the kitchen at Brooks’s Club to make a series of experiments. I started with 18 lb. of beef, and it came out of the oven perfect in every respect. Then I turned my hand to a stew containing mutton and vegetables, and again the result fulfilled my highest expectation. It was the same with the many French dishes which I tried. Always the paper-bag im- proved the flavor, lessened the time neces- sary for cooking, and reduced the shrinkage. At home, also, I was exceedingly busy. I could not rest in my bed, and often I would get up at two o’clock in the morning in order that I might put my paper-bag to some fresh test. I cooked a great variety of articles, not- ing most carefully how long each took, and in what temperatures the best results were ob- tained. Upon these observations I have based in large measure the recipes contained in these pages. I am not really surprised at the interest which the new cookery has aroused. Clearly, it is calculated to effect a decided improvement in the health of the nation. What housewife has not had to lament the fact that her meat has been badly cooked, or that the cooking has involved a quite prodigious amount of labor? 14 SOYER’S PAPER-BAG COOKERY With Paper-Bag Cookery there is no likeli- hood of an imperfectly cooked joint. There will be no pots or pans to clean ; the drudgery of the kitchen will be abolished. Moreover, expert cooking, which has hither- to been the luxury of the rich, can now be equally the privilege of the poor. The method can be used with equal success in the cottage and the mansion. No Patent Stove, no Patent Oven or Apparatus, no Patent or Expensive Appliances of any kind are Required. All that is necessary is an oven (no matter what sort), a broiler, and the paper-bag. The broiler is required because the heat must pass underneath and all round the paper-bag to effect the general penetra- tion of the contents of the bag. The system, it will thus be seen, is simple. Under Paper-Bag Cookery the fact that no stew-pans, frying-pans, etc., are required, places the average kitchen-maid in a new re- lation to her work. Lead poison or dirt from iron cooking vessels, or anything in the way of verdigris, is avoided. I need not elaborate here the main advan- tages of this cookery. They are almost self- evident. Briefly expressed, the new cookery SOYER’S PAPER-BAG COOKERY 15 claims to be a great improvement upon the boiling and baking processes in common use. It prevents the food shrinking or losing its natural flavour and substance. The concen- tration of the heat and the utilization of what at present evaporates into the air impart a wholesome fullness to the food that constitute, particularly in some dishes, a new and de- licious effect. Under my paper-bag I secure the best results and in the case of joints a gravy that contains a strength that, with the addition of hot water, makes a liquid that savors of carefully made beef tea. If this is so — and I am sure that a week’s trial of the system will convince the most skeptical that I am not overstating my case — then it must be obvious that the gain to the health and convenience of the average home will be great.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

the kitchen at Brooks’s Club to make a series of experiments. I started with 18 lb. of beef, and it came out of the oven perfect in every respect. Then I turned my hand to a stew containing mutton and vegetables, and again the result fulfilled my highest expectation. It was the same with the many French dishes which I tried. Always the paper-bag improved the flavor, lessened the time necessary for cooking, and reduced the shrinkage. At home, also, I was exceedingly busy. I could not rest in my bed, and often I would get up at two o’clock in the morning in order that I might put my paper-bag to some fresh test. I cooked a great variety of articles, noting most carefully how long each took, and in what temperatures the best results were obtained. Upon these observations I have based in large measure the recipes contained in these pages. I am not really surprised at the interest which the new cookery has aroused. Clearly, it is calculated to effect a decided improvement in the health of the nation. What housewife has not had to lament the fact that her meat has been badly cooked, or that the cooking has involved a quite prodigious amount of labor? With Paper-Bag Cookery there is no likelihood of an imperfectly cooked joint. There will be no pots or pans to clean ; the drudgery of the kitchen will be abolished. Moreover, expert cooking, which has hitherto been the luxury of the rich, can now be equally the privilege of the poor. The method can be used with equal success in the cottage and the mansion. No Patent Stove, no Patent Oven or Apparatus, no Patent or Expensive Appliances of any kind are Required. All that is necessary is an oven (no matter what sort), a broiler, and the paper-bag. The broiler is required because the heat must pass underneath and all round the paper-bag to effect the general penetration of the contents of the bag. The system, it will thus be seen, is simple. Under Paper-Bag Cookery the fact that no stew-pans, frying-pans, etc., are required, places the average kitchen-maid in a new relation to her work. Lead poison or dirt from iron cooking vessels, or anything in the way of verdigris, is avoided. I need not elaborate here the main advantages of this cookery. They are almost selfevident. Briefly expressed, the new cookery claims to be a great improvement upon the boiling and baking processes in common use. It prevents the food shrinking or losing its natural flavour and substance. The concentration of the heat and the utilization of what at present evaporates into the air impart a wholesome fullness to the food that constitute, particularly in some dishes, a new and delicious effect. Under my paper-bag I secure the best results and in the case of joints a gravy that contains a strength that, with the addition of hot water, makes a liquid that savors of carefully made beef tea. If this is so — and I am sure that a week’s trial of the system will convince the most skeptical that I am not overstating my case — then it must be obvious that the gain to the health and convenience of the average home will be great.

Paper-bag cookery