Baking. — Moist foods may also be cooked by dry heat in some closed receptacle, as by baking in an oven. Only foods containing a considerable degree of moisture are adapted for cooking by this method. The hot, dry air which fills the oven is always thirsting for moisture, and will take from every moist substance to which it has access a quantity of water proportionate to its degree of heat. Foods containing but a small amount of moisture, unless protected in some manner from the action of the heated air, or in some way sup- plied with moisture during the cooking process, come from the oven dry, hard, and unpalatable. Boiling. — Food substances, both moist and dry, may be cooked in liquids at boiling temperature (2120). This method is termed boiling. Stewing. — The solvent property of liquids kept just a few degrees below boiling temperature (185°) is also employed for stewing foods. This process is necessarily more lengthy than ordinary boiling, but for many foods it is much superior. Healthful Cookery n Steaming. — Steaming, as its name implies, is cooking by hot vapor. For foods not needing the solvent powers of water, or for such as already contain a large amount of moisture, this method is preferable to boiling. The foods may be placed in a perforated utensil which admits of direct con- tact with the steam, or they may be cooked in a closed receptacle placed inside another vessel con- taining actively boiling water — a double boiler. Value of Different Methods of Cooking. — The superiority of these various methods as regards nutritive results, depends much upon the compo- sition of the food substance to be cooked. The effect of heat at different temperatures and of the length of exposure varies with the different food elements. Foods composed largely of albumin re- quire cooking at a low temperature, as albumin coagulates at i6o°, and the effect of heat as great as that of boiling water upon albumin is to harden, toughen, and render it leathery and indigestible in proportion to the period of exposure. Food articles containing considerable cellulose and fibrous material require the solvent aid of water, and are best cooked by boiling, stewing, or steaming. 12 Healthful Cookery Cooking of Starchy Foods. — Substances in which starch predominates, need long cooking and high temperature in order so to change the starch as to render it easy of digestion. Starch passes through five stages in undergoing diges- tion. First, it is converted into amylodextrin, or soluble starch; second, erythrodextrin ; third, achroodextrin ; fourth, maltose; and fifth, levulose, or fruit-sugar. By cooking, it is possible to carry the starch through the first three stages. The last two changes are the result of digestive action.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Baking. — Moist foods may also be cooked by dry heat in some closed receptacle, as by baking in an oven. Only foods containing a considerable degree of moisture are adapted for cooking by this method. The hot, dry air which fills the oven is always thirsting for moisture, and will take from every moist substance to which it has access a quantity of water proportionate to its degree of heat. Foods containing but a small amount of moisture, unless protected in some manner from the action of the heated air, or in some way supplied with moisture during the cooking process, come from the oven dry, hard, and unpalatable. Boiling. — Food substances, both moist and dry, may be cooked in liquids at boiling temperature (2120). This method is termed boiling. Stewing. — The solvent property of liquids kept just a few degrees below boiling temperature (185°) is also employed for stewing foods. This process is necessarily more lengthy than ordinary boiling, but for many foods it is much superior. Healthful Cookery n Steaming. — Steaming, as its name implies, is cooking by hot vapor. For foods not needing the solvent powers of water, or for such as already contain a large amount of moisture, this method is preferable to boiling. The foods may be placed in a perforated utensil which admits of direct contact with the steam, or they may be cooked in a closed receptacle placed inside another vessel containing actively boiling water — a double boiler. Value of Different Methods of Cooking. — The superiority of these various methods as regards nutritive results, depends much upon the composition of the food substance to be cooked. The effect of heat at different temperatures and of the length of exposure varies with the different food elements. Foods composed largely of albumin require cooking at a low temperature, as albumin coagulates at i6o°, and the effect of heat as great as that of boiling water upon albumin is to harden, toughen, and render it leathery and indigestible in proportion to the period of exposure. Food articles containing considerable cellulose and fibrous material require the solvent aid of water, and are best cooked by boiling, stewing, or steaming. Healthful Cookery Cooking of Starchy Foods. — Substances in which starch predominates, need long cooking and high temperature in order so to change the starch as to render it easy of digestion. Starch passes through five stages in undergoing digestion. First, it is converted into amylodextrin, or soluble starch; second, erythrodextrin ; third, achroodextrin ; fourth, maltose; and fifth, levulose, or fruit-sugar. By cooking, it is possible to carry the starch through the first three stages. The last two changes are the result of digestive action.

Healthful cookery