Fireless and Steam Cookers

47. The Fireless Cooker. The fireless cooker is a box or can having a diameter somewhat larger than that of the largest vessel to be placed in it. The space left around the vessel is packed with some insulating material to keep in the heat (Fig. 22). In home-made cookers, this material may be hay, feathers, pillows, shredded newspapers, wood shavings or sawdust. In commercially-made cookers, it is felt, asbestos wool, cork, or other insulating material. Because most insulating material will not stay in place and readily absorbs moisture and odors, some kind of lining is put between it and the vessel holding the food. This makes a little nest, into which the vessel fits. In the better made cookers, this lining is made of metal, and the seams are water-tight.

The steam from the cooking food is absorbed by the insulating material if this lining is not impervious to water. Enameled or earthen linings, if well glazed, would also serve this purpose as long as they did not chip or crack.

The cover, as well as the sides, of the fireless cooker has to be padded with the insulating material. The cover must also fit well so that the steam and heat will not escape thru cracks between it and the body of the cooker.

48. The Stones of Fireless Cookers. The stones for fireless cookers are usually made of soapstone or some composite which will absorb considerable heat. They should be slightly smaller in diameter than the nest. They can only be used with safety in cookers which are metal-lined and insulated with material which will not ignite at a low temperature. Stones should not be put in home-made cookers which are not insulated with asbestos or other fireproof material. Hot stones can be used with safety in any of the commercial cookers which come fitted with them.

The temperature in a fireless cooker is below boiling most of the time. It is, therefore, a device for simmering food, and should be used for cooking meats, fruits, vegetables and cereal dishes which require or are improved by long, slow cooking.

Since the food has to be shut in a fireless cooker to keep in the heat, fireless cookery is a method of steaming of food. For this reason, it has a slightly different flavor from food baked in the oven, much as fried food differs from roasted food. Hot stones (Fig. 22) are put in most fireless cookers. The heat from these brown the food and give to the otherwise steamed food a flavor similar to that developed in baking, roasting and frying.

49. Heating the Stones. Moisture given off by the cooking food is absorbed by the stones. They must be dried or heated very slowly to prevent this moisture from cracking them. When the stones have been removed from the cooker, wash them, because they absorb odors from the food. Keep them in some warm, dry place while they are not in use, such as in the warming oven of the cook stove or on a radiator. When wanted for use, they will then be dry enough to be placed over the gas-stove burner if it is not turned too high at first. Drying thus saves time when the stones are needed.

50. Care of the Cooker. The cooker should be left open to air while not in use. As soon as the food and stones are removed from it, the moisture should be wiped out and the inside washed with soap and water, wiped dry and left to air. Such care is needed to prevent the cooker from taking on the odor of dishes previously cooked and transmitting some of them to those cooked later.

51. Other Devices Belonging to Cookers. In most commercial cookers there are wire devices to raise the dishes of food from the stone (Fig. 23). This prevents scorching and boiling over when the stones are heated very hot. These devices are also used to hold a hot stone above the food to make a brown crust on it. Some cookers are furnished with valves, permitting the escape of steam when it becomes too abundant. The pressure of the steam automatically opens the valve. This device insures the cooking of certain vegetables, cereals or doughs without their becoming too soggy to be palatable (A, Fig. 23).

52. Directions for Using the Cooker. Put the stones on to heat. Prepare the food as for cooking in any other way. Then heat it, either in the oven or on top of the stove. It is preferable to heat the food in the same vessel in which it is to be cooked in the fireless cooker. Transferring food to a cold vessel entails a loss of heat, since the first vessel is already heated.

When the stones and food are hot, place the stone in the bottom of the cooker. Put in any asbestos mats or other devices which are needed to protect the food. The stone should be hot enough to respond to the test for flat irons. It should make the snappy noise of a good hot iron when the finger is moistened and touched to it. Place the food in the cooker. Place another stone above the utensil if it is desirable to have the food brown on top. Close the fireless cooker, and let it stand until ready for use.

53. Time of Cooking Food. Six hours or over night should be allowed for the cooking of cereals. Stews should be given two to three hours' time for cooking.

Large roasts and hams require five to six hours. It is sometimes necessary, when they are large, to remove them and heat the food and the stones on the stove once during the process of cooking. Dumplings and angel cakes cook well in a fireless cooker. So do all dried peas and beans.

It is profitable to cook foods requiring more than forty minutes' heating in a fireless cooker. The heating unit is a part of some cookers.

Electric cookers, instead of being furnished with stones to be put inside the nest, have a heating unit and plate for holding heat in the cooker. Cold food may be put into this cooker, the current turned on, and the heating and cooking all be done inside the cooker. The electric oven which is well insulated answers the purpose of a fireless cooker when the current is disconnected. Either a thermometer, which the housewife may watch, or thermostat, which controls the current, must be attached to electric cookers to prevent burning the food or injuring the cooker with too much heat.

54. Gas Cookers. Since heated air rises, special cookers in the form of insulated caps are made to put over dishes of food heated on gas burners (Fig. 24).

The inside of the cap must be kept clean. Get the dishes hot with the cap suspended over the food, but leaving about an inch space for the escape of gases from the heating unit. As soon as the food and cap have been sufficiently heated over the fire, turn off the gas and lower the cap so that it will retain the heat. After the cooker has been used, it should be wiped out clean; otherwise it will retain some of the odors of the cooked food.

55. Steam Cookers. There are several steam cookers in use in homes. The simplest of these is a covered pan which has a perforated bottom, which is set over another pan (A, Fig. 25), in which water is placed for forming steam. One of the difficulties of this cooker is that the water in the lower pan cannot be watched and may boil dry. On the more improved cookers a whistling device (B, Fig. 25) is attached to the pan, and when the water becomes low and steam ceases to flow through it, air begins to come in, and the device makes a whistling noise.

Questions for Part I