If possible, when packing a box with _mineral wool_, do the work out of
doors, wearing a pair of gloves, as particles from it fly into the air
and are extremely irritating to the throat and skin. Twenty-five pounds
of mineral wool will pack a nine-quart pail in a box fifteen by fifteen
inches and eleven inches high. Five pounds of _wool_ will pack the same
box for using a nine-quart pail. If a smaller pail is used, more wool or
mineral wool will be required.
_Sawdust_ is one of the easiest materials to handle. It packs easily and
does not require a cloth covering, heavy paper answering the purpose
perfectly. Proceed with the packing as for wool or mineral wool and such
other materials, omitting the pasteboard top. In place of this and the
cloth covering use a paper lining.
[Illustration: “Space adjuster” before it is covered; and small pad to
fill the space below the pail.]
_The “space adjuster”_ is a padded cylinder which slips into a cooker
pocket and makes a receiver for a smaller cooker-pail than that for
which the cooker was packed. It can be made by putting together two
pasteboard cylinders of equal length, one of which will fit rather
loosely outside of the small pail, and the other of which will slip
easily into the cooker pocket and line it from top to bottom. When the
small cylinder is stood inside of the larger one the space between the
two should be firmly packed, preferably with a soft material such as
cotton or wool. To keep the filling in place while packing it the
cylinder may be wound with twine, as shown in the accompanying
illustration. It may then be covered with a fitted muslin cover. Sew two
tabs on this cover, with which to lift the space adjuster out. When
slipped into the cooker pocket, and the small pail placed in the new
pocket thus formed, there will be found to be a space below the pail,
which may be filled by a round cushion made for the purpose.
[Illustration: Section view of “space adjuster” showing the pail and
cushion in place.]
_Ready-made hay-boxes_ and fireless cookers are to be found on the
market, some of which have advantages over the home-made article along
with some disadvantages. First of the disadvantages is, perhaps, the
cost, the expense being considerably greater than for the home-made box.
Also the choice in the matter of shapes and material for the utensils
cannot be as great as in home-made boxes, and some of the cookers are
unpractical in minor details. On the other hand, the commercial cookers
are ready for use, some of them being excellently adapted to their
purpose, and to many people this would offset the cost. Those that are
made of metal, on the plan of refrigerators, perhaps not boxes at all,
would appeal to certain housekeepers as likely to be more cleanly than
upholstered boxes. But, as food is always in tightly-covered vessels,
and as experience has shown that ordinary care will prevent anything
from being spilled, a hay-box having been kept sweet and clean without
refilling for over a year, the danger of uncleanliness is not so great
as would at first appear. Doubtless where servants are entrusted with
the use of the cooker there would usually be a greater necessity for
guarding against untidiness.
In selecting a ready-made cooker certain points should be considered.
See that the parts fit closely together, are simple and strong in
construction; that there are no seams or pockets in the kettles which
would be difficult, if not impossible, to get clean; that the kettles
are a suitable size, namely, not too large, if they are to cook food for
a small family, and not too small to ensure sufficient heat for proper
cooking; and that there is no air space over the cover that will not be
filled when the cooker is closed. In the case of the metal cookers a
round cover with a single hinge is a point of weakness, for the cover is
not sufficiently supported to endure the strain of constant use. Many of
the cookers also use tin very considerably, which is objectionable.
Doubtless there will be constant improvements in these inventions, as
there is a growing demand for them and an increasing intelligence as to
their use.