Chapter 3
COAL RANGES [Footnote 7: NOTE TO THE TEACHER.--The principles of building a coal fire and of regulating dampers may be applied to furnaces and heating stoves as well as to kitchen ranges. In case there are no cooking or heating stoves or furnaces in which coal is burned in the homes of the pupils, this lesson may be omitted]--CORN DISHES
EXAMINATION OF A COAL RANGE.--Remove the lids from the coal range. Note the location of the fire box. What is its purpose? How is the floor of the fire box constructed? Where is the check damper? What is its purpose? Where is the ash pan? Where is the front damper? What is its purpose? Note the place where the stovepipe joins the range. What is the purpose of the stovepipe? Note the damper in the stovepipe. What is its purpose? Note the location of the oven. By what is the oven surrounded? Find the oven damper. Open it. In what direction do the hot gases pass out when the oven damper is open? What part of the range is heated when the oven damper is open?
_An open damper permits a direct draft to pass through the range_ (see Figure 10).
Close the oven damper. Trace the direction of the hot gases when the damper is closed. What parts of the range are heated when the oven damper is closed?
_A closed oven damper permits an indirect draft to pass through the range_ (see Figure 11).
How should the front, oven, check, and chimney dampers be arranged when the fire is kindled?
PRODUCTS OF COMBUSTION.--What is found deposited on the inside of the stovepipe of a coal range? To what is the upper end of the stovepipe joined? What does one often see coming from the top of a chimney?
In the previous lesson it was found that when a material burned, it united with oxygen. It is a matter of common observation that when all solid fuels--coal, wood, paper--burn, they decrease in size, and that fuel gas is consumed. Apparently only a few ashes remain when solid fuels have been burned, and only a disagreeable odor remains when gas has been burned. Yet soot is deposited in the stovepipe and smoke issues from the chimney. Both solid and gaseous materials, such as ashes, soot, and smoke, are formed when fuels burn. Such materials are called _products of combustion_.
FIRE BUILDING IN A COAL RANGE.--It is necessary to have the fire box, ash pan, and other parts of the stove clean before building a fire. After cleaning, place a generous layer of loosely crumpled paper over the bottom of the fire box, then about four layers of kindling wood, placed so that there are air passages between the pieces, and on top of the wood put two shovelfuls of coal. Regulate the dampers for a direct draft, replace the stove-lids, and brush the surface of the stove.
Before lighting the fuels, polish the range in the following manner: To the nickel of the stove apply whiting and ammonia or any satisfactory metal cleanser.
To the iron of the stove apply oil rather than "blacking." Light paraffin oil may be used for this purpose. Apply the oil with cotton waste, or a soft cloth. (Care should be taken not to apply an excess of oil.) Polish with soft cotton or woolen cloth. One should remember, however, that oil must be used with caution. _It should never be applied to a stove containing burning fuels._ If the stove cloth, saturated with oil, is not destroyed after using, it is well to keep it in a covered tin can or stone jar. After polishing the stove, light the fuels. When the wood is reduced to glowing embers and the coal is burning, add more coal. If this burns well, change the dampers to make an indirect draft.
GREEN CORN In selecting corn for cooking, choose those ears that are filled with well-developed kernels, from which milky juice flows when pressed with the thumb. Cook as soon as possible after gathering.
_To boil green corn_ remove silk and husk from the corn, place the ears in boiling water. Cook the corn until no juice flows from the kernels when pressed (usually from 12 to 20 minutes). Serve whole on a platter. The platter may be covered with a folded napkin.
_To bake green corn_ select 12 ears. Remove the corn from the cob as follows: Cut through the center of each row of grains, slice off the tops of the kernels, and then scrape the pulp thoroughly from the cob. Put in a baking-dish, add:
3/4 cupful milk 1 tablespoonful butter or substitute 2 teaspoonfuls salt Pepper
Bake in a moderate oven for about 45 minutes. Serve hot.
Green corn which has been cut from the cob may also be cooked on top of the range. To the corn cut from 12 ears, add the same ingredients, using less milk. Cook at simmering temperature until tender.
SCALLOPED CORN
1 can corn 2/3 cupful milk 1 1/4 teaspoonfuls salt Dash pepper 2 tablespoonfuls butter or substitute 2 cupfuls soft bread crumbs
Mix the corn, milk, and seasonings. Mix the crumbs and fat, and place one fourth of them in the bottom of a buttered baking-dish, add one half of the corn mixture, then another fourth of the crumbs, the remainder of the corn mixture, and finally the remainder of the buttered crumbs. Bake at 400 degrees F., for 45 minutes.
QUESTIONS
Explain why it is necessary to have the fire box, ash pan, and other parts of a coal range clean before building a fire.
If both hard and soft woods are used in building a fire, which should be placed next to the paper? Explain your answer.
What is the advantage in using oil rather than blacking in cleaning a range?
Explain why a stove cloth, saturated with oil, should be kept in a covered tin can or stone jar.
Compare the method of mixing the crumbs in Scalloped Tomatoes and in Scalloped Corn. Which contains the more moisture,--corn or tomatoes? From this explain the difference in mixing.
What is the price of 12 ears of green corn or of 1 can of corn?
LESSON V
GAS RANGES--SCALLOPED FRUIT
EXAMINATION OF A GAS BURNER.--Inspect a gas burner and find the following parts: (_a_) Supply pipe. (_b_) Stopcock. (_c_) Burner. (_d_) Mixer (see Figure 12).
To light a gas burner, observe the following directions, and in the order named: (_a_) Strike the match. (_b_) Turn the stopcock. (_c_) Apply the match to the open burner. (_d_) If necessary, regulate the stopcock and mixer, so that the flame is blue in color.
EXPERIMENT 6: THE REGULATION AND PURPOSE OF A GAS MIXER.--Light a gas burner and then completely close the mixer of the burner. If the mixer is stationary, it may be closed by wrapping a piece of paper about it. What is the color of the flame? Now open the mixer. What is the color of the flame? What substance has been "mixed" with the gas by opening the burner? What is the purpose of the mixer?
EXAMINATION OF A GAS RANGE.--Inspect a gas range and find the following parts: (_a_) Top burners--regular, giant and simmering (see Figure 13). (_b_) Stopcocks of top burners. (_c_) Oven burners. (_d_) Stopcocks of oven burners. (_e_) Pilot (if there is one). (_f_) Baking oven. (_g_) Broiling oven. (_h_) Warming oven and its burner (if there is one). (_i_) Supply pipe. (_j_) Stovepipe.
The method of lighting oven burners varies in different ranges, and for this reason it is impossible to give directions for lighting which will apply to all oven burners. There is, however, one important direction that should always be borne in mind. _Always open the oven door before lighting the oven burners._ If such caution is not observed, the gas may escape into the oven and cause an explosion. In case there is a pilot- lighter, open the oven door and see that the oven burners are turned off before lighting the pilot.
ADJUSTING A GAS BURNER.--The products of combustion of fuel gas that most interest the housekeeper are carbon and carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is not a poisonous gas, but it does not support animal life. Air containing much carbon dioxide does not contain enough oxygen for perfect respiration, hence the need of an outlet for the products of combustion of a gas stove; good flue construction is quite as necessary for a gas range as for a coal range (see Figure 14).
When gas burns with a yellow flame, it deposits soot on cooking utensils and does not give as much heat as it should. This is caused by incomplete combustion. Moreover, _carbon monoxide_, which is present in some gas, may escape without burning. This is an exceedingly poisonous gas and when inhaled even in small quantities may cause serious effects. Hence it is specially necessary for a housewife to see that the gas burner is clean, well regulated, and properly constructed, so that sufficient air can mix with the gas to produce a blue flame.
CONSERVING GAS.--According to authoritative information, [Footnote 8: United States Fuel Administration Bulletin, "Use and Conservation of Natural Gas"] "the demands for natural gas are now greater than the available supply. Food and trees can be grown. Water supplies are constantly replenished by nature, but there is no regeneration in natural gas." It is thought that natural gas forms so slowly that millions of years will be required to make the present concentrated supply. As far as we are concerned, when the present supply is used up, it is gone forever. Since natural gas is a most efficient fuel, every housekeeper and householder should feel obligated to waste none of it. Suggestions for conserving gas follow:
(1) See that the mixer is properly adjusted so that the flame is light blue in color.
(2) In selecting a gas stove, see that the burner is so located that the cooking surface is the correct distance above the burner. The tip of the flame should touch the bottom of the utensil. If it is necessary to have a long flame in order to bring this about, there is considerable waste of gas.
(3) If the flame is long, the gas pressure is greater than necessary. Regulate the gas pressure by adjusting the valve in the supply pipe. A short flame will save gas and produce satisfactory results, provided the cooking surface is the proper distance above the burner.
(4) After the contents of a cooking utensil boils, turn the gas cock so that only "gentle" boiling takes place. A food becomes no hotter in rapidly boiling than in gently boiling water.
(5) When possible, use the simmering burner rather than the regular or giant burner.
(6) Let the flame touch only the bottom of the cooking utensil. There is a wastage of gas when the flame streams lip the sides of the cooking utensil.
(7) Turn off the gas immediately when fuel is not needed. Matches are cheaper than fuel gas.
CARE OF THE GAS RANGE.--_Daily Care_.--If any substance on the stove cannot be removed easily, loosen it with a knife, and then wipe the stove with a newspaper. Clean the stove with waste or a cloth having a little light paraffin oil on it. Polish with soft cotton or flannel cloth. Remove the tray that is beneath the top burners, and wash.
_Weekly Care_.--Wash the inside of the oven and the movable tray with water to which washing soda solution has been added. It is well to light the oven burner to dry the stove after washing the ovens. Polish the nickel, if necessary. Clean the stove with oil as directed for a coal range. (_Since oils ignite most readily, care should be taken not to apply the oil when the stove is lighted!_) Wipe the burner with the oil. Clean the small holes of the burners by using a knitting needle or wire kept for this purpose; or, if the openings in the burners are slots, use a knife to clean them.
SCALLOPED APPLES
2 cupfuls soft bread crumbs 2 tablespoonfuls butter or substitute 3 cupfuls apples 1/2 cupful sugar 1/4 teaspoonful cinnamon 1/2 teaspoonful nutmeg 1/2 lemon,--juice and grated rind 1/4 cupful water
Mix the bread crumbs with the fat as directed for Stuffed Tomatoes.
Chop or cut the apples in small pieces, and add the remaining ingredients to the apples. Arrange the crumbs and apple mixture in a baking dish as directed for Scalloped Corn. Bake 40 to 60 minutes (until the apples are tender and the crumbs brown), in a moderate oven. Cover during first 20 minutes of baking. Serve hot with sugar and cream or Hard Sauce. Care should be taken in grating _lemon rind_. Only the thin yellow portion should be used as flavoring.
HARD SAUCE
1 cupful butter 1 cupful powdered sugar 1 teaspoonful vanilla
Cream the butter, add the sugar gradually, then the flavoring. Chill and serve over hot puddings.
SCALLOPED BANANAS
In the Scalloped Apple recipe substitute bananas for apples, omit the water, and use 1/2 teaspoonful of cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoonful of cloves for the spices. Bake until the bananas are heated through and the crumbs browned. (It will take about 15 minutes.) Serve as Scalloped Apples.
QUESTIONS
Explain fully why the oven door of a gas range should be opened while the oven burners are being lighted.
If a gas stove has no pipe for waste products, what special caution must be observed in ventilating the kitchen?
What are some of the advantages of a gas range over a coal range?
What disadvantage other than gas wastage is there when a flame streams up the sides of a cooking utensil?
What causes pared apples to become discolored?
Give the order of preparation of ingredients for Scalloped Apples so that discoloration of the apples will be avoided.
How many medium-sized apples are required to make three cupfuls of chopped apples?
What is the purpose of covering the Scalloped Apples during the first half of the time for baking?
What is the effect of the air on peeled bananas?
Give the order of preparation of ingredients for Scalloped Bananas.
Why should the banana mixture be baked a shorter time than the apple mixture?
What is the effect of too long baking on bananas?
What is the most practical method of cleaning a grater? Why should not the dish-cloth be used in cleaning it?
LESSON VI
STOVES AND HEATING DEVICES--STUFFED PEPPERS, BUTTERSCOTCH APPLES
KEROSENE STOVES. [Footnote 9: NOTE TO THE TEACHER.--In case no kerosene, gasoline, or electric stoves are used in the homes of the pupils, the portion of the lesson regarding these stoves may be omitted.]--Where gas is not available for cooking, kerosene may serve as a fuel. In case a house is equipped with a coal range, a kerosene stove may also be desirable for use in summer time.
There are two types of kerosene stoves, viz., wick and wickless stoves. The burners of the former type are supplied with cotton wicks which become saturated with kerosene. When a match is applied to the wick, the kerosene on it vaporizes and the vapor burns. The burning kerosene vapor vaporizes more kerosene and thus the burning continues.
In one type of wickless stove it is necessary to heat the burner so that the kerosene will vaporize when it comes in contact with it (see Figure 15). Such a burner may be heated by pouring a small quantity of gasoline into it. A lighter is then applied to the burner. When the latter is sufficiently heated, the kerosene is turned on. The kerosene then vaporizes as it flows into the hot burner and burns.
In other types of so-called wickless stoves, the burners are equipped with asbestos or other incombustible material. This material becomes saturated with kerosene and carries the fuel to the tip of the burner somewhat as does a cloth wick.
It is especially necessary to keep kerosene burners clean. Bits of carbon collect in them and prevent perfect combustion. This results in "smoke" or soot issuing from the burner. It is well to keep the burners and wicks free from charred material, and to renew the latter when they become short.
Most kerosene stoves are equipped with removable containers for the fuel. These should be kept filled with sufficient kerosene for burning. A wick burner should never be allowed to burn after all the kerosene in the container is exhausted.
GASOLINE STOVES [Footnote 10: See note to the teacher, Footnote 9.]-- Since gasoline is a much more readily inflammable fuel than kerosene, it requires a different type of burner and stove. As a usual thing gasoline cannot be burned in kerosene stoves nor kerosene in gasoline stoves. (In the stove shown in Figure 15, however, either fuel may be burned.)
When gasoline is used in a stove, it is necessary to vaporize the gasoline before lighting the burner. This is accomplished in most stoves by letting the gasoline flow into a cup situated underneath the burner, turning off the supply of gasoline, and then applying a match to the cup. By the time the gasoline is burned the burner is heated. Then the stopcock is turned on, a match applied to the burner, and the gasoline vaporizes and burns.
Gasoline burners, like those in which kerosene is burned, should be kept clean. When a mixture of gasoline vapor and air is heated, an explosion may result. It is for this reason that _the tank or gasoline container of a stove should never be filled while the burners of the stove are lighted or even hot._
ELECTRIC STOVES. [Footnote 11: See note to the teacher, Footnote 9.]--It was mentioned previously that electricity is not a fuel. Hence electric stoves are not provided with burners. They have heaters which contain coils of wires through which an electric current passes. Electricity is the cleanest source of heat for cooking. But in order to operate an electric stove economically, it is necessary to utilize the current required for a heating element to its greatest extent. For example, if the current is turned on to heat the oven as many foods as possible should be cooked in the oven (see Figure 16).
DEVICES AND UTENSILS FOR SAVING FUEL.--The _pressure cooker_ (see Figure 17) in which a temperature higher than that of boiling water is maintained is a great saver of fuel. A food can be cooked in from one third to one fourth the usual length of time in one of these devices. Moreover, pressure cookers are especially valuable for high altitude cooking, where water boils at a temperature lower than at sea level.
The _steam cooker_ (see Figure 18) is a fuel saver, when several foods are cooked at one time in it. Sufficient fuel for only one burner is required to operate it. The so-called _clover leaf pans_ or utensils of such shape that two or three can be placed over one burner or heater save much fuel or current (see Figures 16 and 27.).
The _fireless cookers_ described in Lesson XXII are practical fuel and heat savers.
STUFFED PEPPERS [Footnote 12: A choice of either Stuffed Peppers or Butterscotch Apples may be made for this lesson.]
6 green peppers 1 cupful cooked meat, chopped 1 tablespoonful scraped onion 1 teaspoonful salt 2 cupfuls soft bread crumbs 1 tablespoonful butter or substitute
Cut a slice from the stem end of each pepper or cut each pepper lengthwise in halves. Remove the seeds.
Mix the chopped meat, onion, and salt. Mix the bread crumbs and fat as directed in Stuffed Tomatoes. Combine the ingredients and stuff the peppers with the mixture. Place the peppers in a baking-dish or pan, and pour enough boiling water into the dish or pan to cover the bottom of it. Bake in a moderate oven (375 degrees F.) for 30 to 45 minutes or until the peppers are tender. Serve hot in place of meat.
If desired, 1/4 cupful fresh or canned tomatoes may be added to the stuffing mixture. Cooked rice may be substituted for the bread crumbs. A mixture of cooked rice and cheese sauce (see p 87) also makes a tasty stuffing for peppers.
If a slice is cut from the top of the pepper, it may be used as a lid to cover the pepper after stuffing.
BUTTERSCOTCH APPLES [Footnote 13: See footnote 12.]
5 apples 2/3 cupful brown sugar 1/2 cupful water 3/4 cupful milk 1/2 tablespoonful corn-starch 1/8 teaspoonful salt 1/2 to 1 tablespoonful butter 1/2 teaspoonful vanilla
Wash the apples, and cut them into quarters, pare and core them. Into a saucepan put the sugar and water, and heat. When the sirup boils, add the apples. Cover and boil gently until the apples are tender. Remove the apples from the sirup with a skimmer or a wire egg beater, placing the fruit in sherbet glasses or other suitable dishes for serving.
In another pan, mix the milk and corn-starch thoroughly. Stir and cook until the mixture reaches the boiling point, then add it to the sirup in which the apples were cooked. Boil for a few minutes. Add the salt, butter, and vanilla. Stir these into the mixture, then pour the sauce over the apples. Serve Butterscotch Apples hot or cold for a dessert.
QUESTIONS
State at least two reasons why gas, kerosene, and gasoline are more popular fuels in summer time than coal.
Mention a possible cause for smoke issuing from a kerosene burner.
Why should a wick burner never be allowed to burn after all the kerosene in the container is exhausted?
Carefully explain why the tank of a gasoline stove should never be filled while the stove is lighted or hot.
Why are electric stoves not provided with burners?
Why is a pressure cooker regarded as a fuel saver?
How should a steam cooker be used in order to save fuel?
Explain how it is possible to save fuel by using clover leaf pans.
Note that no ground pepper is added to the stuffing for peppers Give the reason for this.
What is the purpose of pouring boiling water in the dish or pan in which peppers are baked?
Did the sirup in which the apples were placed completely cover the fruit? From this explain why it is advisable to cover the apples during the cooking.
NOTE TO THE TEACHER.--If the course in food study is begun in the fall, when fruits are in season, the lessons of Division Seventeen--_The Preservation of Food_--may follow this lesson. The plan of canning fruit in the autumn is desirable, especially if the course in foods covers but one year. If more than one year is devoted to food study, the teacher may find it more satisfactory to can fruits in the autumn of the second year, or at the close of the spring semester of the first year. The pupils at these times will have become more skilful, so that the canning of foods can be accomplished with greater satisfaction. The high cost of fruits and sugar make it imperative that as little spoilage as possible result from food preservation. (Also see the note at the end of lesson XIII.)
DIVISION TWO
BODY-REGULATING FOOD: WATER
LESSON VII
WATER AND BEVERAGES (A)
EXPERIMENT 6: THE DISSOLVING POWER OF WATER.--Put 1/2 teaspoonful of salt in a test tube, half fill it with water. Cover the mouth of the test tube with the thumb, then shake the tube. Do the contents become clear? Set the tube aside for a few minutes. Does the salt separate from the water?
When a solid substance, by mixing with water, disappears in the water and does not separate on standing, the solid substance is _dissolved_. The salt was therefore dissolved in cold water, or it may be said that salt is _soluble_ in cold water, or that water is a _solvent_ of salt.