heated air, or in some way supplied with
moisture during the cooking process, come from the oven dry, hard, and
unpalatable.

Proper cooking by this method depends greatly upon the facility with
which the heat of the oven can be regulated. When oil or gas is the fuel
used, it is an easy matter to secure and maintain almost any degree of
heat desirable, but with a wood or coal stove, especial care and
painstaking are necessary.

It is of the first importance that the mechanism of the oven to be used,
be thoroughly understood by the cook, and she should test its heating
capacity under various conditions, with a light, quick fire and with a
more steady one; she should carefully note the kind and amount of fuel
requisite to produce a certain degree of heat; in short, she should
thoroughly know her "machine" and its capabilities before attempting to
use it for the cooking of food. An oven thermometer is of the utmost
value for testing the heat, but unfortunately, such thermometers are not
common. They are obtainable in England, although quite expensive. It is
also possible at the present time to obtain ranges with a very reliable
thermometer attachment to the oven door.

[Illustration: An Oven Thermometer]

A cook of good judgment by careful observation and comparison of
results, can soon learn to form quite a correct idea of the heat of her
oven by the length of time she can hold her hand inside it without
discomfort, but since much depends upon the construction of stoves and
the kind of fuel used, and since the degree of heat bearable will vary
with every hand that tries it, each person who depends upon this test
must make her own standard. When the heat of the oven is found to be too
great, it may be lessened by placing in it a dish of cold water.

_Boiling_ is the cooking of food in a boiling liquid. Water is the usual
medium employed for this purpose. When water is heated, as its
temperature is increased, minute bubbles of air which have been
dissolved by it are given off. As the temperature rises, bubbles of
steam will begin to form at the bottom of the vessel. At first these
will be condensed as they rise into the cooler water above, causing a
simmering sound; but as the heat increases, the bubbles will rise higher
and higher before collapsing, and in a short time will pass entirely
through the water, escaping from its surface, causing more or less
agitation, according to the rapidity with which they are formed.