134 MAINE AGRicuwuRAiv e;xpe;rimsnt station. 1905. 



COOKING. 



Too much cannot be said in favor of thorough cooking. The 

 hominies and old fashioned oatmeals should be cooked an hour 

 at least. It is asserted that some of the rolled products may be 

 thoroughly prepared in from 10 to 20 minutes. In most cases 

 it will be found advisable to use more time. Snyder attributes 

 the difficulty in digesting imperfectly cooked oatmeal to "the 

 large amounts of glutinous material which surround the starch 

 grains and prevent their disintegration. When thoroughly 

 ■cooked, the protecting action of the mucilagenous proteid mate- 

 rial is overcome, and the compound starch granules are suffi- 

 ciently disintegrated to allow the digestion juices to act."* The 

 increased digestibility of fully cooked cereals he believes to be 

 due largely to a physical change in the carbohydrates which ren- 

 ders them more susceptible to the action of the digestive solvents. 

 In the digestion experiments carried on in the laboratories of this 

 Station, the rolled oats and wheats were cooked 45 minutes in 

 double boilers. 



summary. 



In selecting a cereal breakfast food the consumer may be 

 •guided by the claims of the manufacturers ; by the chemical com- 

 position, as ascertained by a disinterested chemist ; by the digesti- 

 l)ility as determined by experimentation ; by cost ; by taste ; by 

 •economy ; or by their observed effect upon the individual. 



Claims. — The claims printed upon the outside of the package 

 are unfortunately not always to be relied upon. In some 

 instances there can be but little doubt that they are intended 

 to deceive the purchaser. In other cases the claims made are 

 so reckless as to lead to a suspicion that their author was not 

 familiar with the terms employed. Such claims are less harm- 

 ful because less likely to deceive. The consumer has no diffi- 

 culty in detecting the falsity of many of the statements made, 

 and should be cautious in accepting those which appear too 

 •extraordinary. 



Chemical Composition. — The chemical composition furnishes 

 a more reliable guide, but should be considered in connection 

 with digestibility and cost. Too much reliance should not be 



* Minnesota Expt. Station, Bui. 74, p. las. 



