Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1909-05-18
Steam Cooking without Fire.

t6 e0uclted. Address: Gult0f dOnkAAAEhn
COLUMN, oxford Democrat, South Paris. Me-.
Steam Cooking Without Fire.
A number of patent devices are on the
market for steam cooking without fire.
These are doubtless all good, and as they
are not expensive many housekeepers
can avail of them. 1t is possible, how
ever, to cook in exactly the same manner
without specially designed apparatus
and at the cost only, Of three tin buckets.
The enormous saving of fuel, labor,
and discomfort which this process effects
will cause it to be welcomed by every
housekeeper In the country az one OF the
most humane and helpful inventions OF
the century.
Food is not only cooked by this proc
ess without labor and without fire, but
the flavor il retained to an extent which
is impossible by direct boiling.
The three buckets, or kettles, to be
used may be of tin, copper, aluminium,
or enamelled ware, preferably the last,
as it IL the best retainer of heat.
These kettles must be of such a size
that they will nest one within the other,
with room for at least an inch of water
between each two. The inner and the
outside kettles must each have cover
which fits down as nearly alright as
possible, but the middle kettle need not
have cover.
Suppose the smallest kettle to hold
about two quarts. The next size should
be about four to six quarts, and the
outside kettle about two gallons.
The process is simplicity itself. Place
the food to be cooked in the smallest
kettle, sailing it, but using no water,
except in the case of dry cereals, which
should be slightly moistened. Close the
lid tightly. Place this kettle inside the
next larger size, which should contain
also three or four inches of boiling water.
Put the large lid over the whole outfit,
and secure it firmly in place, putting a
weight on it If necessary.
Set these kettles on the fire and let
The water boil rapidly five minutes.
Then turn off the fire, and the hot water
will do the rest. You have but to let
the kettles stand until the food is thor
ougbly cooked. The length of time this
will require depends, of course, on the
nature of the food. Meat will require
three or four hours of this steaming,
vegetables about two hours, and cereals
the same, or as much longer as you may
like, as there is a difference of taste in
regard to their consistency.
In the case of meats it may be neces.
sary to boil the water five or ten minutes
second time, say at the end OF two
hours. The important point is that the
water In the kettles must be kept thor
oughly hot. 1t will remain 80 for an
indefinite time from the first boiling,
but if it should cool somewhat, another
boil will put it at the right temperature.
This can be obtained by feeling of the
outside kettle. A little practice with
different kinds of food will be necessary
to ascertain the required length of time
for cooking each product, but there is no
possibility of failure.
If noon dinner is to be prepared, the
housekeeper can put on her meat i'm
mediately after breakfast, and then she
can betake herself to any other part of
the house she may wish, or to any other
occupation, or she may even 60 out to do
her marketing or to visit her neighbors,
with never a fear that her food will
burn.
The process of cooking with an ordi-
nary double boiler, where the steam
escapes, is slow and hot-tberefore, ex-
pensive and tiresome. for fuel costs
money, and hot kitchen is not an agree
able place to stay in on hot summer
day. Besides, the boiler must be watch
ed lest it cook dry, and whatever else
the housekeeper may wish to do is al.
ways crossed by an undercurrent OF
anxiety in regard to the food that is on
the fire.
In this new process, the retention OF
the steam keeps the food at a cooking
temperature, and leaves the housekeeper
free.
Meats cooked by this process retain
the flavor and the juices as richly as II
they were roasted, yet the process is far
less heating and tiresome to the cook
and far less expensive to the one who
has to pay the fuel bills.
Some meats, and even some vegetables,
require such long cooking by ordinary
processes that, although cheap in them.
selves, they become expensive foods on
account of consumption of fuel, especial
~ If the fuel be gas or electricity. For
instance, beets need to be boiled so long
in order to be perfectly tender that the
expense is many times their original
cost; and if they are not entirely done
they are unfit for food. The same is
true of corned beef and beef tongue,
each of which requires number OF
hours cooking.
Cracked wheat-not the prepared kind,
but the old-fashioned, whole grains
which is the richest of cereals, must be
cooked many hours, 80 that in some
families it has been abandoned alto
gether as Improbable. By the new
steam process, wheat or any other cereal,
can be put into the cooker at night and
| in the morning 1t will be ready to serve
on the breakfast table.
Pease, lima beans, ETC., put on after
breakfast, are ready for the noon lunch.
Tapioca buildings, custards, and similar
made dishes can be cooked quickly and
perfectly in this way. The most deli
ciouS beef tea and soups result from this
method.
Another advantage in cooking by this
steam process is the diminutiOn of all
cooking odors. Onions and cauliflower,
for instance, among the most delicate
and delectable vegetables to eat when
properly cooked, are 30 unpleasant in
the process that in small house or
apartment one often hesitates to use
them. The steam process reduces their
odors to a minimum and thus permits
the housekeeper to offer them on her
table as often as she may wish.
| In order to cook two or more vegeta-
bles or meats at the same time by this
process it would be possible to have a
tinsmith make the inner bucket with two
or more compartments, each having a
separate lid, so that no flavors could
intermingle.
The process practically eliminates all
fatigue of cooking and exposure to the
heat of the kitchen, and thus weary
nerves may have a rest and laundry
work is lightened. Thereby, perhaps,
many DOCTORS bill may be saved, which
is an item to consider. Also, home will
be happier when the housekeeper is not
too weary to talk or to eat.
In preparing luncheon or dinner
for company, if the mistress of the house
is her own cook she can come to the
table we'll dressed and looking dainty,
cool, and undisturbed.-Harper's Bazaar.
Hints.
A substitute for the expensive cedar