How can each piece of work be done efficiently? We have
learned how the kitchen equipment should be arranged for
efficiency. To make the most of one’s time, it is necessary to
know how to do a piece of work well in the shortest time. After
we have efficiently arranged equipment, we need to know how to
work efficiently; that is, work with the least waste of energy
and time. To do this the following suggestions may help you.
1. Collect all materials and tools needed for a piece of work.
If you are baking a cake, for example, time will be lost if, after
starting to mix it, you find you have forgotten to get the milk.
The milk should have been brought to the work table along with
the eggs and butter or other fat. If you are cleaning the refrig-
erator, time will be lost if, after starting, you find you have for-
Budgeting Time and Money
193
gotten to get the brush for cleaning the drain pipe. Stopping
work to get the brush and then beginning again means a loss of
time.
2. Use the right tool. You can wash a grater easily and
quickly with a brush. Food is lodged in the crevices of a grater.
The bristles get into the crevices of the grater and clean it
quickly. If you use a cloth in attempting to clean it, time is lost,
the cloth is worn or torn, and the work is usually poorly done.
It takes a very few minutes to grind a piece of meat in a food
chopper. It takes much longer to chop the same quantity of
meat in a chopping bowl, using a chopping knife. Of course, it
may take more time to take the food chopper apart and wash
each part than it does to wash the chopping bowl and knife. But
the extra time used in washing the; food chopper does not amount
to nearly as much as the extra time required for chopping when
the bowl and knife are used. The food chopper is the more
efficient tool.
3. If possible , keep on with one kind of motion before changing
to another. In cleaning a refrigerator, it should be both washed
and dried. Time is, saved if all parts are washed before drying.
Of course, where a process is long, it may be restful to change
occasionally from one kind of motion to another. There are
exceptions to almost all rules.
4. Study the motions made in doing a piece of work. In our
dishwashing contest, we learned that it was possible in washing
dishes not only to save motions but to make easier motions. If
we study the motions in any piece of work we do, we can usually
find a way to reduce the number and to make them easier.
When we accomplish this, work ceases to be drudgery. It be-
comes less tiresome ; we like it better.
To attempt to do a piece of work more efficiently and thus
save some time may become very interesting. Before com-
pleting your Saturday budget, it would be interesting for
the entire class to make time studies of such pieces of work as
194
Modern Housewifery
cleaning the refrigerator, stove, or sink. A time study could be
made also of dressing for school in the morning. Each piece of
work should be repeated to see if the time could be lessened.
The quality of work should, of course, not be slighted. If the
reports are placed on the blackboard, it is interesting to see the
progress each pupil makes in doing her work more efficiently.
Directions for such a study are given on page 202.
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Presented as published in 1928. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
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How can each piece of work be done efficiently? We have
learned how the kitchen equipment should be arranged for
efficiency. To make the most of one’s time, it is necessary to
know how to do a piece of work well in the shortest time. After
we have efficiently arranged equipment, we need to know how to
work efficiently; that is, work with the least waste of energy
and time. To do this the following suggestions may help you.
1. Collect all materials and tools needed for a piece of work.
If you are baking a cake, for example, time will be lost if, after
starting to mix it, you find you have forgotten to get the milk.
The milk should have been brought to the work table along with
the eggs and butter or other fat. If you are cleaning the refrig-
erator, time will be lost if, after starting, you find you have for-
Budgeting Time and Money
193
gotten to get the brush for cleaning the drain pipe. Stopping
work to get the brush and then beginning again means a loss of
time.
2. Use the right tool. You can wash a grater easily and
quickly with a brush. Food is lodged in the crevices of a grater.
The bristles get into the crevices of the grater and clean it
quickly. If you use a cloth in attempting to clean it, time is lost,
the cloth is worn or torn, and the work is usually poorly done.
It takes a very few minutes to grind a piece of meat in a food
chopper. It takes much longer to chop the same quantity of
meat in a chopping bowl, using a chopping knife. Of course, it
may take more time to take the food chopper apart and wash
each part than it does to wash the chopping bowl and knife. But
the extra time used in washing the; food chopper does not amount
to nearly as much as the extra time required for chopping when
the bowl and knife are used. The food chopper is the more
efficient tool.
3. If possible , keep on with one kind of motion before changing
to another. In cleaning a refrigerator, it should be both washed
and dried. Time is, saved if all parts are washed before drying.
Of course, where a process is long, it may be restful to change
occasionally from one kind of motion to another. There are
exceptions to almost all rules.
4. Study the motions made in doing a piece of work. In our
dishwashing contest, we learned that it was possible in washing
dishes not only to save motions but to make easier motions. If
we study the motions in any piece of work we do, we can usually
find a way to reduce the number and to make them easier.
When we accomplish this, work ceases to be drudgery. It be-
comes less tiresome ; we like it better.
To attempt to do a piece of work more efficiently and thus
save some time may become very interesting. Before com-
pleting your Saturday budget, it would be interesting for
the entire class to make time studies of such pieces of work as
194
Modern Housewifery
cleaning the refrigerator, stove, or sink. A time study could be
made also of dressing for school in the morning. Each piece of
work should be repeated to see if the time could be lessened.
The quality of work should, of course, not be slighted. If the
reports are placed on the blackboard, it is interesting to see the
progress each pupil makes in doing her work more efficiently.
Directions for such a study are given on page 202.