My first fireless cooking experiment was with a common
wooden candy bucket, such as the grocer will give you or sell
for a few cents. I divided the lid into two parts — one being
about three-quarters and the other one-quarter, and nailed
the smaller part snugly in place on the bucket. Hinges of
pieces of leather from an old shoe top fastened the larger
piece to the small one. A narrow strip of leather at the
outer edge, and a screw in the side of the bucket, just where
the "buttonhole" in the end of the leather strip would easily
slip over it, secured the lid when the cooker was in use. It
would be well perhaps, to stay the lid by cross strips, for
fear of warping, as a certain amount of steam escapes from
the tightest vessel.
A Wooden Bucket Fireless Cooker
The bucket may be covered with a ruffle to hide the sides,
and have a cushion on top, and will make an odd little seat
in the kitchen or dining room. It keeps the heat as well
as anything I know, if it is papered several times, inside and
out. I use excelsior for packing and pack it very hard, fill-
ing to within 2 inches of the top. The nest for the kettle is
made close fitting at the bottom of the pail, and gradually
slants to the top, until it is a third as thick in packing. This
allows the pillow for closing to tuck in very snugly, and keeps
the air out better than when the hay or excelsior nest is level
with the top of the kettle and the pillow laid across the
whole surface.
276 FARM AND HOME COOK BOOK
Some say that the hay or excelsior must be changed every
few weeks, but I do not see why. Unless food is spilled into
the nest, or left in so long that it sours, the filling does not
become tainted for many months. An occasional sunning of
the filling, the leaving of the cooker open after the removal
of coiLtents, until thoroughly aired, is generally sufficient
to keep it in good order. I find that the filling in the cover-
pillow needs renewing most often, as it crushes up, and also,
being handled most, is apt to get dirty. Another discovery is
that the use of newspapers and other paper is a big help in
the cooker. Not only may the box be papered smoothly, layer
after layer, but if hay or excelsior are not handy, you may
fill the box entirely with crushed or cut up paper.
My large fireless cooker is considered quite a triumph by
all my friends. In the first place it makes a nice looking piece
of furniture, which looks well in the dining room as well as
kitchen, and again it is convenient because each nest can be
opened without touching either of the others, and lastly
because a woman built it, for I did every bit of the work myself.
I made it about as high as a low table, because I am owner of
a "back" and do not enjoy stooping. As the cut shows, it
is of convenient width and will slip nicely under the drain-
board of the sink, when necessary. It may be used as a table
on emergency, although if wanted for such use a good plan
would be to omit the knob lifters for the lid sections, and
use rings instead. Make a shallow hole in which these can
lie when not in use, and then the top of the cooker will be
smooth, and with an oil cloth spread, will make a very handy
supplementary table.
Page 188
Presented as published in 1907. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
My first fireless cooking experiment was with a common wooden candy bucket, such as the grocer will give you or sell for a few cents. I divided the lid into two parts — one being about three-quarters and the other one-quarter, and nailed the smaller part snugly in place on the bucket. Hinges of pieces of leather from an old shoe top fastened the larger piece to the small one. A narrow strip of leather at the outer edge, and a screw in the side of the bucket, just where the "buttonhole" in the end of the leather strip would easily slip over it, secured the lid when the cooker was in use. It would be well perhaps, to stay the lid by cross strips, for fear of warping, as a certain amount of steam escapes from the tightest vessel.
A Wooden Bucket Fireless Cooker
The bucket may be covered with a ruffle to hide the sides, and have a cushion on top, and will make an odd little seat in the kitchen or dining room. It keeps the heat as well as anything I know, if it is papered several times, inside and out. I use excelsior for packing and pack it very hard, filling to within 2 inches of the top. The nest for the kettle is made close fitting at the bottom of the pail, and gradually slants to the top, until it is a third as thick in packing. This allows the pillow for closing to tuck in very snugly, and keeps the air out better than when the hay or excelsior nest is level with the top of the kettle and the pillow laid across the whole surface.
Some say that the hay or excelsior must be changed every few weeks, but I do not see why. Unless food is spilled into the nest, or left in so long that it sours, the filling does not become tainted for many months. An occasional sunning of the filling, the leaving of the cooker open after the removal of contents, until thoroughly aired, is generally sufficient to keep it in good order. I find that the filling in the coverpillow needs renewing most often, as it crushes up, and also, being handled most, is apt to get dirty. Another discovery is that the use of newspapers and other paper is a big help in the cooker. Not only may the box be papered smoothly, layer after layer, but if hay or excelsior are not handy, you may fill the box entirely with crushed or cut up paper.
My large fireless cooker is considered quite a triumph by all my friends. In the first place it makes a nice looking piece of furniture, which looks well in the dining room as well as kitchen, and again it is convenient because each nest can be opened without touching either of the others, and lastly because a woman built it, for I did every bit of the work myself. I made it about as high as a low table, because I am owner of a "back" and do not enjoy stooping. As the cut shows, it is of convenient width and will slip nicely under the drainboard of the sink, when necessary. It may be used as a table on emergency, although if wanted for such use a good plan would be to omit the knob lifters for the lid sections, and use rings instead. Make a shallow hole in which these can lie when not in use, and then the top of the cooker will be smooth, and with an oil cloth spread, will make a very handy supplementary table.