Many women in these days will find it difficult to believe that it is
possible to bake without the constant presence of fire, but our
great-grandmothers were well aware that foods continued to cook in the
brick ovens long after the fire in them had burned out or was raked out.
The insulated oven represents an adaptation of old-fashioned ideas to
new and modern conditions. Although we cannot go back to the days of
brick ovens, superior as they were, in certain respects, to the
portable range with its quickly fluctuating heat and great waste from
radiation, yet the insulated oven will not be found impossible or very
difficult to set up, and the adventurous woman will, perhaps, not be
content until she has tried this development of the fireless cooker.
[Illustration: Insulated oven with stones and pan in place.]
The advantages of an insulated oven lie in the even brown and thorough
baking which it gives; the development and retention of flavours, which
is greater than with ordinary baking; the economy in fuel where food
requires long cooking; the absence of heat in the kitchen; and the
possibility of baking where only a camp-fire is obtainable.
The principle is the same whether a portable oven is insulated or a
cooker-pail is utilized. There must be hot stone slabs, iron plates,
fire-brick, or some such heat-radiators, which can be made very hot and
which will retain their heat well. Stones or fire-brick are preferable
to iron in this respect. There must be insulation for the oven or
utensil, and cooking will then proceed, although somewhat differently
from the familiar method of baking with a fire.