The stove or range requires careful and scientific use,
if one would get the best results with the smallest
amount of fuel and the least expenditure of time and
patience. It is marvellous what good work a stove will
do under all sorts of bad treatment. Every housekeeper
should make herself familiar with the construction of
her range. The same general principles are observed in
the making of all stoves, but each manufacturer has
some peculiarities of construction. The general princi-
ples are these : to have a free draught, causing the fuel
to burn easily and quickly, and to have dampers that
will so control this draught that the fuel shall burn
quickly or slowly as one may desire. Perfect ranges
have several dampers and checks, because the hot air is
not carried in one straight channel, but must be distrib-
uted throughout the range, — on the top, the bottom, and
sides of the ovens, and also on the top of the range,
where the boiling, frying, stewing, etc., are done. There
must be several flues to carry on this distribution, and
each set should have a damper. A damper usually is an
iron rod, to which is attached a flat piece that acts as a
door to the flue. The turning or pulling backward or
forward of the iron rod opens or closes the flue. When
the door is opened the hot air is drawn into the flue and
carried through a certain space in the range : conse-
quently this part is hotter than any other except where
the fire is burning.
Now, it must be remembered that the hot air carries
with it fine ashes, a part of which lodge in these flues
and ultimately so clog them that only a small quantity
of air can pass through them ; hence the necessity for
frequent cleaning. With every modern range there
comes a card of instructions, which should be preserved.
It tells how to regulate the fire by means of the draughts
CARE OF UTENSILS AND FURNITURE. 63
and dampers, and how to clean the flues. On getting a
new range a housekeeper should remove the covers and,
as she reads the printed instructions, work the dampers
until she becomes perfectly familiar with their positions
when open and when closed, and the probable effect on
the fire in each case.
There is one draught that is to be kept open only
while the lire is being started. As soon as the smoke
passes off this damper should be closed. Eemember that
it is not to be kept open until the fire becomes clear and
red, but only until the smoke passes off, — say for ten or
fifteen minutes after the fire is lighted. This damper
does a great deal of mischief, because its office is so
poorly understood. It opens and closes the flue that is
connected with the chimney, so that, when open, the
draught is great, the fire burns rapidly, the top of the
range is hot, often red, and a large proportion of the
heat passes into the chimney. The oven is never hot
while this damper is open, and the coal burns out in
less than half the usual time. It will be seen that this
is the most important damper, and that it is necessary
to close it very soon after the fire is lighted.
Page 25
Presented as published in 1887. 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
The stove or range requires careful and scientific use, if one would get the best results with the smallest amount of fuel and the least expenditure of time and patience. It is marvellous what good work a stove will do under all sorts of bad treatment. Every housekeeper should make herself familiar with the construction of her range. The same general principles are observed in the making of all stoves, but each manufacturer has some peculiarities of construction. The general principles are these : to have a free draught, causing the fuel to burn easily and quickly, and to have dampers that will so control this draught that the fuel shall burn quickly or slowly as one may desire. Perfect ranges have several dampers and checks, because the hot air is not carried in one straight channel, but must be distributed throughout the range, — on the top, the bottom, and sides of the ovens, and also on the top of the range, where the boiling, frying, stewing, etc., are done. There must be several flues to carry on this distribution, and each set should have a damper. A damper usually is an iron rod, to which is attached a flat piece that acts as a door to the flue. The turning or pulling backward or forward of the iron rod opens or closes the flue. When the door is opened the hot air is drawn into the flue and carried through a certain space in the range : consequently this part is hotter than any other except where the fire is burning.
Now, it must be remembered that the hot air carries with it fine ashes, a part of which lodge in these flues and ultimately so clog them that only a small quantity of air can pass through them ; hence the necessity for frequent cleaning. With every modern range there comes a card of instructions, which should be preserved. It tells how to regulate the fire by means of the draughts
and dampers, and how to clean the flues. On getting a new range a housekeeper should remove the covers and, as she reads the printed instructions, work the dampers until she becomes perfectly familiar with their positions when open and when closed, and the probable effect on the fire in each case.
There is one draught that is to be kept open only while the lire is being started. As soon as the smoke passes off this damper should be closed. Remember that it is not to be kept open until the fire becomes clear and red, but only until the smoke passes off, — say for ten or fifteen minutes after the fire is lighted. This damper does a great deal of mischief, because its office is so poorly understood. It opens and closes the flue that is connected with the chimney, so that, when open, the draught is great, the fire burns rapidly, the top of the range is hot, often red, and a large proportion of the heat passes into the chimney. The oven is never hot while this damper is open, and the coal burns out in less than half the usual time. It will be seen that this is the most important damper, and that it is necessary to close it very soon after the fire is lighted.