The best lamp for a chafing-dish, all
things considered, is the large asbestos
lamp covered with a fine wire grating.
Many of the handsomest chafing-dishes
are supplied with lamps with two or
three burners containing round or flat
wicks. The trouble with these is that
they do not cook evenly, but keep the
person in charge busy shaking the blazer
with one hand to prevent the contents
from scorching in spots, while the ener-
gies of the other hand are devoted to
stirring the ingredients that they may
not stick to the two or three points where
the flames below concentrate their heat.
There are other styles of lamp, one of
them an open cup holding alcohol, but
in this the fuel is consumed much more
rapidly than in the asbestos lamp, which
gives a broad, steady flame with a mini-
t2 $0e C#afmg?©i0f5 ^up^er
mum of consumption of alcohol. Its
usefulness is increased if it has a double
cover, by means of which one may have a
large or a small name at will.
The question is sometimes asked if a
chafing-dish is not an expensive luxury
because of the cost of the alcohol it con-
sumes. This cost is less than would be
suspected by those who have not looked
into the matter. One of the largest of
the asbestos lamps will burn from an
hour and a quarter to an hour and a half
without refilling if it has been really full
to begin with. It holds about a gill of
alcohol. With alcohol at seventy cents a
quart, this makes the fuel cost about six
cents an hour. Very seldom is a lamp
burned more than an hour at once* If
it is kept carefully closed when not in
use, there is little evaporation.
In buying a chafing-dish one should be
chosen that has two pans, the lower one
(pracficaf ^>ugge0ftons 13
for hot water, the upper one, or blazer,
for cooking. The latter is often used
without the hot-water dish, when the
contents will not he injured by the direct
flame beneath, as is the case when quick
cooking is required. There are many
other dishes, notably those containing
milk and eggs, which should be cooked
over boiling water.
Some chafing-dishes have handles at-
tached to both pans— an admirable idea.
It is an awkward business to lift from the
supporting rim, or put into it, a handle-
less pan half full of boiling water.
The chafing-dishes which seek to sup-
ply the place of the lower pan by a double
cover to the lamp, are not equal to those
with the double pan. Even the gentle
heat from the small flame does not serve
as a substitute for the steady, uniform
cookery only possible over boiling water.
A criticism frequently passed upon
i '4 Z§* C0afm^(£)i6[5 JJupper
Page 3
Presented as published in 1894. 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
The best lamp for a chafing-dish, all things considered, is the large asbestos lamp covered with a fine wire grating. Many of the handsomest chafing-dishes are supplied with lamps with two or three burners containing round or flat wicks. The trouble with these is that they do not cook evenly, but keep the person in charge busy shaking the blazer with one hand to prevent the contents from scorching in spots, while the energies of the other hand are devoted to stirring the ingredients that they may not stick to the two or three points where the flames below concentrate their heat.
There are other styles of lamp, one of them an open cup holding alcohol, but in this the fuel is consumed much more rapidly than in the asbestos lamp, which gives a broad, steady flame with a mini-
12 The Chafing-Dish Supper
mum of consumption of alcohol. Its usefulness is increased if it has a double cover, by means of which one may have a large or a small flame at will.
The question is sometimes asked if a chafing-dish is not an expensive luxury because of the cost of the alcohol it consumes. This cost is less than would be suspected by those who have not looked into the matter. One of the largest of the asbestos lamps will burn from an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half without refilling if it has been really full to begin with. It holds about a gill of alcohol. With alcohol at seventy cents a quart, this makes the fuel cost about six cents an hour. Very seldom is a lamp burned more than an hour at once. If it is kept carefully closed when not in use, there is little evaporation.
In buying a chafing-dish one should be chosen that has two pans, the lower one
Practical Suggestions 13
for hot water, the upper one, or blazer, for cooking. The latter is often used without the hot-water dish, when the contents will not he injured by the direct flame beneath, as is the case when quick cooking is required. There are many other dishes, notably those containing milk and eggs, which should be cooked over boiling water.
Some chafing-dishes have handles attached to both pans— an admirable idea. It is an awkward business to lift from the supporting rim, or put into it, a handleless pan half full of boiling water.
The chafing-dishes which seek to supply the place of the lower pan by a double cover to the lamp, are not equal to those with the double pan. Even the gentle heat from the small flame does not serve as a substitute for the steady, uniform cookery only possible over boiling water.
A criticism frequently passed upon
14 The Chafing-Dish Supper