The chimney and all kitchen flues should be frequently, regularly, and thoroughly swept. The sweep should be engaged to come at fixed intervals, and on a day, say a Monday, when breakfast can be managed without cooking hot dishes, and when time can be allowed for cleaning the kitchen after his departure. Kitchen Requisites. — These of course vary greatly according to the requirements of different families. In these days kitchen requisites are numerous, good, and inexpensive, and it must be recollected that no good cooking can be done unless the cook has the articles really necessary for her work. Requisites can be supplemented by any additions accord- ing to taste or fancy, but certain articles must be pro- vided. I will give a list of requisites, which are generally KITCHEN REQUISITES 15 in use in kitchens of ordinary size, with a few desirable additions. Of these, the “ safe-boiling stove mat ” is a very useful thing, to set under a pan on the hot plate. Nothing is more decorative in a kitchen than well-kept coppers. Bat copper pans are very expensive. They not only are expensive in the first instance, but they have to be re-tinned at least once every year to avoid the danger of verdigris poisoning. It is better to provide the pans now made of seamless steel ; these are less expensive than copper in the first instance, and need no attention afterwards beyond keeping them scrupulously clean. The modern fire-proof china cooking vessels of different sizes are an immense boon in cooking. Varieties of these fire-proof pans and dishes can be seen at Messrs. Crook’s, Motcombe Street, Belgrave Square, Messrs. Wolff, 119 New Bond Street, and, in lesser variety, at many other shops and stores. Saucepans lined with white enamel do not stand hard wear, and if they are at all carelessly used the enamel cracks and gets discoloured, and the saucepan is spoiled. These saucepans should be kept for cooking vegetables and stewing fruit. Scarcely any green vegetables can be cooked in an iron or steel pan. A Dutch oven and a bain- marie with its set of saucepans are both essentials in a kitchen. The Dutch oven is invaluable for cooking fish and other small dishes in front of the fire, and in the bain-marie any stew, hash, mince, sauce, vegetable, macaroni, or similar cooked dishes can be kept hot in a surrounding bath of boiling water, or can be gently heated up when required, without the least risk. If they were set on the hot plate, even at some distance from the fire, they would certainly dry up and spoil, owing to the bottom heat, and they might even burn at the bottom of the pan. List Of Requisites. — Dripping-pan, ladle, and stand, the pan not fixed to the stand. Fixed mortar and pestle, small mortar and pestle. Dutch oven. Bain-marie, complete with five vessels, a glaze-pot, and a soup-pot. Iron three-quart kettle, and copper or tin one-pint kettle. Gridiron, and hanging gridiron (if liked). Mincing machine. Coffee mill. Frying vessel, called a fish-fryer, with drainer- for frying white- bait, rissoles, fritters, or any kind of “ wet ” or “French ” frying. i6 KITCHEN, LARDER, AND SCULLERY

AI-modernized reading of the original text

The chimney and all kitchen flues should be frequently, regularly, and thoroughly swept. The sweep should be engaged to come at fixed intervals, and on a day, say a Monday, when breakfast can be managed without cooking hot dishes, and when time can be allowed for cleaning the kitchen after his departure. Kitchen Requisites. — These of course vary greatly according to the requirements of different families. In these days kitchen requisites are numerous, good, and inexpensive, and it must be recollected that no good cooking can be done unless the cook has the articles really necessary for her work. Requisites can be supplemented by any additions according to taste or fancy, but certain articles must be provided. I will give a list of requisites, which are generally KITCHEN REQUISITES in use in kitchens of ordinary size, with a few desirable additions. Of these, the “ safe-boiling stove mat ” is a very useful thing, to set under a pan on the hot plate. Nothing is more decorative in a kitchen than well-kept coppers. But copper pans are very expensive. They not only are expensive in the first instance, but they have to be re-tinned at least once every year to avoid the danger of verdigris poisoning. It is better to provide the pans now made of seamless steel ; these are less expensive than copper in the first instance, and need no attention afterwards beyond keeping them scrupulously clean. The modern fire-proof china cooking vessels of different sizes are an immense boon in cooking. Varieties of these fire-proof pans and dishes can be seen at Messrs. Crook’s, Motcombe Street, Belgrave Square, Messrs. Wolff, 119 New Bond Street, and, in lesser variety, at many other shops and stores. Saucepans lined with white enamel do not stand hard wear, and if they are at all carelessly used the enamel cracks and gets discoloured, and the saucepan is spoiled. These saucepans should be kept for cooking vegetables and stewing fruit. Scarcely any green vegetables can be cooked in an iron or steel pan. A Dutch oven and a bainmarie with its set of saucepans are both essentials in a kitchen. The Dutch oven is invaluable for cooking fish and other small dishes in front of the fire, and in the bain-marie any stew, hash, mince, sauce, vegetable, macaroni, or similar cooked dishes can be kept hot in a surrounding bath of boiling water, or can be gently heated up when required, without the least risk. If they were set on the hot plate, even at some distance from the fire, they would certainly dry up and spoil, owing to the bottom heat, and they might even burn at the bottom of the pan. List Of Requisites. — Dripping-pan, ladle, and stand, the pan not fixed to the stand. Fixed mortar and pestle, small mortar and pestle. Dutch oven. Bain-marie, complete with five vessels, a glaze-pot, and a soup-pot. Iron three-quart kettle, and copper or tin one-pint kettle. Gridiron, and hanging gridiron (if liked). Mincing machine. Coffee mill. Frying vessel, called a fish-fryer, with drainer- for frying whitebait, rissoles, fritters, or any kind of “ wet ” or “French ” frying.

Mrs. Roundell's Practical cookery book