302 On the Construction of Kitchen 



near the top of the oven, or of the roaster, when it is 

 baked in a roaster. 



The shelf in the upper part of a roaster for baking 

 may be made of a single piece of sheet iron, but it will 

 be much better to make it double ; that is to say, of two 

 pieces of sheet iron, placed at a small distance from 

 each other, and turned inwards, and fastened together 

 at their edges, in the manner which will presently be 

 more particularly described. This shelf, whether it be 

 made single or double, should be placed upon ledges, 

 riveted to the sides of the roasters ; and, to prevent the 

 hot air from the blowpipes from passing up between 

 the farther end of this shelf and the farther end of the 

 roaster, the shelf should be pushed quite back against 

 the end of the roaster. It should be made shorter than 

 the roaster by about two inches, in order that there may 

 be sufficient room, between the hither end of the shelf 

 and the inside of the door of the roaster, for the vapour 

 that ought to be driven out of the roaster to pass up- 

 wards to the opening of the steam-tube. This shelf 

 should not be fastened in its place, for it may some 

 times, when very large pieces of meat are roasted, be 

 found necessary to remove it. 



As it seems probable that radiant heat from the top 

 and sides of the roaster acts an important part, even in 

 the process of roasting, if a roaster of very large dimen- 

 sions were to be constructed, I think it would be 

 advisable not to make its transverse section circular, 

 but elliptical, the longest axis of the ellipse being in a 

 horizontal position. This form would bring the top of 

 the roaster to be nearer to the meat than it would be if 

 its form were cylindrical, its capacity remaining the 

 same. How far a horizontal shelf of sheet iron, placed 



