COOKING BY ELECTRICITY.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 16 May 1925, Page 15

COOKING BY ELECTRICITY.

Cooking by electricity! How up to date it sounds! How we long for “this freedom’’- —freedom from the oft-recur-ring inconveniences of a gas stove, from the heat and dirt of a one-fire stove. And usually all that deters us is a half-acknowledged fear of using a comparatively unknown element or medium of cooking—a fear as foolish as it is groundless (writes Mrs G. Vassall Cox in the Australasian). The Principle of the Electric Cooker. What is cooking by electricty? How do we obtain the heat for cooking? The principle unon which the electric cooker works is'that of radiated heat, obtained by passing an electric current through the coiled wires of heating elements, as they are called. These elements are so constructed that they become incandescent; some elements are “open” so that this glow or incandescence of the wires can actually be seen, others are “closed” or covered with some protective material that readily absorbs heat. In small cookers only one element may be used for heating the entire cooking space, but in larger ovens two elements, usually situated at the top and bottom of the oven, supply the necessary heat for. cooking purposes and what even, regular heat it is only those who have used an electric stove can realise. Heat Control. The heatnig elements in an electric stove ,are controlled by switches, and in nearly every case these switches have four positions—off, low, medium and high—so that any desired degree of heat can be arrived at, and there is a pointer on each switch to indicate which heat is being used. In the oven of an ordinary sized electric stoye there are separate switches to control top and bottom heat, and this in itself is a great boon, as every good cook knows that different dishes require a varying amount of one kind of heat or the other, and this heat control is less exact by other methods of cooking. Advantages of Electric Cooking.. The advantages of electric cooking can be viewed from three standpoints: (a) Efficiency. (b) Economy. (c) Health. , (a) Efficiency.—l. The absolute control of heat obtainable in an electric stove and the separate control of .top and bottom heat make electric cooking much more an exact science than apart; this perfect control by means of switches has already been explained, and because of it the same results can be obtained over, and over again, especially as outside conditions, such as “wind'in the wrong direction,” which affects the proper drawing of a one-fire stove, or “draughts,” which affect the even cooking of an ordinary gas stove, do not affect the double-walled, enclosed oven of an electric cooker. 2. The minimum amount of labour is required to obtain maximum results. Less attention need be given to the cooking because the regular heat and control hy switches make it possible to gauge the time needed for cooking more exactly. Less cleaning is needed, either for the stoves themselves or the kitchen, because in the first place there are no dirt deposits, or products of combustion, such as soot, smoke, or fumes, to contend with; and in the second place, the stoves are so constructed that they can easily he kept clean.

3. The heat is so regular that in texture, colorir, and appearance the food is perfect—evenly- risen, evenly browned—and the absence of fumes allows the ftill flavour and aroma of food to be developed.

(b) Economy.—l. There is less waste and shrinkage of food during cooking, owing to the fact that the enclosed heat of an • electric oven causes less rapid evaporation of moisture „ and juices. This is especially noticeable in the case of meat, where it has been proved that lib in, every slli| can he saved hy this method of cooking.

2. Heat is retained where it is needed, and n good part of the cooking can he done without current hy making use of this knowledge. 3. Cleanliness and lack of soot and smoke make furnishing and curtains last much longer. (o) Health.—l. There are no unhealthy gases or products of combustion to taint or exhaust the air of -the kitchen.

2. Because of the above fact there is no need for wide ventilating spaces in the oven, which is built to retain the heat rather than to throw it out into the room and make the kitchen overheated, unhealthy and uncomfortable.