The San Francisco call., 1906-04-15

E ~ AhS making something
~ 81 g. out OF nothing and
calling il very good is IN the long, long
aeo. For il does sound miraculous.
But don't decide in flash.
Ffreloss cooking is not a phrase coined
by one who had dreamed a dream, and
as for iceless refrigeration-even that
may not be So Impossible as it sounds.
All this Captain H. T. Ferguson tells
me H. we sit in his tiny office in COM
nlissary headquarters at the Preside.
Strong in the confidence of ignorance
7 had passed this building with a glance,
making sure that its barred windows
spelled either store rooms or guard
house, only 10 find when 1 reached what
I thought must be the Office, "the first
bric. building on your right" as z young
soldier near the entrance had directed
me. that ] must retrace my steps If 1
would find Captain Ferguson Of the com
misssry.
Il is such a very business-like Office,
this ia one end Of the low red structure,
Z easily forget the bars at the window
after all, they are TO keep providers out,
not te keep prisoners in-and here 1
learn Of the. hreless cooker from one
who has experimental with it and eaten
tAe food II has prepared.
''BriEadier General Sharpe. commissary
general L. S A." begins Captain Fer
guson, conceived the idea that a fire.
less. cooker such as had been tested more
or less satisfactorily abroad might DC
sood thing for military camps. and he
directed that the school Tor bakers at
Fort Riley, Kans.. give it a trial
The first experiments were made al
most a year ago, with an ordinary wood
en- box We'll packed with hay. Rice
beans and hominy were cooked for five
minutes and then placed. vessels and all,
in tie hay box, where they were left
lightly tnclosed, for TWO hours and fif-
teen minutes
The rice opened UP hot and well done,
but the beans and hominy were not quite
tender perhaps because they had not
been thoroughly heated when placed in
the cocker
"Othe- dishes. were tried-Irish stew.
macaroni ana boiled beans. The stew
was cooked in an earthen jar for ten min
Utes and left in the hay box for two
hours. when ii was removed perfectly
cooked.
The macaroni, after being boiled for
fs e minutes. was left in the box for one
hour and twenty minutes. and when
served it was most delicious.
Beans placed in jar with the neces-
sary bacon and seasoning were boiled
Tor six minutes and placed in the hay
box Tor two hours. al the end of which
time they were well cooked and tender
You see the idea. When you have
vegetable or d piece Of meat boiling hot
you can't get il any hotter without de-
stroying IT, 50 II you can take it at the
moment il is heated throughout TO 2I2
degrees and place il SO that none of this
heat IS lost the cooking process viii 90
on as steadily and as surely as If you
were continually building new fire un-
der IT.
That tells the whole story With this
common hayboK such good results were
obtained it was decided to see what a
more carefully constructed outfit would
do
so a box was made Of oak and lined
with sheet iron. Between the wood and
the lining was an air space and a layer
of felt and there were six compartments.
one or all Of which might be used These
compartments were fitted with tin or
zinc vessels. into which the cooking uten-
sils fitted
1T made d great box, weighing about
500 pounds entirely too heavy for field
use but il served for our tests and re-
moved the last doubt OF the practical
value OF the plan.
I'VE experimental with everything We
roasted beef, cooked ham, corn beef and
cabbage, and chickens; always with pei
feet success.
''The ham was carefully washed and put
into q boiler with enough cold water to
cover it, After boiling for thirty minutes
il was placed in the cooker. The four
chickens. and they were not spring
frys by any means, after being properly
seasoned were boiled for thirteen minutes
before going into the box.
There were two rib roasts, weighing
pounds apiece. which were Drowned in
the oven and then cooked twenty minutes
en- casserole-over an outer boiler filled
with water. you know-before being placed
Ia the hreless stove. This ended the list