Page:Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management.djvu/87

Rh termed braising or braizing. In shape it may be either round or oval, with a depressed lid in which hot charcoal is placed, whereby the meat is cooked between two slow fires. This method is said to develop more fully the flavours of materials cooked; also to decrease the loss of strength and flavour by evaporation; it is largely practised in France. In England the braising-pan is frequently placed in the oven instead of under charcoal, the latter article as a fuel being but seldom used.

The Double or Milk Saucepan.—This is, on a small scale, what the BAIN-MARIE is on a larger scale. The smaller saucepan fitting into the larger one is either lined with enamel or made of earthenware. The double saucepan is especially useful for making porridge and gruel, and boiling custards and milk. It may also be usefully employed in cooking tapioca, sago, semolina and other farinaceous substances, when the oven is being used for other purposes, and is too hot for the long, gentle process of cooking they require. When an egg is added to any of these preparations, it should be mixed in just before the pudding is put into the oven to brown. The double saucepan is supplied in four sizes, known as Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and sold respectively at 3s. 3d., 3s. 9d., 4s. 9d. and 6s. 6d. The lower saucepan is made of block tin, and when in use should be half filled with water, which must be replaced as it boils away, otherwise the upper saucepan is liable to crack.

Steamers.—These articles consist of a cylinder of tin, tinned iron or copper, made to fit into the top of a saucepan and to carry the saucepan cover as its lid. The lower or saucepan portion varies in capacity from 6 to 14 pints, and the entire appliance is sold from 2s. 6d. to 4s. 3d., according to size. Larger kinds, containing from 6 to 12 quarts, may also be obtained. Steamers are chiefly used in cooking potatoes and puddings, especially those containing meat or fruit. When the potatoes are sufficiently cooked, the water in the saucepan should be poured off and the steamer replaced. The heat from the saucepan below quickly causes the moisture remaining in the potatoes and the steamer itself to evaporate, thus converting the latter into a DRY HOT CLOSET, in which the cooking of the potatoes is completed. Even when boiled, potatoes are more floury when the water is drained off, and the cooking completed this way. It is possible to place one steamer above another, and, indeed, some steam-cookery vessels are constructed to carry four or six steamers, a contrivance being provided to prevent steam from one department invading another.

The Turbot Kettle and Salmon Kettle.—This variety of fish-kettle is arranged to suit the shape of the fish from which it takes its name. It is shallow, very broad, and is fitted inside with a drainer similar to that in other fish-kettles. Turbot-kettles are usually supplied in three sizes known as small, middle and large. These sizes, in block-tin, strong, are supplied at 11s., 13s. and 18s. 9d. The salmon kettle is a long, narrow utensil, like the fish-kettle, but the cover has a handle at