Dripping pan

“ Top burners must be frequently cleaned and when they are removed the drip pan can be cleaned too and the space in which the drip pan rests. Wipe off dust from the air mixer, that is, where the air enters the burner to make the flame cook. Grease your oven linings occasionally and your stove will wear longer. ”

“ It is injudicious to put more in the pan at once, than can lie on the bottom without crowding. The pan must be made bright, and nothing permitted to cool in it, lest it should canker. Delicate preserves should be kept in small glasses or pots, that will not hold more than one or two pounds, for the admission of air injures them ”

“ An hour should bake an ordinary loaf. During the last 1⁄2 hour the heat of the oven may be allowed to decrease.
As soon as your bread is baked, take the loaves out of the tins and wrap them in a clean old blanket kept especially for the purpose. The object is to prevent hard crust, and the blanket will absorb any moisture caused by the steam. When quite cold the bread may be placed in the bread-pan, which should be kept in a cold damp place. No bread will keep in a good state which is in a dry, warm situation. It is certain to dry, crack, and mould. ”

“ About 2-5 per cent. by weight of the oxides or dryers is gradually stirred into the oil after it has been slowly raised to a temperature of about 300° F. The stirring should be continued until the litharge is dissolved, or it would cake on the bottom of the pan, and cause the oil to burn. Litharge may even be reduced to a [317] cake of metallic lead when the fire is brisk. Some pans are furnished with stirrers and gearing by which the latter can be worked, either by hand or steam. The material of which the pans are made is either wrought or cast iron. ”

“ Bear in mind that the hot-water pan is to be used in all cases where the double boiler would be used, if the cooking were to be done upon the range. For instance, where the recipe calls for milk or cream, except in the making of a sauce, use the bath from the beginning. Also, be careful always to place the blazer in the bath before eggs are added to any mixture. Indeed, the hot-water pan is the one feature of the chafing-dish which it is most important to notice; for on the proper use of the hot-water pan the value of the chafing-dish as an exponent of scientific cookery entirely depends. ”

“ If a patent drier is used, regulate the heat with a thermometer according to the time-table for drying. Turn the product while drying when necessary to keep it from adhering to the pan and make sure that every portion is subjected to heat. Quick drying is preferable to slow drying, but the heat must not be sufficient to cook the product. ”

“ Where a steamer cannot be procured, soak the bread in cold water till it has absorbed sufficient water to be moist inside—then put it in a bake pan, without any cover, and heat it very hot. If broken pieces of bread are put in the oven, five or six hours after baking, and rusked, they will keep good a long time. ”

“ THE OLD FRYING PAN
You may talk of your broilers, both single and double,
Your roasters and toasters, they're all lots of trouble;
But when out in the hills, just find if you can,
Any kind of a dish like the old frying pan.
Over a campfire you don't need a stove,
Out in the hills, the place we all love,
Such hotcakes they never were tasted by man,
With many the thanks to the old frying pan. ”

“ No saucepan should be allowed of course to boil over.
No frying pan should ever be put on the fire without the butter or lard being first placed in it, and that not before the pan is required for use.
No joint should be placed in the oven so high as to allow the fat to splutter against the roof of the oven. ”

“ Still another way of baking is in a reflector oven of tin. This is highly satisfactory, provided the oven is built on the scientific angles to throw the heat evenly on all parts of the bread-pan and equally on top and bottom. It is not so easy as you might imagine to get a good one made. These reflectors are all right for a permanent camp, but too fragile for transportation on pack-animals.
As for bread, try it unleavened once in a while by way of change. It is really very good,—just salt, water, flour, and a very little sugar. ”

“ In cleaning copper pans, attend to the following directions:—If there are any lemon skins left from cooking, boil them in salt and water, dip a piece of flannel in the liquid, and rub your pan well. Then rinse with cold water, and dry with a linen cloth. Every pan must be rinsed or dusted out before being used, for the smallest speck of dirt will destroy a whole panful of sauce; and good sauces are the foundation of good cooking.
Cooks cannot be too careful in keeping their sauce-pans scrupulously clean. ”

“ In summer, when bread becomes mouldy from long keeping, lay the pieces which cannot be used immediately, upon a tin and dry them in the oven; they are as good pounded for puddings and crumb cakes as before drying, and as nice to dress a ham as cracker crumbs. Nice pieces of bread are good in pan pie, and also in stewed tomato. ”

“ Lift up the sieve, and let them drain in the same for three minutes. Cover an iron oven-pan with a sheet of brown paper, pour the currants on it, spreading them out evenly, and set it in a very slow oven for ten minutes; remove, and lay them aside in the warmest spot on the kitchen shelf, and leave them to dry thoroughly for at least two days. If in the country, the pan can be left out in the sun during the day. ”

“ Beat and add the remainder of the milk, and the egg. Beat vigorously for three minutes. Fill very hot gem pans three-fourths full. Bake thirty minutes in a hot oven. They are done when they have "popped" at least twice their size, and when they slip easily out of the pan. Iron pans are the best. ”

“ Let sugar, coffee and butter cook until a little dropped in cold water forms a soft ball, Betsey explained to a friend of mother's who happened in, remove saucepan from fire and stand in a [52] pan of cold water, then beat until it looks as thick as nice heavy cream, when you pour at once into a buttered pan and mark in squares. ”

“ To lengthen the life of a stove, keep the ash pan empty. If a full pan of ashes becomes hot, it will keep the grate of the stove so hot that it will warp and burn out, and sometimes cause the oven to warp.
If a housewife tries to build a fresh fire in a stove with a full ash pan, she will have to wait for the ashes to become heated thru before she can get satisfactory use of the oven. She will be unable to regulate the temperature of the oven if it becomes too hot. It is a great waste of fuel to heat a large pan full of ashes.
[21] ”

“ When the sprinkling is all done, cover the basket with a damp cloth, then with a dry one, and leave till ironing time. If a coal range is in use, see that the fire is burning steadily, replenishing from time to time, first on one side, then on the other, brush off the top of the stove, wipe the irons, and put on to heat. If they heat slowly, invert a large dish pan over them. ”

“ A soft, gelatinous composition, similar to that used in making printers’ rollers, is made and poured into shallow pans of the required size. The pans should be made of stout zinc one-half inch deep on the inside, with a lid or cover. The length and breadth of the pans is determined by the class of copying to be done. Always make the pan slightly larger than the paper used. The three sizes given below will answer most purposes:
The composition is made as follows:
Break up the glue and soak in the water for a few hours, then heat by water-bath until melted. ”

“ Pour it into an earthen pan, and it will keep good a fortnight in summer, and longer in winter. Particular attention must be paid in making it; if it gets any burnt smell or taste, it will spoil every thing it is put into. When cold, it should be thick enough to cut out with a knife, like a solid paste. This is a very essential article in the kitchen, and the basis of consistency in most made dishes, soups, sauces, and ragouts. In making this thickening, the less butter and the more flour is used the better. They must be thoroughly worked together, and the broth or soup added by degrees. ”

“ When brass pans are used for boiling fruit for jams, it is usual to rub them inside with a slice of 116 lemon before putting in the fruit. A careful housewife will consider the reason for this custom. We remember once seeing a copper pan, that had been provided for the preparation of oatmeal porridge, with a band about an inch wide of green crystals on the inside. Inquiry elicited that the cook had thought it a convenient pan in which to prepare the fish (salt haddock) for breakfast. Ignorance of the chemical action of salt and acids on metals may lead to very serious results. ”

“ Cooking with dry heat includes broiling, pan broiling, roasting, and baking; but, whichever of these processes is used, the principle is practically the same. In these processes the food is cooked by being exposed to the source of heat or by being placed in a closed oven and subjected to heated air. When dry heat is applied, the food to be cooked is heated to a much greater temperature than when moist heat is used. ”

“ If an impression made on a loaf of bread with the finger remains, the bread is light. If the dent disappears, then the loaf is not light enough to be placed in the oven; give it more time to rise. An experienced cook, noted for the excellence and size of her loaves of bread, said she always inverted a pail over the pan containing loaves of bread when set to rise, and allowed the bread to remain covered after being placed in the oven. ”

“ Iron kettles and frying pans are excellent for many things. Some of the uses of a nice smooth iron frying pan are to bake a round cake or a thick pie or a pudding in, to scallop corn or potatoes, or to scald milk. ”

“ In the cooking of candy, just as in the cooking of other foods, the surface exposed to the heat and the depth of the material to be cooked affect the rapidity of cooking and evaporation. Consequently, if rapid evaporation and quick cooking are desired, a pan that is broad and comparatively shallow should be used, rather than one that is narrow and deep. ”

“ The mixture will melt, and become as liquid as water. Let it boil with a gentle fire, constantly stirring it; breaking it into little crumbs, and scraping off with a spatula whatever sticks to the bottom or sides of the pan, till it be perfectly dry. The pan must from time to time be removed from the fire, that it may not grow red-hot, and the matter must be stirred, even while it is off the fire, to prevent too much of it from sticking to the pan. When the matter is perfectly dried, and in little clots, let it cool, and powder it in a metal mortar. ”

“ On no account must the pan containing the dough be placed close enough to the fire for the heat to penetrate and form a crust on the inside of the pan, for that would presently be mixed into the remainder of the dough, and result in dark, heavy patches in the bread. Care must also be taken by keeping the dough sufficiently well covered to prevent it from becoming skinned over, producing a very unsightly appearance should it get on the outside of the loaves when they are moulded or shaped up ready for the oven ”

“ A pudding in a basin can be raised out of water by a meat stand placed at the bottom of an ordinary sauce-pan—and vegetables cooked in a perforated steam pan above.
Where possible arrange a meal to be cooked all on the top of the stove, or all in the oven.
Avoid heating the oven to cook a single dish.
Utilise all space when the oven is heated—food may be partly or wholly cooked for following day.
In a gas oven three or four small tins are better than one large tin which fills the shelf. By the former method free circulation of heat is not prevented, and cooking is more efficient. ”

“ The draining over the pan is one of the principal things to attend to; if this be neglected, the fat will cling about the fried things, making them both look and taste greasy, whereas if properly drained in the basket to begin with, they will afterwards scarcely mark the paper. When, as is sometimes the case, no frying basket is used, each thing fried should be drained between a spoon and the edge of the pan. ”

“ An earthenware pan is filled with a stiff batter of flour, water, salt and eggs, and in this the manipulators, old women generally, dip the fore fingers and spread, or rather smear the batter lightly over the hot pan;—one spread one way, one the other, a second's delay and the food is cooked ”

“ Mix and roll into small balls; then cover with sugar. Lay on plate to dry.
Salted Almonds
Blanch almonds by putting into boiling water for a few minutes. Remove skins, dry well and brown in heated olive oil or butter in pan on top of stove stirring continually. Take from fire when very light brown, as they continue to color after removing from pan. Drain well on brown paper and sprinkle with salt.
Fireless Cookery
The Fireless Cooker has become an important factor in the home. The principle employed is the preservation of heat by the use of non-conducting materials. ”

“ Put all these ingredients over the fire in a porcelain lined sauce-pan, bring them slowly to a boil, remove the pan to the side of the fire, where it will simmer slowly, the heat striking it on one side; simmer it in this way for two hours, and then strain it through a napkin, set it to cool; if any fat rises to the surface in cooling remove it entirely. Eat it either cold, say half a teacupful when a little nourishment is required; or warm a pint, and eat it with graham crackers at meal time. ”

“ The people would let the pan stand in the open air until the twigs were burnt to coal, and then they would carry the pan, with the embers still glowing, into the room which they wished [Pg 168] to warm, and place it wherever it was required. ”

“ The pan he fills two-thirds full of dirt, then with water, rocks it gently with his hands, letting the water run over the sides, carrying the dirt away and leaving the particles of gold, which are heavy, at the bottom of the pan. ”

“ The baking tray or pan shown in the sketch not only protects the hands from burns but allows the baked articles easily to slip from its surface. The pan is made from a piece of sheet iron slightly larger than the baking space desired. Each end of the metal is cut so that a part may be turned up and into a roll to make handles for the pan. ”