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Fireless Cookery (AS saver fuel saver)

AS saver, fuel saver, and nutriment saver, the fireless cooker has proved itself to be one of the most useful of cooking devices, well worthy of the serious attention of the conservative housekeeper. The construction of the device is simple, being the same in principle as the thermos bottle. The outside box is lined with non-conducting materials, such as mineral wool and asbestos, with inside compartments or wells to hold the food containers. When the heated vessel is tightly enclosed, the heat is retained and continues the process of cooking. Usually the cooker is equipped with radiator disks of metal or stone, which, when fully heated on the stove and placed in the compartment with the food container, materially increase the rapidity of cooking. Many dishes may be cooked without the use of radiators; but no cooker is complete without them, since their intense heat makes possible the baking of bread, cakes, and pies, the roasting and stewing of meats, and in fact, the cooking of almost any dish that can be prepared on the modern cooking range.

Not only does the fireless cooker mean a tremendous saving of fuel, and of energy on the part of the housewife, but it produces better results with many dishes than are possible with coal or gas. Cereals, for instance, which require long heating and which it is almost impossible to cook properly on a gas stove, are delicious when prepared by the fireless method. The slow, even heat cooks beans, rice, macaroni, and similar dishes more thoroughly, and improves their digestibility and flavor. Meats retain all their nutriment and, being cooked in their own juices, are more savory. The recipes given in this chapter are arranged for the cooker with radiators; but all of them, with the exception of those for roasting and baking, can be used for any cooker. Where there •