Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 282, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 November 1911 — MY EXPERIENCES WITH PAPER BAG COOKERY [ARTICLE]

MY EXPERIENCES WITH PAPER BAG COOKERY

By Martha McCollech Williams. When Soyer’s paper bag method of cooking was first brought to my attention by friends, who, rightly or wrongly, seem to have a high opinion of my abilities as a cook, I admit that I was sceptical of its practiability. Indeed. I was more than that—l was rather firm tn ray belief that it could not prove out But I was induced to put the system to a trial—and, lo and behold!—the very first trial made me an enthusiastic follower of M. Boyer. Since then I have been doing all ray cooking by the Boyer method, and each succeeding trial convinces me more than ever that any woman, simply by following Soyer’s genera! directions, and using that good common sense and care which are essential to all good cooking, can master the Boyer paper bag method of cooking in a very short time, and will find it a great boon both to herself and to all the members of her household. Practically every advantage that M. Boyer claims for his paper bag method of cookery over the present greasy pot and pan system of cooking I have found by actual experience to prove out But as M. Boyer himself says with engaging candor: “The success of the system depends entirely on how ft Is carried out Some people have imagined that all I urge amounts to a

general use of the bag in place of the ordinary saucepan, without any attention to the conditions that are essential to good cooking. Good cooking re quires time, care, attention to detail, taste and a temperature suited to the particular dish being cooked. The paper bag does not abrogate any of the rules that apply to efficient work at the kitchen table.”. It is true, beyond peradventure of doubt, that paper bags will never cook a fine meal off their own bat, as it were; but my experience has taught me that the bags plus a moderate use of brains, a trifle of experience and a certain deftness of manipulation that comes with experience, will unquestionably simplify the problem of living by lessening sensibly the drudgery of the kitchen, but, L repeat, to the housewife who brings common sense to bear upon that matter the time of learning will be surprisingly brief. Following M. Boyer’s general directions for paper bag cookery, I speedily learned that there are sundry coma • t i mandments to be observed while pursuing this method of cooking. The first and greatest of these is to get the right bag, which is made especially for cooking, is parafined, odorless even when crumbly crisp, sanitary and to be had in sizes big enough to hold a Thanksgiving turkey or tiny enough for a single chop. ' Next, nearly as important, is to grease the bag liberally, using butter, lard, oil, drippings or a very fat rind of bacon. Grease thoroughly—it is the dry spots which crisp, crack, leak and make trouble. But beware laying a bag empty of al! but grease in the hot oven to spread the grease. Even a few seconds of heat make the bag crackle and hard to handle. Use soft grease, whatever the sort, rubbing it on with the fingers. Mops and butter brushes can be used, but they do the work less completely. Further, proprtion. your bag size to what It Is destined to hold. The closer the fit of the bag and contents, the better, and the more even and compact the lay of the food, the less troub.o in handling. Fo d .ver the open end at least three times and fasten with strong wire clips. If. perforce, the bag is too big, cut off the end and then fold over the dip. Also I have found ft very satisfactory to fold

and clip empty corners, although this is not essential to success. Where bag and food touch the paper holds its texture, whereas ip empty single ply spaces it crisps rather too easily and is likely to break at a touch. Use a footed wire broiler, or very open grid shelf, in the oven. AM papor bag cooking is done in the oven. If a gas oven, it must be lighted eight to ten minutes before putting in the fool and kept at -a blazing heat until the bag corners scorch slightly; then slacken the heat a third or even halt throughout the rest of the tim cooking. Be sure to lay the bags in the oven with the seam- uppermost, especially if water has been put inside. Seams wil' steam open now and then—if the opening is downward there will be a leakage and much bother. In event of a leak, either set a pan underneath to catch the drip or lift out the shelf and bag and slip the latter, with its contents, into a bigger bag, freshly greased. A well greased bag can Me for some time without damage, but as soon as it Is filled with food it should be set on cooking. Have a care in placing it—once cooking begins, it must “stay put'* till it is ended. With several bags requiring shelf room, lay the first of them at the farther back corner, so as just to miss the oven wall. It the contents are heavy, and especially if they are bulgy, do not try to shove the bag across the shelf bars—ease it in upon them by putting either a broad flat basting spoon handle underneath or a clean bit of shingle, using ft as a baker uses his peel. If the grid shelf can be filled at once, take it- out of the stove, arrange the bags compactly upon ft and set it again in place. But take care not to handle it rough?, and, above -all, not to let the bags slip or slide. A general direction for heat in paper bag cooking is to have ft at full head when the cold bag is put In the oven, close the door and open ft after two minutes. If the bag comers then show decided scorching, slack the heat moderately for three or four minutes longer and then diminish ft half. On the heat question ft Is well to bear in mind (as in the case of pot and pan cooHng) that not only a —a heat vary, under varying weather con-

ditions, but the effects of it as well. Every cook knows the difference a muggy, stifling day mikes in cake baking, in making candy, preserves, jellies and so on. Also that potatoes bake much quicker,* are of better flavor and mealier upon a clear, bracing day than upon one when drawing breath is a burden. So here, again, one must learn—the “know how” is as indispensible in paper bag cookery as in any other high art. Stoves have their vagaries, ranges likewise, even as the cooks who make use of them. Moreover, there is a varying fuel value to gas, coal and oil, depending somewhat on the grate, somewhat on the management and still more on subtle atmospheric conditions. Finally, it is impo rtant to remember that\all manipulation, seasoning and flavoring of food must be attended to before it is put in bags. There can be no stirring or tossing In the course of paper bag cooking; such action is absolutely unnecessary if directions are faithfully followed.