss of Heat Prevented
But there is a well-known and con-
venient way of accomplishing the i'm
prisonment Of heat, namely by sur
rounding 1t with materials which are
bad heat conductors, such as clean
hay, straw, wool, excelsior or news
papers, and by using in addition
covering as nearly alright as possible.
This needed apparatus is provided by
the hay box, in the perfection of which
many years of experimenting and use
have been consumed in Germany.
But hat is a hay box? 1t is simply
a box, capable of being securely closed.
filed with hay or any other clean ma
terial which is bad conductor Of heat,
in which covered pots and pans con-
tanning intensely hot materials are
nested and allowed to complete slowly
the process OF cooking previously be-
gun on stove or range. The box used
may be an ordinary one from the gro
Gerry adapted for use by the addition of
a lid with hinges, or 1t may be as
elaborate and expensive as desired.
The wood of which it is made should
not be too thin, and, Of course, there
should be no knotholes or cracks in
any Of its six sides. Even an old
trunk or q heavy pasteboard box can
be made, with little care, to answer
the purpose. The pots used may be of
any material, though naturally some
sorts hold heat better than others. The
lids of pots and pans should, however,
fit as closely as possible, and these lids
should never be lifted after being
taken from the fire. If lid is raised
during the process Of cooking in the
box, the pot should at once be placed
upon the fire again for a few moments
for the purpose of developing more
steam to replace that which has been
allowed to escape.
In the interest of cleanliness, and as
further precaution against loss Of
heat, before nesting pot, one may
wrap it in a cloth or towel. After all
the pots and pans are safely in the
with a pillow, stuffed with feathers or
hay. After this, there is nothing more
to be done except to lower the lid of
the box and fasten it tightly. The cook
may then, without the least anxiety,
go to church or attend to her market
ing, or devote her time to other duties
and recreations, relying upon the hay
box without any danger of scorching
or burning, to thoroughly cook the
food intrusted to it, and to allow no
WdpLii5 VI OASAAAh5 VI 4lO oC4ASAOuo
aromas.
The advantages Of the hay box may
be partially summarized as follows:
The housewives health is protected by
the obviation of the necessity for
standing for hours near a very hot
stove; the annoyances involved in the
servant question are considerably les
sened; the appetite Is not diminished
, by the spreading of kitchen odors
through the house; pots are much less
exposed to the destructive influences of
fire, and their usefulness is correspond
ingly prolonged; the food is better
cooked. more tasty and also more di-
gestible, and the saving in fuel result
ing from the use of the hay box
amounts to from so to rs per cent, OF
even more.
The hay box is adapted only for the
preparation of such food as requires
to be cooked for considerable length
Of time. 1t is, therefore, obvious that
1t is not intended for articles whose