Bail ears should project as little as possible.
Lids should have fold-down rings instead of knobs.
If the bails interfere with nesting, substitute light
chains.
Ordinary coffee pots are too tall and slender.
The best form is what is known as a coffee
boiler (see illustration), which nests inside a com-
paratively small pail, boils quickly, has a bail,
um^
CooKiKG Kit for Six.
Nesting in space 11x12% inches, and weighing I714 lbs.
and is fitted with a solid spout that will not melt
off. A similar article of tin is known as a "miner's
coffee pot." When compact nesting is aimed at,
discard the coffee pot in favor of a lidded pail.
It has the advantage that no aroma escapes
through a spout. Use a percolator of aluminum
(cylindrical, not egg-shaped) that is large enough
for both coffee and tea, and remove its wings.
Tin cups that nest inside the coffee pot have
the lower part of the handle free. Get the IjE^-
pint size (5x2^ in.). Small cups and small plates
are a nuisance in camp. Tin is not nice to drink
hot fluids from: it makes tea "taste." Alumi-
num is worse, for it blisters the unwary mouth. I
UTENSILS. 29
carry my own cup at my belt or in my pouch, for
it is wanted ten times a day. It is of white enam-
eled ware. If every man does this, there will be
no trouble about cups nesting.
Plates, too, should be of enameled ware, for it
is so much easier to clean than tin or aluminum.
Let them be deep and generous (9^-inch soup
plates, nesting in the frying pan).
The frying-pan handle is a perennial problem.
The best form of detachable handle that I know
of is Darling's. A stick can be inserted in it, for
long-distance frying, by those who do not know
that frying should never be done over a fierce fire,
nor that a few coals raked to one side do the trick.
Few camp cooking kits include a baker, al-
though it is almost essential for comfortable life
in the woods. The most portable form is the fold-
ing reflector sold by most outfitters. It is similar
to those that our great-grandmothers used to bake
biscuit in, before a hearth fire. The top slants
like a shed roof, and the bottom like another shed
roof turned upside down, the bread pan being in
the middle. The slanting top and bottom reflect
heat downward upon the top of the baking and
upward against its bottom, so that bread, for in-
stance, bakes evenly all around.
A prime advantage of this cunning utensil is
that baking can proceed immediately when the fire
is kindled, without waiting for the wood to burn
down to coals, and without danger of burning the
dough. Fish, flesh, and fowl can be roasted to a
turn in this contrivance. It has several better
points than an oven, chief of which is its porta-
bility, as it folds flat; but it is inferior for corn
bread, army bread, etc., and impossible for pot-
yoasts or braising.
24» CAMP COOKERY.
Page 11
Presented as published in 1910. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Bail ears should project as little as possible. Lids should have fold-down rings instead of knobs. If the bails interfere with nesting, substitute light chains.
Ordinary coffee pots are too tall and slender. The best form is what is known as a coffee boiler (see illustration), which nests inside a comparatively small pail, boils quickly, has a bail,
CooKiKG Kit for Six. Nesting in space 11x12% inches, and weighing I714 lbs.
and is fitted with a solid spout that will not melt off. A similar article of tin is known as a "miner's coffee pot." When compact nesting is aimed at, discard the coffee pot in favor of a lidded pail. It has the advantage that no aroma escapes through a spout. Use a percolator of aluminum (cylindrical, not egg-shaped) that is large enough for both coffee and tea, and remove its wings.
Tin cups that nest inside the coffee pot have the lower part of the handle free. Get the 1½-pint size (5x2^ in.). Small cups and small plates are a nuisance in camp. Tin is not nice to drink hot fluids from: it makes tea "taste." Aluminum is worse, for it blisters the unwary mouth. I
carry my own cup at my belt or in my pouch, for it is wanted ten times a day. It is of white enameled ware. If every man does this, there will be no trouble about cups nesting.
Plates, too, should be of enameled ware, for it is so much easier to clean than tin or aluminum. Let them be deep and generous (9^-inch soup plates, nesting in the frying pan).
The frying pan handle is a perennial problem. The best form of detachable handle that I know of is Darling's. A stick can be inserted in it, for long-distance frying, by those who do not know that frying should never be done over a fierce fire, nor that a few coals raked to one side do the trick.
Few camp cooking kits include a baker, although it is almost essential for comfortable life in the woods. The most portable form is the folding reflector sold by most outfitters. It is similar to those that our great-grandmothers used to bake biscuit in, before a hearth fire. The top slants like a shed roof, and the bottom like another shed roof turned upside down, the bread pan being in the middle. The slanting top and bottom reflect heat downward upon the top of the baking and upward against its bottom, so that bread, for instance, bakes evenly all around.
A prime advantage of this cunning utensil is that baking can proceed immediately when the fire is kindled, without waiting for the wood to burn down to coals, and without danger of burning the dough. Fish, flesh, and fowl can be roasted to a turn in this contrivance. It has several better points than an oven, chief of which is its portability, as it folds flat; but it is inferior for corn bread, army bread, etc., and impossible for potyoasts or braising.