yet it is easy to avoid both smoke and smell.
Cakes may be baked in the kitchen, and no one
up-stairs be wiser or sadder therefor, if the cook
knows how to tend the griddle. But if she floods
it with grease, which is allowed to burn before
the cakes are placed upon it, not only is the house
filled with smoke, but the cakes are blackened,
and to a great extent spoiled, coming to the taljle
with lacerated edges, bruised and torn, in their
fierce conflict with fat and fire. Many cooks seem
to take a special delight in causing the smoke of
their torment, the griddle, to ascend unceasingly ;
and to this end they deluge it with grease, wdiich,
by the time it is filled with cakes, has been
crowded close to the edges, where it hisses and
bubbles, sputtering angrily all through the baking.
Here and there on the griddle are drops of batter,
impromptu little cakes undesigned by the cook,
to which she pays no heed, unless, when lifting
their more important kindred, she gives them an
impatient push into the gutter of grease at the
edge of the griddle, where they fry and burn
uncared for. Sometimes it happens that these
vagrants, black and dismal as they appear, are
caught up accidentally and mixed with the cakes
sent to the table. But oftener they are pushed
ofl" the griddle upon the range, where their illegit-
imate lives end in smoke."
"But, Kate, how is this nuisance to be pre-
vented?"
68 COOKING AND CASTLE-BUILDING.
"By using a suitable greaser in a proper man-
ner. A good greaser may be made of pure lard
placed just where it is required, by means of a linen
swab, fastened to the end of a stick fashioned for
the purpose ; but the best greaser is a piece of fat
pork, two inches square and an inch thick, with
tiie rind covering one of its broadest surfaces.
Slip this piece of pork on a fork in such a manner
as to bring the tines of the fork close to the rind,
leaving the greaser below. With this rub the
griddle where the cakes are to be placed, wiping
it well with a dry cloth after each baking. A
griddle so treated will annoy no one, not even the
cook, with smoke. Griddles and bread-pans
should be used for nothing but the purpose for
which the}^ are specially designed, and should
very rarely be washed Avith soap. If kept clean,
they need little washing at any time, as a brisk
rubbing with a diy cloth when they are warm is
all-sufficient, and keeps them in more perfect con-
dition than frequent washing."
"Using soapstone, and other griddles which
require no gi'ease, is the most sensible way of
abating the griddle nuisance, I think," said Eme-
line.
" No doubt you are right," I replied. " Still,
there are people who will cling to the old ways,
notwithstanding the new have been proven to be
best."
GRIDDLE-a\KES AND OTHER THINGS. 69
Page 27
Presented as published in 1880. 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
yet it is easy to avoid both smoke and smell. Cakes may be baked in the kitchen, and no one up-stairs be wiser or sadder therefor, if the cook knows how to tend the griddle. But if she floods it with grease, which is allowed to burn before the cakes are placed upon it, not only is the house filled with smoke, but the cakes are blackened, and to a great extent spoiled, coming to the taljle with lacerated edges, bruised and torn, in their fierce conflict with fat and fire. Many cooks seem to take a special delight in causing the smoke of their torment, the griddle, to ascend unceasingly ; and to this end they deluge it with grease, wdiich, by the time it is filled with cakes, has been crowded close to the edges, where it hisses and bubbles, sputtering angrily all through the baking. Here and there on the griddle are drops of batter, impromptu little cakes undesigned by the cook, to which she pays no heed, unless, when lifting their more important kindred, she gives them an impatient push into the gutter of grease at the edge of the griddle, where they fry and burn uncared for. Sometimes it happens that these vagrants, black and dismal as they appear, are caught up accidentally and mixed with the cakes sent to the table. But oftener they are pushed ofl" the griddle upon the range, where their illegitimate lives end in smoke."
"But, Kate, how is this nuisance to be prevented?"
"By using a suitable greaser in a proper manner. A good greaser may be made of pure lard placed just where it is required, by means of a linen swab, fastened to the end of a stick fashioned for the purpose ; but the best greaser is a piece of fat pork, two inches square and an inch thick, with tiie rind covering one of its broadest surfaces. Slip this piece of pork on a fork in such a manner as to bring the tines of the fork close to the rind, leaving the greaser below. With this rub the griddle where the cakes are to be placed, wiping it well with a dry cloth after each baking. A griddle so treated will annoy no one, not even the cook, with smoke. Griddles and bread-pans should be used for nothing but the purpose for which the}^ are specially designed, and should very rarely be washed Avith soap. If kept clean, they need little washing at any time, as a brisk rubbing with a diy cloth when they are warm is all-sufficient, and keeps them in more perfect condition than frequent washing."
"Using soapstone, and other griddles which require no gi'ease, is the most sensible way of abating the griddle nuisance, I think," said Emeline.
" No doubt you are right," I replied. " Still, there are people who will cling to the old ways, notwithstanding the new have been proven to be best."