The twice-a-week Twin Falls times. (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1916-1918, 1918-02-07

tI VI the ADDlcCIOll I1OuSGkGGDlNk
Experiment Station)
The housekeeper is faced with a SER
ious shortage in one of her daily ne
cessities, namely butter. This is due
to the general shortage of cattle and
tc the fact that many small dairy far
mers are shutting down, owing to the
high cost of grain. How can she meet
the shortage? Just as in other cases
where a food product is high in price,
she will have to find a substitute or
equivalent at a lower price. Ameri-
cans incidentally, consume more but
ter per capita than the people of any
other nation, and it will not be a
hardship to exercise a. little self-de-
NAL especially when there is so many
excellent butter equivalents.
In the first place, butter may be en-
tirely dispensed with in cooking. If
all those who now use butter in cook
ing would use other fats, that would
release a large output for table use
only and cause a correspondence
lower price. In almost every case
where butter is used in cooking equal
ly good results could be obtained by
the use of other fats. Indeed from
scientific studies made, there is no
great difference in the composition of
oils. The chief reason that butter is
so popular is because of it's superior
flavor, odOr and texture.
When an animal fat like butter is
scarce it is easy to turn to vegetable
oils, similar in fat value, and equal
ly excellent in cooking. These are
olive oil, peanut oil, cocoanut oil and
corn oil. Any one of these is prefer
able to butter for cooking because
they have a lower smoking point"
and are more difficult to burn than
butter. In other countries olive oil
and cocoanut oil are for the above
reason always used for frying. And
now the corn and peanut, as we'll as
cottonseed oil, put up in our own
markets, are far superior to butter
in any kind of cooking.
For instance, one common form of
using butter in cooking is in making
a white sauce. But an even more de-
licious smooth result may be obtain
ed by using a tablespoonful of any
one of the vegetable oils mentioned
with a tablespoonful of butter and
mixing with the liquid as usual.
Many housekeepers also thing it is
impossible to make good cake with
out butter, but it has been proved that
vegetable oils make equally good
shortening. The same is true of pas
try, which is more light and flaky
made with a vegetable oil than with
butter Indeed, puff Paste" is bet
ter made with olive or cottonseed oil
than with the traditional butter, even
if both were equally cheap.
1t is possible to render our every
scrap of fat on either raw or cooked
meats and utilize in shortening and
ffsxrfTl ~
is to cut in small pieces and heat in
an open skillet. This method results
often in burned and coarse tasting
fat, and creates too much odor in the
room. A much better way is as fol-
lows Remove the fat from raw
meats and run through the coarse cut
ter of the meat chopper. Place in the
| compartment of a double boiler until
melted; strain while hot through sew
eral folds of cheesecloth.
Clarifying is the process of making
clear and sweet favored the various
fats from cooked meats. The best
method of clarifying is: Chop or cut
pieces finely; place in double boiler
with sour milk in the proportion o.
two pounds fat to one cup milk. Heal
until melted stir well and strain. This
will keep the milk curd on the clotI
anu dllOW SOluS VI Tie ulllh lldNOI u
sweeten the fat.
Very strong odors may be removed
with charcoal, adding about ten small
pieces of hardwood charcoal to on
pound of chopped unrendered fat il
a double boiler Heat, stir and ALLOW
the charcoal to remain in the ia
about two hours. Strain through
coarse flannel. Pour each kind O
fat separately into small earthenwar
jars and keep tightly covered.
Therefore the ordinary housewife
need buy no cooking shortening
care is taken in saving and renderin
meat fats. 1t has been estimated ths
every family who now uses an aver
age of three pounds of butter week
ly can use exactly one-half ths
amount without any hardship.