My Fireless Cooker by MRS. M. E. STEWARD

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 3, 1908

My Fireless Cooker

By MRS. M. E. STEWARD

MRS. M. E. STEWARD

I took a typewriter box, and put three inches of paper trimmings in the bottom, pressing down hard. Hay, straw, excelsior, or fine shavings would have answered instead of the paper. I placed on this, in the middle of the box, a round of thick paper, which had been cut a trifle larger than the bottom of my kettle.

This kettle is heavy graniteware; an iron kettle would do as well, but all kinds of food can not be cooked in iron. My kettle is flat on the bottom, with a tight-fitting cover, and a bale; a handle would not pack well.

I tied heavy paper round my kettle, then cut it off even with the bottom and the top of the kettle, and placed the kettle on the round of thick paper in the box. When the kettle is removed, this makes a nice nest, and keeps the filling in place.

I then took oat straw, which had been cut while green, wet it lightly in water, and packed it as tightly as I could around the kettle, till it reached the top of it. Over this is placed a cheese-cloth pillow three inches thick, filled firm with excelsior and straw. The “hay-box” closes with a cover as nearly air-tight as possible; mine is hung on hinges. It was now ready for cooking.

I bring my food to a brisk boil over a fire; let potatoes cook there five minutes; oatmeal twenty minutes. Rice, after soaking in water half an hour, can be put into a smaller dish,—water added as in common cooking,—and placed in the kettle with other foods filled around it. It takes just as long to cook as potatoes; other things accordingly. One can soon learn how long to cook different articles.

I am delighted with my fireless cooker. The food is better, as all flavors are retained, and everything is in better shape than when cooked over a fire. I can heartily recommend it to all. It saves fuel, heat, and trouble, for nothing ever burns, and it requires no attention. Should food be underdone, it can be brought to the boiling-point again, and replaced in the cooker.

A candy-pail, or a deep box with a close fitting cover, can be used for the cooker.

Sanitarium, Cal.