Domestic science (Clark, Cornell home economics)

Hay was at first used to pack the cooking utensils and so the name " hay-box " came into use. A cooker can be made of an ordinary box with hay packed tightly around the agate pails in use for cooking utensils. Newspapers or excelsior will do instead of hay for packing, and old table cloths, sheeting or canton flannel will do for placing over the hay, excelsior, etc. Boxes lined with asbestos are of course much better. A box is often placed inside of a larger box, also lined with asbestos, and the space between is filled with sawdust. Hay is harder to pack, and food has been known to taste of hay. A cooker could easily be constructed by using an old box, lining it with asbestos, filling in around the agate pails with hay or sawdust, and covering the filling with cotton flannel, tacking this neatly to the edges of the box. The cover must also be lined with asbestos and the filling, and then cotton flannel tacked on. The cooker may be purchased at the hardware store, single-pail cooker from $4 to $6, double-pail cooker from $6 to $10, depending somewhat upon the finish of the box. It would be well to have the first class in the morning see the first process of the fireless cooker, i. e. the cooking of the article on the stove and placing it in the cooker. The last class could see the results. The week following, the second class could see the process, etc. Then have the girls do the same at home and report on the results the following week. Recipes for Fireless Cooker Pot Roast. Get a 3 lb. piece of beef, cut from the neck or shoulder, clean it, season, dredge with flour and brown weU on all sides (in a hot greased frying pan). Put meat in a paU with an inverted saucer or something else under it to keep it from sticking. Add boiling water about two-thirds of the way up the roast, cover tightly, and let simmer 20 m. Then add i c. each of diced carrots, turnips, potatoes, and onions, and 1 tsp. salt. Let it come to a boil and then place in fireless cooker for 5 or 6 hrs. Remove meat to a hot platter, surround with vegetables and then make a gravy of 1 tbsp. butter, 1 tbsp. flour and Ic. of the liquid strained from the roast. Season, and serve with meat and vegetables. Apples in Syrup. Pare sour apples in half and core. Make a syrup of 1 c. of sugar and 1 c. water. Cook over fire until clear. Add apples and boil 5 m. Place in fireless cooker for 4 or 5 hrs. Steamed Rice, i c. rice, 3^ c. milk or water or part of each, 1 tsp. salt. Look over and wash the rice thoroughly. Add slowly to salted boiling water, or milk. Boil on stove 5 m., then place in fireless cooker IJ hrs. to 2 hrs. Steamed Custard. 1 qt. milk, 4 eggs or 10 egg yolks, i tsp. salt and ^ c. sugar. Scald the milk in a double boiler; beat the eggs slightly and add sugar FffiELESS COOKER 289 and salt, then, gradually, scalded milk, beating meanwhile. Pour into a buttered can or pail, cover tightly and place liquid in another pail. Half cover with boiling water. Boil over fire for 5 m., then place in fireless cooker for 1| hrs. It is well to place an inverted saucer in the bottom of the pail of hot water, so that custard will not get too hot while cooking on the stove. Serve the custard with caramel sauce. Caramel Sauce, i c. brown sugar, i c. boiling water. Melt sugar in a frying-pan until it becomes a light brown liquid, stirring constantly. Add boiling water and cook 10 m. This sauce can be made a week or two before using and kept in a Mason jar. Chicken Fricassee. Unjoint chicken and roll each piece in flour. Brown pieces in fat; as each piece is browned pack in kettle of cooker. Make some gravy in pan in which browning is done. Place gravy in kettle and add enough water to cover chicken. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Boil 20 minutes and cool in cooker over night. In the morning re-heat for luncheon.