i34° The Cornell Reading-Courses 



to the boil, and after boiling a few minutes allowing it to gradually 

 cool again. 



Machinery. — Egg beaters, ice cream freezers, and any other utensil 

 in which there is friction between two parts, should be carefully oiled before 

 using, the wheels turned until the oil has reached every part, and all surplus 

 oil wiped off before the utensil is used for food. The bearings should 

 never be put in water, since they cannot be perfectly dried and therefore 

 would become roughened and clogged by rust. 



PROLONGING THE USEFULNESS OF UTENSILS 



Repair kit 



Much time and strength is consumed in trying to work with utensils in 

 which some important part is displaced or lacking. Sending such atricles 

 away to be repaired is expensive and often means doing without them just 

 when they are most needed. A well-stocked repair kit is therefore a neces- 

 sary part of the up-to-date kitchen. If we calculate the time, strength, 

 and nervous force wasted in trying to use a teakettle lid with a loose knob, 

 as against the time that it would take to tighten the nut which holds that 

 knob if only the screw driver were close at hand ; in hunting for the kitchen 

 memorandum in a table drawer, when a nail and hammer would fasten 

 it to the wall; in tugging at a warped pantry door when a few strokes of 

 the plane would make it open and close easily ; in slamming a door that 

 will not close in any other way, for lack of a drop of oil on the catch; in 

 having to discard a pet saucepan in the midst of preparing a company 

 dinner, because a tiny hole makes it useless, when a drop of solder would 

 cure the trouble; in trying to carve meat or cut bread with a dull knife, 

 when the possession of a knife sharpener and the knowledge of how to 

 use it would make the process a pleasure: we shall readily see what a 

 change would be wrought by the presence of a tool chest containing ham- 

 mer, screw driver, plane, pliers, oil can, saw, soldering outfit, knife sharp- 

 ener, twine, shears, and such nails, tacks, screws, and hooks as are most 

 often in demand. 



Protection of utensils not in use 



If the house is to be closed for a time, or if for any other reason the 

 utensils are to be set aside, all metals should be protected from dampness 

 by a coating of vaseline, paraffin, or unsalted fat of some kind. 



MATERIALS AND THEIR CARE 



Iron and steel 



Of the metals used in our kitchens, iron in its three varieties — cast 

 iron, wrought iron, and steel — is most common. Besides the utensils 



