The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1924-11-04
HOW SNOWDRIFT
is MADE

lNSHyTx1EBER the fields Of the South wcrcwhioc
with cotton and cheerful darIkies were slowly
shufding down the long rows, picking the
Snow-white bollS.
HN weren tor that cotton crop we d be hun
ypcople this year. In it's way that cotton crop
Is o necessary as the wheat crop of the great
Northwest, # we're to be wholesome, we'll
fed nation. Cotton seed supplies something
more than third of all the fat we eat More
than billion pounds year. We'd be hungry
people Il it weren't for that cotton crop.
Does it seem odd to think of cotton in connec-
zion with cooking fate
Or trees IN connection with sugare
/ Nature is very generous. We get maple sugar
and syrup from tree that may some day be the
boards on our kitchen floor. We get delicious,
wholesome fat from plant that may give as
our gingham apron, too. Cotton is one Of the
most important tOo1 crops in this country
When the cotton is picked it is taken to the
GIN, Eli Whitneys great invention, where the
seed is picked out from the long, white fibre.
The white cotton is baled and shipped off to the
mills to be woven into cloth for the outside of
us, and the seed to the ''crusher'' to become
food for the inside Of US.
The cotton seed, As it comes from the gin, is
emall and gray and looks Bit like pussy-wil-
How bud because Of the short cotton fibre that
elings to the outside. II is put into an ingenious
machine where tiny knives scrape off this lint"
from the hull or shell. and, thoroughly scraped,
the cotton seed is like q little, dark brown nut
These seeds, or nuts, arc cracked so IS TO get
at che kernels or ''tneats,' rich with oil, and
then heated cooked, wesay-in great steam
kettles 50 that the oil can be easily pressed out
This job Of cooking the meats is quite skill
ful one. In our Company we'r as proud Of some
,,of our old, experienced cooks as q good hotel
might be Of its chef. There is an opportunity
for Judgment and skill in this cooking and it
makes difference in the product.
When the meats arc cooked, they are placed
in huge hydraulic presses and the rich molasses-
colored oil is squeezed out.
The quality of this oil will vary considerably.
Cotton seed, for instance, is no more uniform
than wheat or corn or any other crop. AL the
apples even from the same tree aren' t going to
be exactly alike and each exactly as good as the
next. The quality Of Oil will vary, depending on
the seed and the cooking, and our first oppor-
ieunity to make Snowdrift better than any other
Ieooking fac il to select only the choicest oil
from the millions Of gallons pressed.
The oil then goes to refinery.
Ar tits pressed from the seed the oil is dark in
color and has decided odor and flavor. Some
folks like this flavor. More don't. If you like
:molasses better than white granulated sugar,
you might possibly prefer cotton seed oil before
Is was refined.
Molasses not Only sweetens but Aavors every
ching il sweetenS. You taste" the molasseS In
everything you sweeten with it. Refined sugar
'sweetens, but doesn't change the flavor. SINH
larly, good cooks want fat that attens oren-
ieicheS food without making everything taste
of the fat used. So oil re6ners not only try to
get all impurities out of the oil, but also try to
cake out che color and any strong flavor.
The ideal oil would be almost a. clear as crys-
tal-just pure, rich oil-Ioo per cent. ht-with
~ impurities, eoloring matter or flavor what
ever. The best we have ever seen CNesson OLD
10 such pale, straw color that it is Alsspr no
color nc all, and 10 50 delicate in flavor that you
really tsR the rich, delicious oil in your mouth
more than you taStS any flavor.
There are many good re6ners and most of the
cotton seed oil on the market is pretty good.
Ordinarily it bears about the relation TO old
fashioned cotton seed oil that light brown sugar
does to molasses, SO far as color and taste are
concerned. That is, it is yellow and has dis
tinct flavor chat you may or may not like, but it
is good, wholesome food.
! Quite naturally, all refining isn't alike. When
q thing takes knowledge and skill and expert
ence some are bound to do it better than Others