The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1939-04-20
Need Less FireUOOd
But Lot More AdUice

Twenty years ago about the only
help an Ohio farm woman wanted
on the management of the cook
stove was to learn the best argu-
ment to get friend husband to split
enough wood but times have changed
since power lines bring electricity to
thousands of rural homes for the
first time.
Thelma Beall, specialist in home
management, Ohio State University,
says that farm women now have
hundreds of questions to ask about
the electric range which they have
bought or are intending to purchase.
One Of their chief worries is how
much the stove will cost to operate.
Miss Beall advises owners of
electric stoves to stop worrying
about kilowatts and start a game of
saving time and energy. The game
saves kilowatts as well as cooks.
One of the ways to save both is by
the method recommended for cook
ing rice on an electric range.
One cup of rice covered with one
and three-quarters cup of water in
a covered pan can be heated until
steam escapes in six minutes if the
unit is turned to high heat. The
heat can then be turned off entirely
and the rice will continue cooking
for % minutes, when it will be done.
The rice will not need stirring and
the grains will be unbroken.
This same method of cooking with
stored heat will succeed with one
dish meals such as kidney bean stew,
Italian spaghetti, and chop suey.
The dish is heated until the ingredi-
ents start boiling and then the heat
can be turned completely off and
the cooking will continue for 45
| minutes or an hour. The food will
not boil over and stirring is elimi-
mated.
Using minimum amounts of water
| in cooking with the electric range
will save current and also, in the
case of vegetables, helps to preserve
| the appearance and nutrient value
of the food which is being cooked
The sooner the food is started to
cook, the sooner the unit can be
turned from high to low and the
more current is saved. Extra water
uses up heat units.
High heat is used to start food
cooking rapidly and consumes ap-
proximately four times as much cur
rent as low heat. Medium heat re-
quires half as much current as high
heat and is sufficient for frying pan
cakes and thick steaks. Medium
heat also is used in making jelly OF
candy.
Peeping into the electric oven is
waste of time, energy and kilo-
watts. Most of the ovens have
automatic controls and are so in
sulated that the food bakes evenly
without any necessity of turning the
| dishes in which the food is being
baked. The baking pans should not
touch each other in the oven nor the
sides of the oven.
| If the electric stove is to be used
| for baking one food, the cook car
save time and cut costs by planning
an oven meal. The heat required
to bake the one food will cook the
entire meal.
Utensils for the surface of the
electric range will use less current
if they have fiat bottoms and flat
covers. Black -bottomed pans heat
more quickly than those with bright
| bottoms. For the oven, the bright
pans are better because food may
scorch in pans with black bottoms.
The instruction book furnished
with the range should be studied and
its recommendation followed. All
wires, connections, terminal points
and heating coils on the range
| should be kent dry at all times.