Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1919-02-07
Steam, Cookery


Steamins of foods 10 not only q
method of cooking. but leavening. This
Is apparent when we steam rice, sue
cessfully. or any pudding or brown
bread. In the case Of the rice there
10 no other leaven present but the
action of the steam, and II will swell
to more than double. Good steamed
brown bread has a sponginess that
comes from steamlng.
Starchy foods which are soggy after
they are cooked are about as bad as
need be. Light and puffy steamed
rice or other steamed puddings are
delicious and not indigestible.
With gas. perhaps steam cooking
may be more precise than with any
other fuel. It may be much more pre-
else than baking in small oven,
since small ovens are the subject of
almost capricious conditions. II the
precision possible 10 secured there il
no need whatever Of obeying such di-
rections a. "replenish steamer with
boiling water" or add as needed
more boiling water" No more should
be needed.
Covered closely. with the right
amount Of fire underneath, the boiling
may go on four hours with the tiniest
amount OF evaporation. Water having
once reached the boiling point needs
hut the minutest fire to keep It boiling.
Most people use a great deal. presum-
ably because almost any amount can
be used in bringing water to boil
that is, for raising It from so degrees
to PIP degrees. II we started with q
pound or a pint of water, the amount
of fire used to raise 1t I'd boiling would
raise over 200 QuS-ts 1 degree under
certain conditions.
II Is far less expensive to steam q
loaf Of brown bread three or four
hours in the right and economical way
than to bake one pan OF baking pow.
der biscuits in the oven. Yet there
are people who are constantly making
biscuits who think brown bread too
expensive for them. Molasses is the
CApCuoiVC ltCAi III LILO ldttCis Out tuC
fiours or meal total only 2 or 3 cents.
and no shortening is required. ..
BY the way. pretty nearly abhor
baking powder biscuits dietetically. In
an emergency they may do. but to eat
biscuits once a day 10 to court dys-
pepsia. This has been proven time
and time again. Iron coated stomachs
pass on the trouble to some other part
Of the body. to be heard of only after
insid.ous years; delicate stomachs
register an immediate protest.
It has been proven that each five
drops of water passing OF from boil
ing water as steam absorbs enough
heat to cool one pound of water
degree. There are forty-fve drops of
water in a teaspoonfui. There are
three teaspoons In a tablespoon and
sixteen tablespoons in one-half pint
Suppose in steaming loaf OF brown
bread one quart Of water escaped
cooks allow even more to cook away.
This would be a loss of S.640 degrees
OF heat, totally and unnecessarily
wasted.
Suppose we had, instead of a mold
of brown bread in our kettle, a stew
cooking, or a chicken, or some other
meat j, boiling, OF vegetables. and
the water was allowed to escape at
this rate. Then the matter would be
much more serious for several reas-
ons. The escaping steam would not
only carry heat with IL, but certain
volatile odors. the escape of which
means loss of favor. The more palata-
BILE a food is-that is. the fuller Of
pleasant favor-the more digestible
II is.
more serious digestive and eco
nomic loss as well comes when any
protein, whether in meat or beans, is
hard boiled. This food substance may
be so hardened by excess of heat that
the digestive juices cannot break II
down to the liquid form in which all
food must be before It can make its
way out of the digestive canal into
the body proper; In other words, from
within to really in.
A pot roast is practically steamed
in its own juices and In those Of the
vegetables used for seasoning. II the |
steam escapes so do the flavor and the |
quality Of the meat