Cassell's dictionary of cookery

In washing up, however, during dinner, recollect it is necessary that the plates should be hot. Consequently, by rinsing the plates in hot water to get rid of the soda and water the temperature of the plate is maintained, though, of course, if there was sufficient time it would be advisable to place the plates on the plate- warmer. WASHING UP. I would, however, here give a few words of advice to cooks about this very subject of washing up, which is highly important. Now you all know how very quickly a dozen plates are washed up, supposing they are wanted immediately for the dinner that is going on. Probably the dozen dirty fish plates and the two dozen plates iised for the entrees are quickly washed. Yet how is it that you will not persevere and wash up all the tilings as they come down-stairs, down to the cheese plates, instead of as a rule only going on washing as long as you know the things are wanted immediately % Half an hour's more perseverance at the time would probably save you two hours' work later on. Yet it is your custom to give up washing as soon as you know they have -got enough to finish with up-stairs ; and consequently, after dinner is over, the wash-house or back kitchen, as the case may be, presents the appearance of stacks of dirty plates getting cold, the grease hardening and settling on them, while heaps of dirty forks and spoons are lying by the side. The amount of trouble that would be saved by washing all these up at once is something wonderful. Recollect that the time- taken to wash up two dozen plates is not double the time taken to wash one dozen. What occupies the time principally is getting the things ready — the hot water, the. tubs, &c. PRINCIPLES WASHING UP. Ixxv Another point for the cook to bear in mind is that joints on being removed from the table should never be allowed to get cold or to be put away in the dish in v/hich they were sent to table containing the gravy. Let the joint be placed on a cold clean dish, and let the gravy be poured off through a small strainer, in order to get rid of the fat on it, into a small basin, and be put by : this gravy being useful for a variety of purposes, either to act as gravy again, or it can be added to the stock ; or should there be very young children in the family it can be made into a dish of bread and gi'avy for the early dinner. Another point of warning to cooks in reference to their usual method of pouring away the dirty water in which things have been washed. They empty the large tubs into the sink, causing the sink to be some inches deep in water, and which requires time to run down. However, impatience is natural to all of us, and too often, to save time, as they imagine, cooks will pull up the strainer in the sink bodily, upon which the water goes down fast enough, finishing with a grunt of satisfaction. But, alas ! in addition to running a considerable risk of blocking up the pipes, this is the fruitful cause of losses of all descriptions in the shape of forks, spoons, &c., that get overlooked in the sink, and that get sucked down with the water. A case once came under my immediate notice, in which the pipe leading from the sink to the dram was blocked up, the cause being that no less than five steel knives were found wedged in the pipe near the bend, all of which had necessarily got down, owing to the foolish