School and Home Cooking Part 4

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_) Stopc.o.c.ks of top burners. (_c_) Oven burners.

(_d_) Stopc.o.c.ks 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Courtesy of Clark Stove Co FIGURE 13--GAS BURNERS A, giant, B, regular, C, simmering]

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 quant.i.ties 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 c.o.c.k 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 b.u.t.ter or subst.i.tute 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 b.u.t.ter 1 cupful powdered sugar 1 teaspoonful vanilla

Cream the b.u.t.ter, add the sugar gradually, then the flavoring. Chill and serve over hot puddings.

SCALLOPED BANANAS

In the Scalloped Apple recipe subst.i.tute 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, b.u.t.tERSCOTCH 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Courtesy of _Detroit Vapor Stove Co_ FIGURE 15.-- CROSS-SECTION OF WICKLESS KEROSENE STOVE.]

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 quant.i.ty 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.