The enterprise-recorder. (Madison, Fla.) 1908-1933, 1908-12-17
Henry c. sharpe, commissary General. U. s. a.


the way Of providing for men of the
army on the march is now being per-
fected by this department. That is
the construction of what is generally
known as the freless cooker" a
modification of the Norwegian hay
oven. For two or three years past
we have been experimenting with
various devices submitted by manu-
facturers with a view to the adoption
of the best possible method for sup
plying hot meals to the troops in the
field in the quickest possible time.
The fireless cooker, or hay-oven, is
no new thing. It has been used in
| Europe for n great many years. The
main idea is to partially cook a meal
and then TO place the food in a re-
ceptacle which will retain the heat,
with as little loss as possible, and to
permit the retained heat to finish the
cooking operation. Everybody knows
that water boils at two hundred and
twelve degrees Fahrenheit, but very
few people realize that water never
gets any hotter than that and few
seem 10 know that It IS unnecessary
to bring food up TO even the degree
of temperature required to boil water
provided the heat can be retained, to !
insure perfect cooking
Experiments have shown that par
TALLY cooked food can be thoroughly |
cooked II kept at a temperature any /
where above 10 for a certain period .
Of time and that is what IS being .
done with the freless cooker, which .
we hope TO be able TO perfect so as
to make It available for the army.
There are in the market to-day
great many such appliances, rangin+
from wooden boxes. packed with as
bestos or mineral wool, up to elab-
crate metallic contmvances, several
inches thick in the rim packed with
some sort of ror-conductor of heat,
such as wood fibre or asbestos. What
the army wants is a contrivance Of
this character in which partially
cooked foods may be placed which
will retain the heat for many hours
and TO this end our experiments are
being made with fair degree Of sue
cess thus far. Not long ago a squad
Of men started on a march from Fort
Riley. Kansas, followed by a wagon
a partially cooked meal,
sufficient for the entire squad. After
i march of six hours the freless 7
cooker in which this meal was con- /
aimed was opened and it was found o
hat the meat, vegetables and mac (
roni, contained therein, was per-
ectly prepared and ready for dinner. f
The theory is a simple one. It is c
hat heat retained by non-conductor I
md prevented from escaping will /
the operation Of cooking
God, The hay-boy OF Norway has /
)een used for generation or more !
md we want to adopt the idea into
he army of the United States; when :
his is done a squad Of troops started
out on a days march can be followed
b. supply wagons with freless cook
ers, that have been packed when
camp is broken in the morning, and
which will have a nutritious hot meal
ready to serve to them Immediately
when camp is made again at night.
Heretofore It has been found neces-
sary in order to give our soldiers hot
food on a march to carry a supply of
fuel from camp to camp. And even
then great deal Of time is consumed
in building the fires and in cooking
the meals. 1t will be readily under
stood that any method which prom
ises the elimination of the necessity
Of hauling large quantities of fuel
and at the same time eliminate the
loss Of time will be Of enormous ad-
vantage and that the result will be
highly appreciated by the men to be
fed.
Manufacturers have in many in
stances prepared devices which are
entirely satisfactory in a small way
and which appear to be excellent for
domestic purposes, but uD to the
present time none Of them has de-
signed q "dreless cooker" satisfactory
for the needs Of such number OF
men as the Subsistence Department
must provide for. We are looking
for lightness in weight, combined
with absolute stability In construc-
ton. We want a cooker which will
stand long travel over all sorts of
roads and assure the perfection OF
the contents at the end Of the Jour
ney. Each receptacle containing
foods must be absolutely air tight,
easily cleaned and readily adjusted.
We have secured, through our own
officers, several devices which seem
to Ill the bill, and l am confident that
before long it will be possible to start
out a regiment of soldiers from camp
In the morning with a wagon contain