Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/727

 699 WOMAN'S HOMB without risk of burning the hands. Whilr the toast is being made the doors are closed. Allowing three minutes for the heat to be Eroperly distri- uted, the toast will then take A hot'plate th&t can be used both for keeping things hot at table or for actual boiling and cooking. In nickel plate, it can be made ornamental as well as useful An ingenious egg'boiler that can be heated by electricity. It lends itself to artistic treatment one mmute to prepare, and as the current consumption if used for one hour would only be about half a unit, the cost of making toast for a meal is infinitesimal. We illustrate another toaster which, while cooking both sides of the toast at once, will also heat a kettle or keep bacon hot. When connected to the electric lighting wires, the cost of using this toaster for half an hour daily works out at only a few pence weekly. Percolators and Coffee Machines Except that it is heated electrically, the percolator is similar to that which is arranged for use with a spirit lamp, and the coffee machine is also much the same in design. Experts on coffee-making are agreed that it should not be boiled, and that the process of percolation produces a beverage of delicious flavour and of any desired strength. In the design sketcned the heating element is com- bined with the stove, and, though the heating unit is durable and long lasting, it is also removable and renewable. This percolator is made of polished, non-tarnishing aluminium on the outside, and lined inside with copper. It can very easily be cleansed after use, for by placing a small piece of soda in the reser- voir and switching the current on, this device will wash itself. It has been found that aluminium distri- butes the heat over the surface better than any other metal, and consequently this material is largely used in the manufacture of utensils for electric cooking. The kettle may be supple- mented, if desired, by the electrically heated hot-water jug, or such an article may take the place of a kettle. These jugs are very artistic in design, and are made in nickel, antique brass, or copper in varying sizes from one and a half to three or four pints. Electric Kettles and Hot- water Jirg.t Although half a guinea may be considered a large sum to Electricity will boil a kettle more quickly and efficiently than gas or fire expend on the purchase of a tin-plate kettle, must be mcmbered that this sum includes fuel. Such a kettle, with a capacity of one and a half pints, will be found economical if u.scd carefully. Kettles, of course, vary greatly in shape according to individual taste and requirements, and the electrically heated kettle, like most of the other electric cooking vessels, is an es.sential to comfort in a perfectly ordered modem house. This expenditure vAW be found to compare very favourably with the average cost of cooking by gas, and the careful housekeeper will do well also to take into further con- sideration the fact that her kitchen utensils will last longer. As she has learned by painful experience, gas has a fatally destruc- tive effect upon them, both as regards appearance and wear. Then, too, it is scarcely poss- ible to over- estimate the comfort in times of ne- cessity of being able at a mo- ment's notice to command a sufficient supply of boiling water. The extreme im- portance, in bronchitis, for example, of the immediate use of a kettle to relieve the sufferer's breathing is an instance in point. If the house is " wired," as are most modern town houses, no precious time is lost, either in lighting a fire, or, if a gas stove is in use, of transporting it when heated from the kitchen to the bedroom. There are no unpleasant fumes, nor is the atmosphere rendered hot and dry, both conditions that are adverse to recovery. The design illustrated in polished brass is capable of holding from two to six pints. That electric appliances can be ornamental as well as use- ful is shown by the stand- supported kettles, which are very handsome, for dra^ving- room use. A two-pint polished copper kettle boils in ten minutes, and can be boiled many times for one penny. An aluminium pefCOlator. heated by electricity, that will make excellent coffee and is easily cleaned