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Rumford's Plain Indian Pudding

"This pudding," says Count Rumford in his "Essay on Food," "which was allowed by competent judges who tasted it to be as good as they had ever eaten, was composed, and prepared in the following manner. Three pounds of Indian meal (from which the bran had been separated by sifting it in a common hair sieve) were put into a large bowl, and five pints of boiling water were put to it, and the whole well stirred together; three-quarters of a pound of molasses and one ounce of salt were then added to it, and these being well mixed, by stirring them with the other ingredients, the pudding was poured into a fit bag, and the bag being tied up (an empty space being left in the bag in tying it, equal to about one-sixth of its contents, for giving room to the pudding to swell), this pudding was put into a kettle of boiling water, and was boiled six hours without intermission; the loss of water in the kettle by evaporation during this time being frequently replaced with boiling water from another kettle. The pudding, upon being taken out of the bag, weighed ten pounds and one ounce; and it was found to be perfectly done, not having the smallest remains of that raw taste so disagreeable to all palates, and particularly to those who are not used to it, which always predominates in dishes prepared of Indian meal when they are not sufficiently cooked."