148 



Of the Management of Fire 



in the same manner in which it ought to be managed in 

 roasting meat, pies and pastry will absolutely be spoiled. 

 After repeated failures and disappointments, and after 

 having lost all hopes of ever being able to succeed in 

 his attempts, the cook (by mere accident, as he assured 

 me) discovered the important secret; and important 

 he certainly considers it to be, and feels no small de- 

 gree of satisfaction, not to say pride, in having been so 

 fortunate as to make the discover)'. He must pardon 

 me if I take the liberty, even without his permission, 

 to publish it to the world for the good of mankind. 



The roaster must be well heated before the pies or 

 pastry are put into it, and the blowers must never be 

 quite closed during the process. 



' I have lately found that, by using similar precautions, 

 bread may be perfectly well baked in metallic ovens, 

 similar to that in the House of Industry in Dublin. 



Thinking it more than probable that means might 

 be devised for managing the heat in such a manner as 

 to perform that process in ovens constructed on these 

 principles, and heated from without ; and conceiving 

 that not only a great saving of fuel, but also several 

 other very important advantages, could not fail to be 

 derived from that discover)', on my return to Munich 

 from England, in August last, I immediately set about 

 making experiments, with a view to the investigation of 

 that subject ; and I have so far succeeded in them that, 

 for these last four months, my table has been supplied 

 entirely with bread baked in my own house, by my cook, 

 in an oven constructed of thin sheet iron, which is heated 

 (like my roasters) from without; and I will venture to 

 add that I never tasted better bread. All those who have 

 eaten of it have unanimously expressed the same opinion 



