LABOR-SAVING DEVICES
Before iron was known copper was the principal material for cooking utensils. The
chief point in favor of copper is its durability, but utensils made of it are not practical for use in the ordinary kitchen because they are expensive, heavy, and very difficult to keep clean.
GLASS.
--Utensils made of heavy glassware are much used for cooking. Glass utensils are
especially desirable for custards and other dishes that the cook likes to watch while cooking or that are to be served in the baking dish. Glass cooking utensils possess the advantage of retaining the heat well.
WOOD.
--Certain utensils made of wood are required in a cooking outfit, a molding board of
hardwood and a smaller wooden cutting board being particularly necessary in every kitchen. Bowls in which to chop foods, rolling pins, and mixing spoons are usually made of hardwood, and when such wood is used for them they are entirely satisfactory.
LABOR-SAVING DEVICES
A LABOR-SAVING DEVICE is any apparatus that will permit a certain
piece of work to be accomplished with less exertion than would be necessary to
do the same thing without it. A sink and a dustpan are labor-saving devices just
as truly as are a bread mixer and a vacuum cleaner, but because a sink and a
dustpan are necessities as well, they are not usually thought of as true labor-
saving devices.
The newer appliances for saving labor are often considered to be quite unnecessary, and indeed some of them are. It is only when such apparatus will, with less labor involved and less time consumed in the process, secure results as good as or better than will another device, and when the cleaning and care of it do not consume so much time and labor as is saved by using it, that it may be considered a true labor-saving device. Each housewife must decide for herself whether the expense of a so-called labor-saving device is greater than the value of the time and strength she would use without such a device.
COMMON LABOR-SAVING
DEVICES. Every housewife does not have occasion to use all the devices that
have been invented to save labor, but a number of these are in such common use, produce such good results, and save so much time and effort that they should be found in every kitchen. Among them is the rotary egg beatershown in Fig. 1 (a). This is so made that one revolution of the wheel to which the crank is attached does about five times as much work as can be done with a fork or with an egg whip, which is shown in (b).
Another inexpensive device that is a real help is the potato ricer. This device, one style of which is shown in Fig. 2, is really a press through which any fruit or vegetable can be put to make a purée. It is used considerably for mashing potatoes, as it makes them perfectly smooth and saves considerable time and labor. Still another useful device is the meat chopper, or grinder, which is shown in Fig. 3. Such a device clamped to the edge of a table takes the place of a chopping bowl and knife, and in addition to being more sanitary it permits the work to be done in a shorter time and with less effort.
Besides the devices mentioned, there are many small labor-saving devices, such as the
apple corer, the berry huller, the mayonnaise mixer, etc., the merits of which every busy housewife will do well to consider.
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