LIII.COOKING BY STEAM.
MUCH has been said of the superiority of steamed food over that which is boiled or baked; and year after year the papers or magazines devoted to domestic economy and the improvement and simplification of household labor have advocated this mode of cooking meats, vegetables, and many other articles of food, every few months recommending some new invention. We have tried one experiment after another, finding, to be sure, some imperfection in all; but enough that was practicable to convince us there was much which was desirable in the idea; and, if able to do the work with our own hands, confident we could reap great advantage from it.
When the mistress of a family has not strength to do her cooking herself, or that part of it which requires more than ordinary judgment and skill, she is not situated so that new modes of work can be tried with much prospect of success. Most servants, particularly the cooks, when accustomed to one mode of work, are very reluctant to change; and, therefore, if the mistress is not able to make all experiments herself, she will soon find, unless fully prepared to have the autocrat of the kitchen abdicate without “giving notice,” that it is safest, and wisest often, to allow a tolerably good girl to move on in the “even tenor of her ways,” without attempting any changes, except those which she can bring about quietly and imperceptibly. This is no very easy lesson for an old housekeeper to learn; but repeated defeats must teach her that patience, as well as discretion, is a “better part of valor.”
In the last century, an American, Benjamin Thompson, made Count Rumford by the Elector of Bavaria for distinguished military and scientific services, gave much time and thought to the study of heat and experiments in cooking, being the inventor of the present style of coal fireplaces and grates, cooking ranges, etc. He was the first person on record, with any pretensions to learning and philosophy, who ever studied the dressing of meat for food as a science. The result was the invention of a boiler for cooking by steam. Within a short time another boiler has been perfected involving the same principles, but containing various improvements over the steamer of the last century, which has been named “Rumford’s Boiler” in compliment to the original inventor. We have been trying it.
Our cook was positive she could never usethat thing. It was troublesome, took up too much room on the stove, etc. Bless the girl! That is one of the excellences ofthat thing. Little else in the way of utensils is needed on the top of the stove, beside one of these boilers. We stipulated that she should use it two weeks, and if found troublesome, it should share the fate of many other inventions, and no more be said about it. But long before the two weeks expired it had won Mary’s heart entirely, and now she would sooner part with anything else from her kitchen than the “Rumford Boiler.”
One peculiarity of this most excellent boiler is, that unlike all others we have ever seen, neithersteamnorwatercomes in actual contact with the article to be cooked. Two inches of water is put into the bottom of the boiler. Then a large receiver, into which meat, fowl, or fish is put to be cooked, is fitted on tight over the boiling water, and shut off from all possibility of being touched by steam or water by a close-fitting cover. Above this two other pans, or boilers, for vegetables, custards, etc., can be fitted with tight cover also;and the whole boiler, which is about as large but higher than an ordinary wash-boiler, is also closely covered. Very little fuel will keep the water boiling hot when once it has reached that point, as no heat can escape by evaporation. It is not generally understood, or at least it is not borne in mind with sufficient care, that “after water isjust boiling, all the fuel which is needed to make it boilviolentlyis just so much wasted, without in the smallest degree expediting or shortening the process of cooking. It is by theheat, itsintensityand the time of its duration, not by theboilingorbubblingup of the water, that the food is cooked.”
In this “Rumford Boiler” the water can be kept at the boiling point with no more fuel than need be used to keep two quarts of water at that temperature. It is the most economical and comfortable arrangement for summer use, and at the same time equally desirable for the winter. Meat cooked in it not only retains all its juice, but also nearly all its original weight, losing about one ounce to a pound; by the regular process of baking, meats lose over four ounces to a pound.
The uniform heat of the boiling water cooks whatever is put into the boiler equally all the way through; no meat, vegetable, or any other article can be scorched. It would seem impossible for the poorest cook to spoil a dinner, so long as she does not let the fire go out or remove the boiler from the stove. Meats require no basting, and in that respect much time and labor can be saved; and the fire once fairly burning can be kept low as soon as the water has reached the boiling point, and no more care of a coal fire is needed till the dinner is ready.
Meat, fish, and vegetables may all be cooked at the same time in this boiler; for being placed in separate receivers with closely fitting covers, no taste can possibly pass from one kind of food to another. Meat thus steamed or cookedis much more juicy, tender, and easy of digestion than when prepared in any other way we know of. No danger of burning, scorching, or overcooking. If left in much longer than is needed, it is not injured by it; for, as no water or steam can reach it, it is only kept hot in its own juices, without the sodden, disagreeable look and taste of meat that has remained too long in boiling water or a perforated steamer; and, what is even as great a recommendation as the excellent flavor of the food, the house is not filled with smoke and smell of cooking.
Besides, if properly cooked, there is no waste,—all is eatable and palatable; even the tip of the wings from birds and poultry, which in baking are dried up and perfectly worthless, are delicious, for there is no sweeter meat than wings, when not dried past use. In steaming all is tender and juicy. When we steam beef, mutton, game, or poultry, we take them from the steamer, dredge over a little flour, and put into the oven about fifteen minutes,—not long enough to dry, but simply brown delicately,—and think it an improvement.
We have also found, by experiments, that we can do many more things with this boiler than we were promised, and with the most gratifying results. We put bread, cake, and pies into it, cover close, and leave them till done; then set them in the oven long enough to secure the rich, golden brown; and now there are no more burnt upper or under crusts, and no more uncooked bottom crust to our pastry.