Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/732

 708 COTTAGE, FARM, AND VILLA ARCHITECTURE. second, the wealth, and consequent indifference to economy, of their employers. The consequence of the first is, that a host of prejudices is raised up against every new mode of practice proposed to be introduced ; and of the second, that there is an utter dislike to the trouble necessary to introduce them. Perhaps a third cause may be assigned ; viz., that of the heavy rents, taxes, and other charges, to which the tradesmen who fit up kitchens, &c., are liable; and which induce them rather to favour the rnanufacture of articles which amount to considerable sums, and on which alone they can put such a profit as will enable them to live. There has hitherto, therefore, been no effective demand for economical improvement, nor is it likely that there will be, till it is created by necessity ; or, in other words, by the diminished incomes of those who now constitute the wealthv classes. We are confirmed in this opinion by observing the economical con- struction of the stewing-hearths on the Continent, where the incomes of the higlier classes are much lower than in this country ; where the price of fuel is much higher ; and where, at the same time, the cookery is of a very superior description to what is generally to be met with in Britain. We shall shortly point out the imperfections of modern British kitchens, and afterwards suggest improvements ; commencing with the kitchen-range and stewing-hearths, and taking nex't the baking and roasting oven, the steaming apparatus, and, lastly, the art of cooking entirely by the use of gas. 1481. In examining the Kitchen-ranges and Cooking Apparatus of the principal Club- houses and Inns of London, we have found the construction such as to occasion the most extraordinary waste of fuel, as well as the most disagreeable laboiu- to those employed in cookin"-, from the excessive heat. This results chiefly from the construction of the apparatus made use of, including its connection with the building ; but partly, also, from the ignorance or indifference of the operators, in regard to the adjustment of the deo-ree of heat to the time required for any particular kind of cookery. For example, Count Rumford has shown that meat may be boiled, or, in other words, dressed in hot water, when that fluid does not exceed 209 degrees ; he has also shown that when the water is heated so as to throw off a great deal of steam, an immense quantity of heat is wasted, without the meat being better dressed than by the previous mode. He has proved that the processes both of boiling and stewing are carried on to much greater advantage, with reference to the excellence of the dishes produced, when they proceed slowly and at a low temperature, than when they are conducted rapidly and at a hio-h temperature. In most kitchens, however, it will be found that these oper- ations are carried on with a degree of heat far beyond what is necessary, at once to the injury of the meat, and the inconvenience of the operator. One reason, we believe, why this rapid mode of cooking is preferred by the cooks is, the excessive annoyance which they experience when long exposed to the heat reflected from the stewing-hearths and the open fires. In one of the principal inns in London, which has been lately rebuilt, and fitted up with a stewing-hearth of the newest construction, we found this hearth to consist of a plate of cast iron about six feet long and four feet broad, heated by a fur- nace and flue below, to a red heat. On this plate the dishes for boiling and stewing arc placed, and also the gridirons for broiling. The operations are rapidly performed; but the heat of the kitchen is so intense, as to be scarcely bearable, even by the cooks ; and the effect of the radiation from the red-hot cast iron on their eyes is such as to endanger their becomino- blind. The reason why this cast-iron plate is adopted, rather than a stewing-hearth, with several small fireplaces, is, we are informed, that common coal may be burnt underneath it in one furnace, and thus the whole may be heated by one coal fire, instead of requiring several, in which only coke or charcoal could be burned. Even in all the more improved stewing-hearths which we have seen in the principal inns and club-houses, more than double the quantity of fuel is used that is necessary for the purposes of cooking ; and all the excess of heat jjroduced is either carried up the chim- ney, or thrown out so as to annoy the cook, and heat the kitchen to an intolerable degree. The most economical stewing-hearths that we have seen in London are those of the con- fectioners ; and, next, those of the French restaurateurs and hotels. 1482. The great Fault of British Kitchens, Count Rumford observes, is, that the fire- places in them are not closed. " The fuel is burnt in long open grates, called kitchen- ranges ; over which the pots and kettles arc suspended, or placed on stands : or fires are made with charcoal in square holes, called stoves, in a solid mass of brickwork, and connected with no flue to carry off the smoke ; over which holes, stewpans or saucepans are placed on tripods, or on bars of iron, exposed on every side to the cold air of the atmosphere." In addition to the loss of heat and waste of fuel in such kitchens, the noxious exhalations from the burning charcoal, and the currents of cold air occasioned by the strong draught up the wide open chimneys, are both unpleasant and dangerous to the cooks. To complete the machinery of an ordinary British kitchen-range, which seems to be calculated for the express purpose of devouring fuel, a smoke-jack is generally placed in the chimney. No human invention, Count Ilumlbrd adds, ever came to his