Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1912-01-31
PAPER BAG
COOKING
Great System Perfected by VI.
Soyer, Famous London Chef.
GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR PA
PER BAG COOKING.
BY M. Soyer, Chef of Brooks Club,
London.

system OF cookery that it can cook
everything. 1t is evident that tea
must still be made in the teapot
Generally speaking, we may waive
our claim to having mastered the
difficulty with respect to soups, al
though l have made beef tea with
excellent results. The following is a
list of articles that may in the mean
time be avoided:
Soup Except beef teal, omelette,
scrambled eggs, jam Except in small
quantities), Scotch kale, beans, cab
bage, caulifiOwer, broccoli, artichokes,
macaronf or kindred Italian pastes.
The success of the system depends
entirely upon how it is carried out.
Good cooking requires time, care, at
tentiOn to detail, taste and a tempera-
ture suited to the particular dish
being cooked. While the paper-bag
system is labor and time saving, as
well as affOrding more nutritive and
appetizing effects than the present,
it does not abrOgate any of the rules
that apply to efficient work at the
kitchen-table.
The Bag.
Specially prepared bags should be
used. Without them the method can
not be practiced with assurance of
success. The bag should be made of
materials that guarantee it's purity.
It should be OdOrless, and it's purity
a guarantee that nothing injurious
can possibly be impaired from it to
the food cooked in the bag.
Before using the bags
ID Select one that "fits' the food
intended to be cooked:
(2) Grease slightly the inside of
the bag, except in the case of vege-
tables or when water is added. For
beginners it is advisable Butter,
lard or dripping may be used.
CD When the food has been pre-
pared for the bag, place the same on
the table and lift the uppermost edge
Of the bag while you insert the con-
tents.
Cd Fold the mouth of the bag two
or three times and fasten with clip.
Strong wire paper-clips, obtainable of
any stationer, answer the purpose. Tt
is desirable to fold the corners of the
bag SO as to secure as near as posi-
bic hermetical closing.
The Oven.
Practically any oven will do. Paper
bag cookery is as we'll suited to a gas
stove as it is to a coal oven, an cleo
tricity cooker or oil stove, always
provided the necessary heat is Sc
cured. The size of the oven makes
no difference to the cooking, only to
the size Of the article.
Before placing the bag with its
contents into gas oven, the gas
should be lighted at least eight min
utes beforehand. The average oven
heat should not be less than 200 de-
grees Fahrenheit, and when the bag
is put into the oven this ought to be
reduced in eight minutes after to 10
degrees. To find out the correct de
gree thermometer, of course, is the
most accurate method; but expert
ence will soon teach the cook what
is required, and the color assumed by
a piece Of paper placed in the oven
will at once tell whether it is too hot
Or too cold.
In the case Of coaIheated stoves
with solid shelves a wire broiler
should be used This should be
placed on the shelf with the bag con-
tanning the food. It is necessary to
emphasize the fact that, except in
the case Of pies, no dish should be
used.
How to Know when the Food Is
Cooked
If the timetable is adhered to, the
bag may be taken out Of the oven in
confidence that the food is we'll
cooked. But if from any cause the
heat declines, it is very easy to find
out whether the food is properly
cooked. Except in the case of vege-
tables, a little hole can he made in
the bag by which the food can be
seen and judged as to whether it is
cooked or not. This will not initiate
against the cooking of the food in the
slightest. In many articles, however,
a slight touch of the bag will indicate
to an ordinary cook whether the bag
is ready 10 be served. A prick with
a needle is onOther method that may
be adopted. But a peculiarly favor
able feature of paper-bag cookery is
that if the food is left five or ten
minutes in the bag in the oven longer
than the specified time on my table,
the food will not be spoiled. There is
little chance Of overlooking.
Dangers to Be Avoided.
Cooking generally has its dangers,
like other occupations. 1t is the
beauty Of this system that the dan
gers are reduced to a minimum. One
Goes not require every now and then
to open the oven door "to see how
the roast is getting on" The oven
is doing its work, because til whole
force Of the heat is playing upon the
bag and ensuring every part of the
food being properly penetrated.
Nevertheless, care should be exer-
cised when opening the oven.
Care, again, should be exercised in
taking the bag out of the oven. A