336 On the Construction of Kitchen 



The objects principally to be had in view in the choice 

 of materials to be used in the construction of kitchen 

 utensils are wholesomeness, cheapness, and durability. 

 The material most commonly used for constructing 

 kitchen boilers and saucepans is copper ; but the poi- 

 sonous qualities of that metal, and the facility with 

 which it is corroded and dissolved by the acids which 

 abound in those substances that are used as food, has long 

 been known and lamented. And numerous attempts 

 have been made to prevent its deleterious effects, by cov- 

 ering its surface with tin and with other metallic sub- 

 stances, and with various kinds of varnish and enamel ; 

 but none of these contrivances have completely answered 

 the purpose for which they were designed. 



The method which has been found to be most effect- 

 ual is to keep the copper utensils well tinned, or to tin 

 them afresh as often as the copper begins to appear, 

 and this is what is now commonly practised ; but still 

 it were to be wished that some good substitute might 

 be found for that unwholesome metal. 



Iron has often been proposed ; and though it is more 

 liable to be corroded even than copper, yet as the rust 

 (oxide) of iron is not poisonous, though it changes the 

 colour of some kinds of food that are cooked in it, and 

 in some cases communicates an astringent taste to them, 

 it is not thought to make food unwholesome. 



There is, however, one precaution by means of which 

 the disagreeable effects produced by this metal on food 

 that is prepared in utensils constructed of it may be 

 very much diminished, and indeed in most cases almost 

 entirely prevented, especially when the utensil is made 

 of cast iron. If, instead of scouring the inside of iron 

 boilers and stewpans with sand, and keeping them 



