The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1912-08-23
PAPER BAG
COOKING
Great System Perfected by N.
Soyer, Famous London Chef.
MERITS OF PAPER BAG COOKING
REVIEWED.
BY Martha MccuIIooh Williams

cry. 1t may be we'll to sum up briefly
Its claims and Its performances. -.
In the claims. Item one. economy
more than vital in the present state
Of finance high and low.
Item two. nutrition; things cooked
In paper bags certainly set better
upon the stomach and return more
strength of mind and body than the
same things cooked outside 1t.
Item three. ,preysntion-the proven
ton of ptomaine and other obscure
poisons. bred betwixt food and air
Not the widest microbe Of them all
can survive baking In the overland
after the baking the bag is thrown
away. -"
Item four; increase and bettering 81
flavors. which means increase and
lettering of food itself.
Item five: the making tender OF
tough, hence indigestible fiber, as In
round steak. old fowls and such like
things. 80
:: Item six. prevention Of smells--an
advantage so apparent as to require
no more than bare mention.
Item seven, the browning mercy.
the abolition Of scrubbing out pots and
pans.
A fine array truly. But not the
whole tale Of benefits. The whole
might be tedious Any way, in the
little remnant of allotted space, other
things press to be spoken.
Words of caution, for example. In
cooking in paper bags mind, not your
p's and as. but. the simple" directions
for use. Namely, to. grease the bags
we'll, not to overfill them, to fold
over the open end three times and
fasten the fold with wire clips, to lay
the filed bag always seam side up,
and If by chance 1t breaks. to put II
instantly inside another bigger bag,
to. fiaish the cooking.
=, Buy clips In several sizes They are
cheap and almost everlasting. Use
them. freely in fastening up the bags
.-+they can be pulled Off before the
bag is thrown away and used over
and over,
DO nut W 1861 VI 90 FOe5aAoc pu6bs
Often it is better to use two or three
small ones than single one Of medt
'um or. large size. -
Coal and wood ranges are not go
well adapted to paper bag cooking az
gas ranges. Still, bag. cooking can be
done with any kind OF heat-the
knaek lies In the regulation. ofit.. The
theory of paper bag cooking is thiss
A cold bag put into hot stove geta
warm very quickly throughout, and
the paper of it crisps wherever II
touches nothing but air. This quick
heat is essential-it vaporizes the
liquids or, the juices inside the bag,
and makes medium for softenine
and fiavoring the food fiber But II
the heat Is too long continued, 1t de-
stroys the tensile strength of the bag
makes 1t break Of itself, and spill Its
contents Hence. the Importance OF
lowering the heat, and quickly, before
this destruction is accomplished.
There are several ways of doins
this. They may be used in combina
ton or separately. First, push In the
hampers, then open the oven door
and set inside upon the oven floor q
shallow pan Of cold water. Leave the
oven door ajar for two or three min
utes, with strip of white paper on
the shelf beside the bag. II the paper
turns pale yellow the heat Ia suf
ficiently reduced. II 1t turns brown
very quickly, set the door wide, take
out the water pan and refill after
lemptying. with fresh cold water, then
set again upon the oven floor. Keep
the door ajar Until the test paper
merely yellows. Py that time the
hampers should have done their worh
sufficiently. Close the oven door,
leaving inside another strip of clean
white paper. In three minutes look
at tiff it Is browning too fast, set
the door again ajar, but IL merely vel
lowing let the door stay closed.
This regulation of heat Is vital
part Of the problem, but much less In
tricate than 1t sounds. A gas range
turned off, and what remains reduc
ed as low as Is safe.
In baking pastry and cake Il Ia es
sentlal to make very tiny holes in the
upper side Of the bag before they 60
In the oven. The holes should be In
the highest part Of the bag, but not
very close together.
Things cooked at full head Of gas
those which take five to ten minutes
should not be taken up until the gas
Is extinguished, so as to avoid all risk
of burning the hands. Relighting the
stove means no more than the sacrt
Ace Of match-and even half min
ute of gas flame will pay for many
matches.
There are no rifles In paper bag
cooking, nor In any other method Of
cookery for that matter. Things that
seem too small to count make the diff
ference between success and failure
he-e as in the other concerns OF life
As. for instance, q clip loosely put on
may let liquids run out. making heaps
of trouble for the cook. filling the
house with Ill odors, and half running
q dish otherwise beyond compare
These are but examples that might
be Infinitely multiplied. They sh I'D