Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/749

 KITCHENS OF COUNTRY INNS. 725 1^7rf p. 43, will be fouiul described an excellent mode of boiling water by stcf^m. In some of the London club-liouses, and particularly in that belonging to the Travellers' Club, which was fitted up by Mr. Jeakes, under the direction of the eminent architect, Charles Darry, Esq., steam is brought most extensively into use in cooking; in heating hot closets, tables, and benches ; in boiling water for baths, and for various other purposes. For whatever end a steam apparatus is erected, the boiler ought always to have a manhole for cleaning it out ; and this operation ought to be performed frequently, otherwise the earthy material deposited on the metal, being a non-conductor, will render the water every day more difficult to heat, and hasten the burning out of the bottom of the boiler. It may also be remarked, that thin-bottomed boilers of wrought iron, or copper, not only are sooner heated, but last longer, than boilers with thick bottoms, such as those of cast iron. Cast-iron boilers are also much more dangerous, in cases of explosion, than those made of malleable materials. 1514. Hot Closets for keeping plates, or food warm, or for other purposes, may be formed in anv convenient part of the kitchen, by surrounding them with a double case of iron, into the interstices of which the steam is admitted. The shelves may also be double, and connected with the sides, to admit of their being heated in the same manner. A long kitchen-table, for setting out dishes before they are carried up to the dining-room, may liave the centre formed of a double plate, and the steam adinitted under it, to keep the dishes hot, while standing there. Hot closets may also be formed under the side- boards in the principal dining-rooms, and connected with the steam apparatus by a pipe. 1515. A/i Apparatus for roasting Meat of every Kind by Gas has been recently invented by Mr. Hicks, the patentee of the improved iron oven, by which spirit is obtained from the exhalations of fermented bread while baking, before noticed, § 1509. This apparatus is so extremely simple and beautiful, that a very few words will suffice to ex])lain it. The gas is admitted to a metallic circle, fig. 1373, a, through a very narrow continuous opening, round the outside of which the gas issues, and forms a ring of blue flame. In the centre, supported by two lateral gas tubes joined to the circle, is an upright spike, c, serving as a spit on which the meat to be roasted is stuck. From the centre of the circle the pipe, d, which supplies the gas, • ; passes down to the gas main, e ; having a cock, f, with a regulating lever, g, by which the gas can be turned on or off, and the degree of flame produced can be regulated with the greatest nicety. The circle is raised a few inches above a bench or table, h, so as to admit of the introduc- tion of a convex tin dish, fiirnished with a spout for receiving the dripping, under each spit. From this dish the dripping runs off by the spout, and is collected in any common dish placed under it. Over the bench, at the height of three or four feet, is a projecting boarded canopy or liood, for receiving the heated air and smell from the gas and meat, and conducting them to a flue, so as to pre- vent them from accumulating in the kitchen. Directly above the gas circle is a cone of polished copper, suspended by a weight. This cone is two inches wider in diameter at the base than the gas circle, and it has a small orifice at the top. When the operation of roasting is to be performed, all that is necessary is to spit the meat, and light the gas, regulating it so as to produce only