That so cheap and easy a food to prepare as cereals should so often be unappetizing, and even indigestible, because of poor cooking, is partly due to ignorance of the great improvement in flavour which long cooking gives them, and partly to the difficulties attending such long cooking. No one wants to rise two hours before breakfast to cook a cereal which is advertised on the package to cook in ten minutes or less, and those who do not have coal fires burning through the night are somewhat at a loss to know how to keep cereals cooking over night. The fireless cooker seems to fill a long-felt want in this direction. At the cost of a fraction of a cent for fuel it accomplishes an all-night cooking without danger of scorching, boiling dry, or needing to be stirred. The fallacious idea that boiling temperature is necessary for cooking starches and starchy foods has been proved false. As a matter of fact, a temperature of 167 degrees Fahrenheit is sufficient for the starch grains of some cereals, while long-continued cooking at much below boiling point will serve to soften and rupture the woody fibre which surrounds and entangles the starch and other nutrients. The nitrogenous or tissue-forming substance is probably rendered less easily digestible by boiling, and is perfectly cooked at a temperature which will cook the starches. Merely reaching these temperatures for a short time is not sufficient, however, to produce well-cooked cereals. A further change affecting the flavour, and perhaps the digestibility, is accomplished by long cooking.

The length of time required depends upon the amount and character of the woody fibre, whether the grains are left whole or ground fine, and the degree of cooking they may have had in the course of manufacture. Rolled oats and wheat are steamed to some extent, and do not, therefore, require as much cooking as whole or cracked wheat and oats. Preparations of corn, having more woody fibre than any of the other cereals, will, unless cooked during manufacture, require more cooking than equally finely ground preparations from other cereals. Rice requires the least cooking of all, as it contains the least woody fibre.

Rolled Oats

• 2¹/₂ cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup rolled oats

Look over the oats and remove any husks or pieces. Put water, salt, and oats in a pan, or pail that fits into a cooker-pail, boil them for five minutes, or until slightly thickened, stirring them frequently, then put the pan over a cooker-pail of boiling water and put it into a cooker for from two to twelve hours. Although soft and digestible after two hours, it is greatly improved in flavour by longer cooking. If cooked over night it will need to be heated, somewhat, before serving. This can be done by putting it over the fire while still in the cooker-pail of water. When the water in the pail boils, the oatmeal may be served.

Serves four persons.

Cornmeal Mush

• 4 cups boiling water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cornmeal
• ¹/₂ cup cold water

Mix the meal with the cold water, add it to the boiling salted water; let it boil five minutes, stirring it frequently, then set it in a cooker-pail of boiling water and put it into a cooker for from five to ten hours. If the mush is to be used for frying, use two cupfuls of milk and two cupfuls of water, reserving one-half cupful of the milk cold to mix with the cornmeal. When cooked, pour it into a wet bread pan, and slice it when perfectly cold. If coarsely ground meal is used, sift it through a coarse sieve before cooking it, to remove the largest particles of bran. Granulated meal will not require sifting.

Serves six or eight persons.

Hominy Grits

• 5 cups water
• 1¹/₂ teaspoons salt
• 1 cup hominy grits

Add the hominy to the boiling salted water, boil it for ten minutes, and put it into a cooker for ten hours or more.

Serves six or eight persons.

Cracked Wheat

• ¹/₂ cup wheat
• 1 cup cold water
• ¹/₂ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups boiling water

Soak the cracked wheat in the cold water for nine hours or more; add the boiling water and salt, and let all boil hard for ten minutes in an uncovered pan. Place the utensil in a cooker-pail of boiling water and put it into a cooker for ten hours. Reheat it to the boiling point and cook it again for ten hours.

Serves four or five persons.

Steel Cut Oatmeal

• ¹/₂ cup oatmeal
• 1 cup cold water
• ¹/₂ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups boiling water

Cook it in the same manner as cracked wheat. Serves four or five persons.

Pettijohn’s Breakfast Food

• 2¹/₂ cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup Pettijohn’s Breakfast Food

Add the salt and cereal to the cold water, stir until it boils, boil it for five minutes, or until it has thickened, and put it into a cooker for from two to twelve hours. It is improved by the longer cooking.

Serves four or five persons.

Cream of Wheat

• 3¹/₂ cups boiling water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¹/₂ cup cream of wheat

Put all together, stir until boiling, and put it into a cooker for from one to twelve hours.

Serves four or five persons.

Wheatlet

Cook it in the same way as cream of wheat.

Farina

Cook it in the same way as cream of wheat.