Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1907-09-25
The Hay Box or Fireless Cooker.

Farmers wives can save them
selves some labor by having their
husbands or sons make for them a
hay box cooker, sometimes called
the fireless cooker, sometimes the
caloric heater, and at other times
the Norwegian nest. All these are
different names for the same thing;
not new thing by any means as
was shown in the Scandinavian ex-
hibit at the Paris exposition in 1867.
1t can be made at home, or it can be
bought at from five to fifteen dol
lars, depending upon size and good
looks.
How to make one: First make
tight box of good we'll seasoned
wood, planed on the outside for
looks sake and fitted with castors
for easy movement. 1t must have a
tightly fitting lid with hinges.
AN old trunk will answer very we'll
if the husband or son won't make a
box.) The size Of the box will de-
pend on the size of the family. For
an ordinary family we would begin
with a box % inches deep and l6
inches square, inside measurement
If yon like the working Of it then
you can make one, two OF three adj
ditional boxes, or a double box, suf-
hcient TO meet the requirements OF
the family.
Cover the bottom Of the box with
three inches of newspaper, hay or
excelsior. In the center set o gran
lite or enameled pail sixteen inches
deep, something like an old-fash-
toned shotgun milk can, with a
tightly fitting lid. Put several
thicknesses Of nespaper or card
board around the sides of the box,
tacking them as closely as possible,
aud then fill in the space around
the pail with hay or excelsior. On
the inslle of the lid Of the box,
shutting down like the lid with o
hinge, we would have second lid
with pad of conducting ma
terial about three inches thick, fit
ting tightly into the box over the
pail. That is all there is of it. One
Of these single boxes can be bought
in Des Moines for about four dol
lars, and we presume for the same
in other places.
Now, as to it's use: If you want
to make oatmeal porridge such as
your grandmother used to make,
bring your oat meal to the boiling
point in separate vessel, put this
in the pail or vessel already in the
box, shut down both lids, and let ii
cook all night. There will be no
heat added, but the heat that you
have put i'll there will remain. In
the morning you can sit down to a
dish of oatmeal such as grandmoth-
er used to cook, and which has gone
out of fashion since the advent Of
gas and gasoline stoves. Rice, mush,
and other cereals can be cooked in
the same way and set in this cen
trail vessel.
If you have a rooster of uncer.
tain age, whose period of usefulness
has passed. and that you would be
ashamed to sell to the butcher OF
grocer, kill him Saturday night, let
him boil a few minutes, and set in
the pail in the cooker. (Oat meal
or other cereal can be cooked at the
same time, of course in a separate
vessel When you come home from
church you can hardly tell your old
rooster from spring chicken.
You complain about beef being
high priced, and SO it will be; but
it is only the high priced cuts that
are dear. Other cuts that are
cheaper because tougher, equally
nutritious, and some Of them more
SO, can be utilized in this tireles'
cocker to the saving of the pocket
book and fuel as we'll. Our read
ers generally know that the rount
steak and the cheaper roasts ar
quite as nutritious as sirloin ant
3 rib roast, but costing from one-hal
to two-t thirds as much; and thes
!, can be utilized in cooker of thi
3 kind to very great profit.
We do not intend to tell you o.
e about this cooker. Suffice it to So
: that it is no experiment. The Unite
r States army uses it in a large wa
: by simply bringing their meats
n beans, or whatever they wish t
: cook, to boil, putting them in th
! cookers on the wagon and startin
e on their march. At night they ha,
r supper already cooked, and bette
+ supper than they could cook othe
J. wise.
i In this as in everything els
e there are good many things whic
must be learned by experience
d nine persons out of ten will put j
l. too much water with their cerea
10 or meats. They are accustomed
le having large amount of the wat
G evaporate in the cooking proces
r Once in the hay box, there is /
g evaporation, you must not put
= any more water than you intend
u have in the food when it goes to Il
table. The principle Of the hay b.
q is simply to keep in the amount
le heat you put in, with the minimu
t. amount of waste. Our readers W
y at once see the idea.
y Some of our readers already ha