STRAY NOTES

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 136, 5 March 1929, Page 17

STRAY NOTES

CARE OF THE GAS STOVE It is a good plan to look over one s gas stove and give it a little treatment and efficiency drill every now and then, so that it will not let you down at a crucial moment. , If you have the latest type cooker, and know how to use it properly—and it is certainly well worth while to have such a one —you should have little difficulty in keeping it clean, for its enamel plates are easily scoured with a damp cloth and soda, and the finish of the metal parts is so good that it is easy to keep them free from stains and rust. The things you want to be sure about are: Is the adjustment of the burners correct? Do the flames burn with a clear blue flame? . Yellow in the Maine, if the , burners are clean, means faulty adjustment, and flames that lick up round the sides of saucepans . and frying-pans mean that gas is being wasted. Yellow in the flame will cover your cooking gear with dirt and choke your burners. ho dirt accumulates from the. clear blue flame. The gas company no doubt will have this matter corrected for you if it is brought to their notice. If you want to get the best out of your gascooker, don’t have a draught blowing straight across it when you are cooking, as it blows the flames aside from their job, and cools down the oven every time the oven door is opened. . Fast boiling cooks no more quickly than slow, but it wastes gas and causes the pot to boil over. Plan out your cookery so that the over, or the top range, when they are in use, can be filled to the fullest capacity. Thoughtless cooks waste fuel and time in not thinking out menus beforehand. To keep your gas stove clean and sweet always wipe over the inside of the oven and the movable racks with a cloth wrung out in hot water and soda immediately after use. Then you will never have fumes or an objectionable smell, ine top bars of a stove should be removed once a week, and scrubbed thoroughly in hot soda water. Rinse and leave it to dry before returning to their place. Burners should be attended to at least once a fortnight. Every owner of a gas stove should know how to remove the burners and put them back again. A pricker is useful to clear the small burner holes of any dust, rust or grease that may have accumulated in them. A wire brush is the best instrument for cleansing the under surface. Then put them into boiling hot soda water, and let them soak for some minutes. lake them out, turn them upside down to drain for at least half an hour. Polish and dry with a duster (a.smooth cotton one, so that there will be no possibility of fluft sticking to them) before fixing them again into place.