The small portable Trench stove, or furnace, shown in the preceding page, with the trivet and stewpan adapted to it, is exceedingly con- venient for all preparations which require either more than usual atten- tion, or a fire entirely free from smoke ; as it can be placed on a table in a clear light, and the heat can be regulated at pleasure. It has been used for many of the preserves of which the receipts are given in this chapter, as well as for various dishes contained in the body of the work. There should always be a free current of air in the room in which it stands when lighted, as charcoal or braise (that is to say, the live embers of large well-burned wood, drawn from an oven and shut immediately into a closely- stopped iron or copper vessel to extinguish them) is the only fuel suited to it. To kindle either of these, two or three bits must be lighted in a common fire, and laid on the top of that in the furnace, which should be evenly placed be- tween the grating and the brim, and then blown gently with the bellows until the whole is alight : the door of the furnace must in the mean while be open, and remain so, unless the heat should at any time be too fierce for the preserves, when it must be closed for a few minutes, to moderate it. To extinguish the fire altogether, the cover must be pressed closely on, and the door be quite shut : the embers which remain will serve to rekindle it easily, but before it is again lighted the grating must be lifted out and all the ashes cleared away. It should be set by in a place which is not damp. In a common grate a clear fire for preserving may be made with coke, which is a degree “ — 1 : — 1 1 less unwholesome than charcoal Trevet. The enamelled stewpans which have now come into general use, are, from the peculiar nicety of the composition with which they are lined, better adapted than any others to pickling and preserving, as they may be used without danger for acids; and red fruits when boiled in them retain the brightness of their colour as well as if copper or bell-metal were used for them. The form of the old- fashioned preserving-pan, made usually of one or the other of these, is shown here ; but it has not, we should say, even the advantage of being of convenient shape ; for the handles quickly be- come heated, and the pan, in consequence, cannot always be 496 MODERN COOKERY. [chap. XXIV. instantaneously raised from the tire when the contents threaten to over-boil or to burn. It is desirable to have three or four wooden spoons or spatulas, one fine hair-sieve, at the least, one or two large squares of common muslin, and one strainer or more of closer texture, kept exclusively for prepara- tions of fruit; for if used for other pur- poses, there is the hazard, without great care, of their retaining some strong or coarse flavour, which they would im- part to the preserves. A sieve, for example, used habitually for soup or Copper Preserving Pan. gravy, should never, on any account , be brought into use for any kind of confectionary, nor in making sweet dishes, nor for straining eggs or milk for puddings, cakes, or bread. Damp is the great enemy, not only of preserves and pickles, but of numberless other household stores ; yet, in many situations, it is extremely difficult to exclude it.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

The small portable Trench stove, or furnace, shown in the preceding page, with the trivet and stewpan adapted to it, is exceedingly convenient for all preparations which require either more than usual attention, or a fire entirely free from smoke ; as it can be placed on a table in a clear light, and the heat can be regulated at pleasure. It has been used for many of the preserves of which the receipts are given in this chapter, as well as for various dishes contained in the body of the work. There should always be a free current of air in the room in which it stands when lighted, as charcoal or braise (that is to say, the live embers of large well-burned wood, drawn from an oven and shut immediately into a closelystopped iron or copper vessel to extinguish them) is the only fuel suited to it. To kindle either of these, two or three bits must be lighted in a common fire, and laid on the top of that in the furnace, which should be evenly placed between the grating and the brim, and then blown gently with the bellows until the whole is alight : the door of the furnace must in the mean while be open, and remain so, unless the heat should at any time be too fierce for the preserves, when it must be closed for a few minutes, to moderate it. To extinguish the fire altogether, the cover must be pressed closely on, and the door be quite shut : the embers which remain will serve to rekindle it easily, but before it is again lighted the grating must be lifted out and all the ashes cleared away. It should be set by in a place which is not damp. In a common grate a clear fire for preserving may be made with coke, which is a degree “ — 1 : — 1 1 less unwholesome than charcoal Trevet. The enamelled stewpans which have now come into general use, are, from the peculiar nicety of the composition with which they are lined, better adapted than any others to pickling and preserving, as they may be used without danger for acids; and red fruits when boiled in them retain the brightness of their colour as well as if copper or bell-metal were used for them. The form of the oldfashioned preserving-pan, made usually of one or the other of these, is shown here ; but it has not, we should say, even the advantage of being of convenient shape ; for the handles quickly become heated, and the pan, in consequence, cannot always be [chap. XXIV. instantaneously raised from the tire when the contents threaten to over-boil or to burn. It is desirable to have three or four wooden spoons or spatulas, one fine hair-sieve, at the least, one or two large squares of common muslin, and one strainer or more of closer texture, kept exclusively for preparations of fruit; for if used for other purposes, there is the hazard, without great care, of their retaining some strong or coarse flavour, which they would impart to the preserves. A sieve, for example, used habitually for soup or Copper Preserving Pan. gravy, should never, on any account , be brought into use for any kind of confectionary, nor in making sweet dishes, nor for straining eggs or milk for puddings, cakes, or bread. Damp is the great enemy, not only of preserves and pickles, but of numberless other household stores ; yet, in many situations, it is extremely difficult to exclude it.

[Modern cookery, in all its branches