  Fireless cookers are specially adapted to use on a large scale, as it is in cases where cooking is done on a business basis that economy in fuel, range space, and labour form such an important factor, and because there some intelligent person will generally oversee the work of the ignorant and careless. In their present form they are not, perhaps, adapted to very large institutions, where many hundreds of persons are fed, since there is a limit to the size of utensils which can be lifted in and out of the insulating box. But for small institutions, hotels, boarding-houses, restaurants, and lunch rooms the fireless cooker will, inevitably, become indispensable as soon as it is understood. The United States Army has used the fireless cooker and, owing partly to its demand, some of the manufacturers of commercial cookers make them in sizes appropriate for use on a large In the main, the directions for making and using cookers are the same no matter what the size, but a few points may be suggested as more necessary for large than small cookers. In many kitchens there will be no space near the range for a cooker or a number of cookers, and it will be a matter of necessity to have one which can easily be moved. Instead of ordinary castors, use, for these, such small iron wheels as are put on hand trucks. They will be found to run more easily and to injure a floor much less. Select a box which will fit under a table, when loaded, and then it will not seem to make the kitchen any fuller than before. Fit it with two strong handles, preferably on the front of the box, so that it may be guided when pulled out from under the table. The portable insulating pail may be found useful for transporting hot food from a central kitchen to outlying dining-rooms, as is so often done in large institutions, aluminum utensils The temperature maintained by a large mass of food in a well-made box, will result in more rapid cooking than with small quantities, and this must be taken into account with foods, such as potatoes, which are easily overcooked. There is always a difficulty in stating the number of persons that may be served by any recipe, since the amount served to each varies to such an extent with circumstances. The number indicated in this book is a mean between the small table d’hÔte and the large À la carte portions, and is based upon the amount served at an ordinary family table. Three-quarters of a cupful is allowed for each portion of soup. Rolled Oats
Boil the water, add the salt and sprinkle in the oats gradually. When boiling put it into a cooker for two hours or more. It is improved by twelve hours’ cooking. Serves forty or fifty persons. Cornmeal Mush
Mix the meal with one quart of the water, bring the remainder to a boil, add the salt and stir in the meal paste. Let it boil four minutes and put it into the cooker for five hours or more. Serves thirty-five or forty persons. Hominy Grits
Add the hominy to the boiling, salted water; let it boil for ten minutes and put it into the cooker for eight hours or more. Serves forty or fifty persons. Samp
Soak the samp in the cold water for eight hours or more. Add it to the boiling water and salt, let it boil uncovered for one hour and put it into a cooker for six hours or more. A little butter added before serving improves it, if it is used as a vegetable. Serves forty or fifty persons. Cracked Wheat
Soak the cracked wheat in the cold water for nine hours or more. Add it to the boiling water Serves forty or fifty persons. Steel-cut Oatmeal
Cook it in the same manner as cracked wheat. Serves forty or fifty persons. Pettijohn’s Breakfast Food
Cook it as directed on page 56. Serves forty or fifty persons. Cream of Wheat
Cook it as directed on page 56. Serves forty or fifty persons. WheatletCook it in the same way as cream of wheat. FarinaCook it in the same way as cream of wheat. Rice
Wash the rice, add it to the boiling salted water; let it boil and put it into a cooker for one hour. Serves forty or fifty persons. Brown Stock
Make it as directed on page 60. Serves forty-five or fifty persons. White Stock
Make it as directed on page 62. Serves forty-five or fifty persons. Mutton Broth
Make it as directed on page 63. Serves forty-five or fifty persons. Mock Turtle Soup
Make it as directed on page 66. Serves forty-five or fifty persons. Creole Soup
Make it as directed on page 69. Serves forty or forty-five persons. Cream of Celery Soup
Make it as directed on page 68. Serves forty-five or fifty persons. Asparagus Soup
Make it as directed on page 68. Serves forty-five or fifty persons. Macaroni Soup
Make it as directed on page 70. Serves forty-five or fifty persons. Vegetable Soup with Stock
Make it as directed on page 67. Serves forty-five or fifty persons. Ox Tail Soup
Make it as directed on page 70. Serves forty or forty-five persons. Julienne Soup
Make it as directed on page 70. Serves forty-five or fifty persons. Tomato Soup with Stock
Make it as directed on page 69. Serves forty-five to fifty persons. Vegetable Soup without Stock
Make it as directed on page 71. Serves forty-five or fifty persons. Bean Soup
Make it as directed on page 72. Serves fifty or fifty-five persons. Black Bean Soup
Make it as directed on page 72. Serves fifty or fifty-five persons. Tomato Soup
Make it as directed on page 73. Serves forty-five or fifty persons. Potato Soup
Make it at directed on page 75. Serves forty-five or fifty persons. PurÉe of Lima Beans
Make it as directed on page 73. Serves forty-five or fifty persons. Baked Bean Soup
Make it as directed on page 74. Serves forty-five or fifty persons. Green Pea Soup
Make it as directed on page 74. Serves forty-five or fifty persons. Split-Pea Soup
Make it as directed on page 77. Serves fifty persons. Fish Chowder
Make it as directed on page 75. Serves forty-five or fifty persons. Connecticut ChowderMake this as directed for fish chowder, substituting two quarts of stewed fresh or canned tomatoes for the milk, which may be added to the chowder before putting it into the cooker. Serves forty-five or fifty persons. Creamed Salt Codfish
Cook it as directed for Creamed Salt Codfish, No. 2 on page 84. Serves forty or fifty persons. Codfish Balls
Cook it as directed on page 85. Serves forty or fifty persons. Pot Roast
Have the butcher bone and roll the meat, if it is from the rump. Wipe it with a damp cloth, dredge it with flour and brown it on all sides in the drippings. Wash, pare, and cut the vegetables into pieces. Put all the ingredients with the hot, browned meat, into a cooker-pail, add the water, boiling hot, let it boil for thirty minutes and put it into a cooker for nine hours or more. Before serving bring the meat to a boil, remove it, put it in a warm place, and make three quarts of brown sauce. Strain the liquor in the pail and use it for the sauce. If there is fat on the top of the liquor remove it and use it in making the sauce. Serves fifty persons. Brown Sauce
Make it as directed on page 184. Serves sixteen or twenty persons. Beef À la Mode
Cook it as directed on page 95, except that there need not be an outer pail of boiling water. Serves fifty persons. Irish Stew
Cook it as directed on page 100. Serves forty or fifty persons. Beef Stew À la Mode
Buy twenty-five or thirty pounds of brisket to get ten pounds of clear, lean meat. Cook it as directed on page 97. Serves forty or fifty persons. Boiled Dinner
Cook it as directed on page 96. Serves forty or fifty persons. Cannelon of Beef
Cook it as directed on page 101. Serves forty or fifty persons. Okra Stew
Cook it as directed on page 111. Serves forty or fifty persons. Creamy Potatoes
One peck of potatoes will make about ten quarts when prepared for creamy potatoes. Serves forty or fifty persons. Veal Loaf
Cook it as directed on page 117. Serves forty or fifty persons. Macaroni Italienne
Cook it as directed on page 143. Serves forty or fifty persons. Turkish Pilaf
Cook it as directed on page 149, without the lower pail of water. Serves forty-five or fifty persons. Pork and Beans
Soak the beans, drain them, cook them for seven hours or more, as directed on page 141, with the nine quarts of water, soda, and salt. Drain them, add the other ingredients, and bake them till browned. Serves forty-five or fifty persons. Boston Brown Bread
Mix and cook it as directed on page 155. Put it into seven or eight moulds. Serves fifty persons. Suet Pudding
Mix and cook it as directed on page 157. Put the pudding into six moulds. Serve it with a liquid sauce. Serves forty or fifty persons. Rice Pudding
Cook it as directed on page 162, except that the outer pail of water may be omitted. If served cold and not browned, omit the butter. Serves thirty or thirty-five persons. Indian Pudding
Mix the dry ingredients with one pint of the water, add them to the boiling water and molasses, add the milk. Let all come to a boil and put it into a cooker for ten hours or more. Put it into baking dishes and brown it, or serve it without browning, either plain or with cream. Serves forty or fifty persons. Chocolate Bread Pudding
Cook it as directed on page 164, in three pudding pans, set over cooker-pails of water. Serves forty or fifty persons. Stewed Apples
Cook them as directed on page 168. Serves thirty-five to forty-five persons. Apple Sauce
Cook it as directed on page 168. Serves forty-five to fifty persons. |
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