Utensil

“ Rapidity is its chief attribute. By this rapidity in cooking there is a saving of fuel, and as the utensils are taken directly from the stove, as are the casseroles, and used on the tables, there is the same saving of service time. These glass utensils bring out the flavors in all kinds of foods; they do not absorb odors or greases; they are very easy to keep clean; there is never any burn to remove and one can always see inside the utensil to find out how the food is faring! ”

“ Pots and kettles of all sorts find more frequent mention in the early inventories than anything else, except muskets and swords, and were probably more numerous upon the ship than any other cooking utensil. ”

“ Care should always be taken to have covers that fit snugly on any pans that are used in the cooker. Aluminum ware makes the best utensil, though enameled ware or agate ware may be used. A six-quart pail with a pan to fit inside of it is a good size for the ordinary family. ”

“ Never use any boiling or stewing utensil, pot or pan, spit, cookhold, spoon, ladle, or skewer, sieve, tammy or pudding cloth, jelly bag, net, tape, or other kitchen article, that have not been well scalded or washed with boiling water, and thoroughly dried. ”

“ In a large preserving kettle place all the utensils needed in the preparation of the food—pitcher, spoon, fork, measuring glass, bottles, nipples, cheesecloth for straining, agate cup, wire strainer, in fact everything that is to be used in the preparation of the food. ”

“ Homemade outfits, constructed of such utensils as wash boilers, tin pails, milk cans, metal wash tubs and lard pails. The lard pails are especially usable and cream pails are excellent where only a few cans are to be processed at once; even a teakettle can be made to do duty where only one or two pint cans are to be cooked. Any metal vessel that will allow the water to come at least an inch above the tops of the cans will do. ”

“ I can think of nothing more interesting than a kitchen with the frequently used utensils decorating the walls where they can be reached with few steps; and such little things as spoons, egg beaters, can openers, spatulas, cork screws, potato mashers, measuring cups, funnels, soup dippers, wire strainers, pinchers and skimmers, not forgetting a small cushion with pins, hanging just over the table ”

“ A camp kit of cooking utensils often begins and ends with a frying-pan and tin kettle. Certainly when traveling light, these things should be the last to go, as with them all things are possible, even to amalgamating and retorting the precious metals. ”

“ When a family arrives in this country, it is confronted by many new and strange appliances, such as agate and tin cooking utensils instead of copper and iron, and "so many kinds to learn how to use"—double boilers, "funny egg beaters that you turn as you do a hand organ," bread pans, and egg poachers. ”

“ By and by they left the woods and entered a big clearing, in which was the Kingdom of Utensia.
Standing all around the clearing were a good many cookstoves, ranges and grills, of all sizes and shapes, and besides these there were several kitchen cabinets and cupboards and a few kitchen tables. These things were crowded with utensils of all sorts: frying pans, sauce pans, kettles, forks, knives, basting and soup spoons, nutmeg graters, sifters, colanders, meat saws, flat irons, rolling pins and many other things of a like nature. ”

“ An old-fashioned iron kettle in which to stew the beans and boil the dried apples, or vice versa, coffee pots, frying pans, tin plates, cups, iron knives and forks, spoons and a combination dish and bread-pan made up the remainder of the cooking and eating utensils. ”

“ In houses of a slightly better class will be found carpenter's tools, a movable oven, various cooking utensils, both in copper and clay, spoons of mother-of-pearl, plates and dishes in metal and earthenware, and a large porcelain jar, and another of copper for fresh water. ”

“ FRICTION TOP CAN
Where convenient to provide a large equipment the following utensils are suggested:
Camp grate, 3 wire toasters (one for meat, one for fish, one for bread) , 2 frying boards (one for meat, one for fish) , 6-quart pail for reserve water, 9-quart pail for boiling vegetables, agate or paper plates, agate or paper cups, knives, forks, spoons, kit knife, paper towels, dish mops, powdered soap, cotton gloves for handling hot or smoky pots, candles, matches (in waterproof packages) , non-rusting wire 1/8 inch thick for hanging pots, etc. ”

“ Modeling clay or plasticine are the most satisfactory materials for dishes. Many dishes and utensils can be cut freehand in outline from Manila or silver paper, tin foil, bristol board. Children at nine or ten can work in hammered brass and bent iron.
Games. Ringtoss. Glue a small, straight stick, as a piece of a broom handle, upright to a flat board or disk. Make rings of several sizes from willow or other flexible branches, tied with raffia or cord ”

“ Kettles for the cooking of fruits with sirup should be flat and have a broad surface. Fruit is not so likely to crush in such kettles as in kettles that are deep and have a small surface.
18. KNIVES, SPOONS AND OTHER SMALL UTENSILS.--Many of the small utensils in a kitchen equipment are practically indispensable for canning purposes. Thus, for paring fruits and vegetables and cutting out cores, blossoms, and stem ends or any defective spots, nothing is more satisfactory than a sharp paring knife with a good point. ”

“ The materials which enter into the composition of the food of these farmer folk consisting of wheat, corn, beans, fruit, pepper, etc., are ground between stones. In fact the grinding stones are the most useful utensils in the equipment of the kitchen. They consist of one large flat stone with a smooth surface, and a smaller one, oval shaped. The material is placed upon the large stone, and the other in the hand of the operator is used to crush and grind the grain or dried vegetables to the proper consistency. This work is always done by the women. ”

“ I saw that all the pieces were numbered, and placed in order; nothing was wanting. I felt the importance of this acquisition; but it would take days of labour to put it together; and then how could we launch it? At present, I felt I must renounce the undertaking. I returned to my loading. It consisted of all sorts of utensils: a copper boiler, some plates of iron, tobacco-graters, two grindstones, a barrel of powder, and one of flints. Jack did not forget his wheelbarrow ”

“ The top of the range should be rubbed in sweet-oil, or lard that has no salt in it, to prevent rust. Flat-irons, bake-pans, soup-boilers, all iron-ware, must also be oiled, wrapped up in paper, and hung up, that you may find your utensils in perfect order when you return, needing only a good washing in hot soapsuds to be ready for immediate use. Have locks, keys, bolts, and bars in a good usable condition, that you may feel sure that nothing is left without strong fastenings. ”

“ Then set out the various utensils called for in the recipe to be followed, and see that you have conveniently at hand all the materials that will be required. In turning to the shelves or cupboard for small amounts of staple materials—sugar, flour, salt, etc.—place the receptacles back immediately where they came from after the material needed for the recipe has been taken out. Do not confuse and hinder your operations by having the work-table strewn with cans and jars and dishes that properly belong upon the shelves. Have a place for everything, and keep everything in its place. ”

“ When you first furnish a kitchen, avoid an elaborate display of tools, beginning with the few essentials only.
No one material is suitable for the construction of all utensils. Those subjected to intense heat must be of material able to resist it. ”

“ Among the bronze utensils is a pretty and economical arrangement which furnishes at once hot water, a fire of coals to heat the room, with the convenience of performing at the same time the solemn rites of cookery. ”

“ They made and used an endless variety of bone tools. Their pottery, though roughly finished, is well made, the vessels often of large size and capable of standing the fire as cooking utensils. For domestic dishes they also made wooden tubs, plates, spoons, ladles and the like. The industries of spinning and weaving were largely practised. ”

“ UTENSILS REQUIRED.--Not many utensils are required for the open-kettle canning method. For cooking the food, a large enamel or metal vessel other than tin or iron should be provided. It should be broad and shallow, rather than deep, especially for fruit, as this food retains its shape better if it is cooked in a layer that is not deep. The other utensils for canning fruits and vegetables by this method are practically the same as those already discussed--measuring utensils, a knife, large spoons, pans for sterilizing jars or cans, covers, rubbers, and jars or cans into which to put the food. ”

“ All the bladders containing oil, the wooden vessels, kettles, and other domestic utensils, are kept in the front part of the dwelling, and before each sleeping-place there is generally a block of wood upon which is placed the oil-lamp used for heating and cooking. ”

“ If the space for keeping utensils is small, their number must be kept down to the minimum. Even with ample space, it is well now and then to weed out superfluous or inadequate utensils, for each adds a straw's weight to the work of the kitchen. ”

“ The user of a hay-box will soon find, too, that utensils are not so hard to wash after lying in hay as when food has been dried or burned on, and as the scraping and scouring given to ordinary utensils wears them out very fast, there is here also a considerable economy of utensils. ”

“ America’s largest canneries, food processors and the better restaurants cook and process food in stainless steel utensils. Stainless steel not only preserves natural food flavors ... it is also easiest to keep sanitary and is immune to wear. ”

“ Kitchen Utensils.—A vast amount of drudgery in the kitchen has been relieved by the convenient inventions in labor-saving appliances: coffee and spice mills, can-openers, stationary washtubs, stopper extractors, superseding the old style of hand-corkscrews where large numbers of bottles are to be uncorked; refrigerators and provision safes, attaching and lifting devices and convenient culinary dishes and utensils of great variety.
Curtains, shades and screens have been wonderfully improved and their use made widely possible by modern inventions and new adaptation of old methods. ”

“ IRON AND STEEL.--Utensils made of iron and steel are usually inexpensive, but some, especially those of iron, are heavy. These metals are used principally for such utensils as frying pans, or skillets, griddles, waffle irons, and kettles for deep-fat frying. Sheet iron makes excellent shallow pans for baking cookies and other cakes, very satisfactory bread pans, and the best kind of pans for omelet and other frying. ”

“ Such utensils should be heated gradually, scraped carefully, and handled without knocking, to avoid "chipping".
2. Cleaning:
(1) Wash in hot soap-suds.
(2) If stained, use some scouring powder; wash and dry.
(3) If food is burned on, boil in a solution of washing soda and then scour; wash and dry.
ALUMINIUM
Utensils made of this are very light in weight and, as they have no crevices, are easily cleaned. They are also good conductors of heat.
1. Care:
This metal warps under a high temperature, and should, therefore, be used with care. ”

“ Enamelled utensils are neat, pretty, seldom acted upon by chemicals in the food and are cared for more easily than those of any other material. They are expensive, but last well if they are not abused. ”

“ The most successful mode of securing the proper care of utensils, is to make a definite agreement with the cook, on hiring her, that after dinner, she shall examine kitchen, cellar, and pantry, and wash every article that needs cleansing ”

“ We do not, however, reckon that trade disadvantageous, which consists in the exchange of the hardware of England for the wines of France, and yet hardware is a very durable commodity, and were it not for this continual exportation, might too be accumulated for ages together, to the incredible augmentation of the pots and pans of the country. But it readily occurs, that the number of such utensils is in every country necessarily limited by the use which there is for them; that it would be absurd to have more pots and pans than were necessary for cooking the victuals usually consumed there; ”

“ Almost every description of cutlery requires a handle of some sort; but the nature of the materials, as well as the form and mode of application, will be readily understood by a little attention to the various articles of this kind which daily fall in our way.
11. A process has been invented, by which edge tools, nails, &c., made of cast iron, may be converted into good steel. It consists in stratifying the articles with the oxyde of iron, in a metallic cylinder, and then submitting the whole to a regular heat, in a furnace built for the purpose. ”

“ The old man’s tools in the kitchen are noble—the heavy wrought iron, two-toothed hoe, that falls pleasantly upon the hard clay and splits it without effort and without jarring the hand, its ash handle worn thin where his hand has glided at work, a hand that nothing will wear smooth ”

“ In the factory many refinements are necessary to make a commercial article which will attract the eye as well as satisfy the sense of taste. The usual dark colored, rough, home-made article will not command a sale over a grocer’s counter alongside of that made in a modern commercial kitchen. Here, sorting tables, washing machine, scalder, cyclone for pulping, steam-jacketed kettle, tanks with coils, or vacuum pan for cooking, finishing machine, bottle washing, and filling machine, are all necessary. ”