Some men possess considerable natural aptitude in cooking, and any
skill of this kind will serve them in good stead when they become
colonists, and where there is not natural aptitude it is well worth
while acquiring a little knowledge by dint of study. Supposing all
other kinds of employment fail, a cook’s job is generally to be got and
no one grudges his wages. A little story may be cited which bears out
the truth of this. The son of an army chaplain and a public school-boy,
decided to go out to the Colonies, and before doing so took a course
of lessons in land surveying. He went out to a large farm and at
first did fairly well, but then he fell on evil times, and having no
capital was soon on his beam ends. A chum of his who came across him
remembered certain school study feasts, and as he was himself a kind of
sub-contractor in a lumber camp, offered his friend the post of camp
cook for a hundred or more men, at good wages. The offer was promptly
accepted. The new cook, who was a smart lad, soon had everything well
organized and in apple-pie order. He pleased the men mightily and could
always rely on their help for the harder tasks of chopping firewood,
washing-up, and so on. Soon he acquired a real liking for his job
and got through his work quickly and easily. When the second season
came round he again enlisted as camp cook, but this time, having some
capital, he went into partnership with his friend the sub-contractor.
The two prospered. They sub-contracted for the woodwork to be done on
one of the railways then being built, and the “cook’s” knowledge of
mathematics and surveying then came in useful. In a few years’ time he
blossomed out as a railway engineer with an important post, big salary,
house, servants and horses. Of course he had his mathematics and his
land surveying to help him. Still it was his wage-commanding knowledge
of cookery that had set him on his feet, and on the road to fortune.
Most open-air cooks have to make the best they can out of the
situation, for the site of a camp is not usually settled with much
regard for their convenience. If there is good water within reasonable
distance that is much to be thankful for. The planning out of the
kitchen will depend chiefly upon circumstances; where there are only
two or three to be catered for it is not a difficult matter, but where
a dozen or more men want at least two meals a day, it is a matter
requiring some contrivance and organization.
Choose a position as much protected from wind as possible for the camp
kitchen, and have it separate from the rest of the camp. Where rocks
or boulders can be made use of take them into service, but build a
furnace, (one or more), with stones, of a size convenient to hold pans
and cauldrons, and make a table also.
If a circular form is taken for the furnace it can be partly domed
over, which enables more draught and a greater degree of heat to be
obtained. Where a good deal has to be turned out of the kitchen it is
a good plan to have a row of furnaces and build a chimney to connect
with them, making the walls thick at bottom and narrow at the top. The
chimney should come immediately behind the furnaces with a hollow base
three feet square, gradually narrowing up to a height of six feet or
more. A hole or flue of stones welded together with clay should connect
each furnace with the chimney. If the whole battery is built in one
block flues are easy to shape, and a splendid heat should be obtained
from the stoves.
Where a log cabin or stone hut is being built the greatest care should
be given to the erection of the fireplaces for cooking purposes, as the
comfort and likewise the safety of the whole construction will depend
on this part being secure and sound. The more good masonry work is put
into the fireplaces the greater and more economical will be the amount
of heat obtained from the fuel that is consumed. Thick, well-made walls
prevent the escape of heat.
For the hearth and base of furnaces and chimney use as large stones
as can possibly be found, the flatter the better. If the large stones
require much levelling take smaller ones in preference and fit them
together as evenly as can be with sand and clay. Excellent fireplaces
can be built with stones and mud, but a little cement is of course much
better for binding together the stones. Build the fireplace in the
middle of the wall at the end of the hut, or across one corner. Make
the hearth a little higher than the floor level. Sacrifice a little
space, if need be, to have the fireplace inside the hut, and not, as
is too often done, outside as a separate projection. Level the hearth,
cover with a thin bed of cement or mortar or wet clay, and place
thereon the largest and flattest stones, making the level as straight
as you can. Now build round this hearth thick walls, starting them in a
trench dug at least eighteen inches below the level of the ground. The
walls should surround the hearth on three sides, leaving a part of the
side facing into the hut open. Carry them up to about two or three feet
high and gradually narrow them to bring the top nearer towards a dome
shape. A good builder will then carry his furnace up in chimney shape
right out through the roof of the hut, but if stones fail then the rest
of the chimney can be a zinc or tin pipe. Experts, who are able to use
mortar, will give the chimney a bend to right or left which prevents
too strong a downward draught, or the fire from being put out by rain.
With a hearth such as this it is well to place upstanding supports
about the middle, such as a pan or kettle could be rested upon; this
helps in the cooking very much, and prevents any spilling when the fire
burns down. With an open hearth with thick-walled sides, such as this,
much can be done, but it is well worth while going to the trouble of
building a furnace oven, as before described, in addition.