Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 172, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 July 1919 — Use Cooking Box as a Refrigerator [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Use Cooking Box as a Refrigerator

By U. S. Department of Agriculture

The fireless, cooler can be used to keep things coM as well as hot, because heat cannot pass In from the outside to warm the contents any more than it ran pass out to cool them. In this respect it works very much like a refrigerator. In fact, both the cooking box and the icebox are constructed on the same principle, namely that of supplying a constant-temperature chamber with nonconducting walls. Well-constructed ice boxes are made with some insulating material or dead-air space between the inner and outer walls, «nd~the covers and doors close in such a way as to prevent heat escaping in or out through them. Of course the more often the doors are opened the more heat passes in and the more quickly the ice melts and the temperature rises throughput all parts of the box. Fortunately this is less serious than the loss of heat when a fireless cooker is opened. When the cooker is used to keep things cool they must be chilled to the desired temperature before they are put in. The more nearly heat proof the walls the longer the material keeps its original temperature. Ice-cream put in a wdtl-made fireless cooker ought to remain firm as long as packed In salt and ice in an ordinary freezer. Many cooks prefer to pack such half-

frozen desserts as mousse or parfait in the receptacle of a fireless cooker rather than in a freezer because there is less danger of their getting too cold and hard. It is often convenient to make cold drinks, like lemonade or fruit punch, some hours before they are used. By chilling them and then putting them into the cooker they can be kept cool without ice. Sometimes a little ice is put into the box with the food to make it cooler, just as hot Soapstones or'"bricks are put in to make it hotter. Because there Is less space to keep cool much, less ice is needed than in the chamber of an icebox. The ice in the cooker melts very slowly and so keeps the temperature down much longer than if it were used in an open pitcher. What receptacles it is best to use for things to be kept cool in the cooker depends on their kind. The material can often be put directly into the pail, just as if it were to be cooked. For liquids it is sometimes more convenient to use a low bottle or a fruit jar which will set into the nest. If ice is to be used it is usually cracked and packed around the bottle or dish.

Home-Made Fireless Cooker, Showing Outside Container and Cushion for Filling Space Above Cooking Vessel.