374 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



HINTS TO LOVEES OF COFFEE. 



It is not easy to find a person who does not like 

 a dish of good coffee ; and yet more than two- 

 thirds of that drank daily, is execrable stuff. Some 

 unknotvn friend has favored us with some notes on 

 coffee and coffee-making, from which we extract 

 the subjoined, hoping our readers will be benefited 

 thereby : 



Effects of Timk upon Coefee. — Coffee berries 

 u-ndergo a change called ripening^ by keeping; 

 that is, they improve in flavor. The Arabian cof- 

 fee ripens in three years, and it is said that in ten 

 or a dozen years the inferior American coffees be- 

 come as good, and acquire as high a flavor as any 

 brought from Turkey— (Ellis.) But it is different 

 after the coffee is roasted and ground. Its flavor- 

 ing ingredients have a tendency to escape, and it 

 should therefore be confined in vessels closed from 

 the air. It should not be exposed to foreign or 

 disagreeable odors, as it has a power of imbibing 

 bad exhalations, by which it is often injured.— 

 Many cargoes of coffee have been spoiled from be- 

 ing shipped with, or even put into vessels which 

 had previously been freighted with 3ugar. A few 

 bags of pepper are suflicient to spoil a whole ship- 

 load of coffee. — (Normandy.) 



Hints Concerning the Roasting Process.— 

 The roasting of coffee is an operation of consider- 

 able nicety; more, perhaps, depending upon it 

 than upon the variety of the article itself. Coffee 

 is roasted by the dealers, in hollow iron cylinders 

 or globes, which are kept revolving over a fire. 

 As the first effect is the evaporation of a consider- 

 able amount of water, if the vessel is closed this 

 is retahied, and the coffee roasted in an atmosphere 

 of its own steam. This is not thought to be the 

 best plan, and if the operation be carried on at 

 ho_me,_ it is recommended that the coffee be first 

 dried in an open pan over a gentle fire, until it be- 

 comes yellow. It should then be scorched in a 

 covered vessel, to prevent the escape of the aroma : 

 taking care, by proper agitation, to prevent any 

 portion from being burnt ; as a few charred grains 

 communicate a bad odor to the rest. It is impor- 

 tvont that just the right temperature should be at- 

 tained and kept. If the heat be too low, the aro- 

 matic flavor is not produced, and if it be too high, 

 the rich oily matter is dissipated, leaving only the 

 bitterness and astringency of the charred seeds. 

 The operation should be continued until the coffee 

 is sufiicieutly strong. It may then be taken from 

 the fire, and allowed to cool without exposure to 

 the air, that the aromatic vapor may condense and 

 be retained by the roasted grains. Coffee is very 

 apt to be over-roasted, and even a slight excess of 

 heat greatly injures its properties. 



Mode of Pkepaeing the Beverage. — To pre- 

 pare the coffee, it should be roasted and ground 

 just before using, no more being ground at a time 

 than is wanted immediately. Of course the finer it 

 is reduced the stronger will be the exti-act from a 

 given weight of coffee, one-fourth more soluble 

 matter being obtained from coffee ground to the 



fineness of flour than from the ordinary c( 

 powder. (Knapp.) If a cup of good coffe< 

 placed upon a table, boiling hot, it will fill 

 room with its fragrance. Its most valuable 

 tion is thus liable to be exhaled and lost. H 

 the same difficulty is encountered as in tea r 

 ing: boiling dissipates the much-prized arc 

 but a high heat is necessary to extract the o £ 

 important ingredients of the coffee. It sh | 

 therefore be steej>ed rather than boded, an infus I 

 and not a decoction being made. Some make ^ 

 rule not to suffer the coffee to boil, but onl 

 bring it just to the boiling point. Yet a few ] 

 utes boiling undoubtedly increases the quantit; 

 the dissolved, bitter, exhilarating principles. 



OBIGINAL DOMESTIC EECETPTS. 



Buckwheat Porridge. — Take one quart of i 

 new milk ; boil it briskly, and stir in, very gr : 

 ally, as much meal as will bring it to the con t 

 euce of thick, stiff mush ; add one teaspoon fi i 

 salt, and one teaspoonful of butter, not more, j 

 five minutes after it has become thick enough, i 

 it from the fire. Serve while hot, and eat i I 

 butter and sugar or honey, or with butter \ 

 molasses. 



Buckwheat Cakes without Yeast. — One qi ; 

 buckwheat, one small cup of Indian meal, one i 

 spoon carbonate of soda dissolved in water s 

 cient to make a batter, when mixed, dissolve a 

 spoonful of tataric acid in hot water, mix well, : 

 bake immediately. Grease the griddle with 1 

 pork. ' I 



I 

 A SupERioB Plum Pudding. — One cup s 

 chopped fine, one cup good molases, one cup raii 

 chopped, one cup sweet milk, three and a half c 

 flour, a teaspoonful of saleratus, and salt to ta 

 Make into a batter, and boil three and a halt 

 four hours, allow room in the bag for expansion 



Pickle fok Hams. — To 80 pounds of ham, t; 

 4 ounces bi'own sugar, 3 ounces salt petre, ani 

 quart fine salt. Mix well together and rub 

 paste on the hams. Place the hams in a tub ' 

 cask, to prevent the paste wasting ; turn and 1 1 

 them with it every day for three or four da; j 

 then add 2 quarts of salt to the 80 pounds, add: | 

 water enough to cover. In 15 days smoke tht . 



Liquid Sauce. — One cup boiling water, tv - 

 thirds cnp sugar, 4 table spoons butter, (don't ; 

 the butter boil in it,) 1 tea-spoon flour stirred \v, k 

 little water and add all when boiling. Lemon 

 orange peel to flavor, wine, if you like, added la 



Corn Griddle Cakes. — Turn 3 pints of scaldi 

 milk to 1 quart meal, 4 table spoons flour; whi 

 milk- warm, add 4 eggs, a little salt. Bake on 

 griddle. If too thick, put in another egg and a 1 

 tie more milk. 



Curing Hams. — Virginia Method. — Dissol 

 two ounces saltpetre, two tea-spoonfuls salerat 

 in a salt pickle as strong as possible ; for every : 

 pounds of ham, add two table-spoonfuls of goi 

 molasses. Let the hams remain in pickle three 

 four weeks. Smoke with the hocks downwar 

 about a month. They will be better to remain 

 the smoke-house two or three months. 



