56 
House & Garden 
TAKING GUESSWORK OUT OF GAS COOKERY 
Which Is Accomplished by Purchasing a Good Stove 
With Modern Heat Regulating Devices 
ETHEL R. PEYSER 
HE points in buying 
a gas range are for 
the most part the 
same as in purchasing an 
electric range. It must be 
of the best material, cast 
iron or sheet iron or a com¬ 
bination of the two, the 
ovens usually lined with 
steel, upon which is baked 
aluminum or a vitreous 
enamel. Enamels are more 
expensive but their sanitary 
value is great. Everything 
must be of the best quality, 
no seams or roughness can 
be allowed to catch food or 
odors, and the stove manu¬ 
facturers must give you a 
guarantee of almost ever¬ 
lasting life. 
Stoves today are made 
with and without shelves, 
some have the ovens above, 
some below. But where the 
oven is below it is a great 
boon to have the top at least 
32" high—38" from the 
floor is better, so that the 
oven is sufficiently high to 
obviate back breaking, and 
the cooking surface high 
enough to eliminate the 
back bend for the ordinary 
cooking processes. Ranges 
today are built so that there is abso¬ 
lutely no guess work either in man¬ 
agement or accomplishment. 
New Devices 
A recent improvement is a stove 
with an oven heat-regulating device, 
absolutely controlling the tempera¬ 
ture. This device is used by do¬ 
mestic science cooking schools, as it 
proves that cooking must be an exact 
science. No especial training is re¬ 
quired to handle this device, and it 
has no working parts to get out of 
order; the temperature is simply 
controlled and maintained by the 
turn of a wheel. 
This enables one to bake without 
opening the oven door. A chart is 
supplied by which you can cook any 
kind of dish, the time, the tempera¬ 
ture and the necessary decreasing or 
increasing of the temperature being 
given clearly. 
One new type of stove has the 
smooth top. It looks not unlike a 
coal stove. It has no aching voids 
for things to spill into, nor can pots 
tip over into yawning 
chasms. This saves a lot of 
needless irritation, which is 
important with the present 
high temperaments of cooks 
and housemaids. This stove 
stands 38" from the ground. 
The Top 
An interesting feature is 
that the whole top becomes 
heated and is usable, whereas 
in the ordinary four-burner 
top only four utensils can 
be used at once. This top 
is connected with a flue 
which draws the heat, so 
that there is no waste of 
gas. If necessary, the lids 
can be raised and the flame 
from the burner will just tip 
the utensil, the proper posi¬ 
tion for flames. The oven 
in this range is so planned 
that it can be opened from 
the bottom with either hand. 
Another stove has a top that 
is semi-smooth and semi¬ 
spider, allowing you both 
systems. 
Should a vessel spill over 
in the “smooth top”, the top 
catches the overflow and it 
is simply washed off instead 
of the usual pulling out of the tray 
and the messed-up burner plate, 
which must be scraped and cleaned. 
This range is made tall and narrow, 
ready for the small as well as the 
large kitchen. 
All gas stoves today have the 
automatic lighter, which gives one 
freedom from the use of matches and 
makes gas nearly as convenient as 
electricity. Of course, gas is hotter 
in summer than electricity, and to 
obviate this many of the stove 
makers produce marvelously con¬ 
trived combination ranges of gas and 
electricity. 
Some stoves have plate warmers 
above and some have a shelf open 
and available on which to warm 
dishes, which also makes a conve¬ 
nient rack for dishes while the rest 
of the meal is cooking. 
Nearly all stoves are equipped 
with broiling chamber, baking oven 
and wire shelves. One, particularly 
convenient, has, instead of the two 
full-sized shelves in the large oven, 
one shelf divided into two pieces, 
allowing for more elasticity in plac- 
Among the all-enamel ranges is this type, equipped with heat regulator. Food can be 
boiled or cooked in the oven, without using the surface burners, even when baking is 
going on. Courtesy of the Clark Jewell Stove Co. 
dlLcS 
Features of this range are 
the flue connection and 
enamel splasher. Courtesy 
of the Michigan Stove Co. 
