HOME ECONOMICS AND EDUCATION 577 



very juicy vegetables, and half a pint of liquid for drier vegetables. 

 The stewpan is to be covered, only a slight opening being left for ven- 

 tilation. All vegetables cooked in this manner should be cut up 

 rather small either before or after the blanching. 



In preparing vegetables for the table remove all inedible por- 

 tions and see that the total amount of refuse is as small as is consistent 

 with good quality. Thin paring of potatoes and other vegetables is an 

 economy which it is worth while to practice, and is an easy way of 

 decreasing useless loss. 



LOSSES IN COOKING VEGETABLES. 



In baking vegetables there is little loss of material except the 

 water which is driven off by the heat. When vegetables are immersed 

 in water, as in boiling, a greater or less loss of material is almost in- 

 evitable, the kind and amount of material extracted by the water de- 

 pending upon such factors as the sort of water used, its temperature 

 at the beginning and during the cooking period, the length of time 

 the cooking is continued, and the condition of the vegetable, that is, 

 whether pared, whole, or cut into small pieces. 



In experiments carried on under the auspices of the Office of Ex- 

 periment Stations it was found that when potatoes were boiled in 

 the jackets the loss of material was very trifling. When peeled and 

 soaked for several hours before boiling, the loss amounted to about 50 

 per cent of the nitrogenous material, and 40 per cent of the mineral 

 matter present. When peeled and placed at once in boiling water, 

 only about 8 per cent of the proteid matter and 19 per cent of the 

 mineral matter present were extracted by the water. Little starch 

 was dissolved, but when peeled potatoes were boiled the amount of 

 starch removed by abrasion was at times nearly 30 per cent of the 

 total value of the potato. 



In the experiments with carrots it was found that the loss was 

 greatest when the roots were cut into small pieces, amounting in this 

 case to nearly 30 per cent of the total food material present. The 

 sugar extracted when the carrots were boiled was equivalent to nearly 

 a pound to the bushel. When cabbage was boiled the amount of ma- 

 terial extracted was found to be about one-third of the total food ma- 

 terial present, the chief constituents extracted by the water being ash 

 or mineral matter. Some recent German experiments have shown 

 that when vegetables are steamed only one-third as much material is 

 removed as when they are boiled. 



CHANGES THAT TAKE PLACE IN COOKING VEGETABLES. 



The cellular tissue is softened and loosened ; the nitrogenous sub- 

 stances are coagulated ; the starch granules absorb moisture, swell, and 

 burst; and flavors and odors are developed. As long as the vegetable 

 is kept at a temperature above 125 F. changes continue to go on in 

 the vegetable substance. The most marked of these are in the starch 

 and in the odor, color, and flavor of the vegetable. Starch will not 

 dissolve in cold water, but pure starch gelatinizes readily in hot 

 water, and if the temperature is high enough will become gummy and 

 opaque. If starch is cooked in just moisture enough to swell and 



