alt="Quart Measure"/>
The quart measure for milk is the best for common measuring. Being divided into half pints, the one vessel answers for all quantities. A kitchen should be furnished with two measures, one for dry material and the other for liquids.
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In the preparation of desserts the whip churn is essential. It is a tin cylinder, perforated on the bottom and sides, in which a dasher of tin, also perforated, can be easily moved tip and down. When this churn is placed in a bowl of cream and the dasher is worked, air is forced through the cream, causing it to froth.
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The double boiler is invaluable in the kitchen. It is a good plan to have two of them where a great deal of cooking is done. The lower part of the boiler is half filled with boiling water, and the inside kettle is placed in this. By this means food is cooked without danger of burning, and more rapidly than if the kettle were placed directly on the stove, exposed to the cold air, because the boiling water in the outside kettle reaches not only the bottom, but also the sides of that in which the food is.
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When broiling is done before the fire it is necessary to have a back for the double broiler, for the tin reflects the heat, and the food is cooked much sooner.
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The colander is used for draining vegetables, straining soups, etc., and with the squash and gravy strainers, it is all that is required in the way of strainers.
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Under "Drinks" will be found a description of the French coffee biggin.
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There should be two brown-bread tins, each holding three pints. They answer also for steaming puddings.
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The melon and round padding moulds are nice for frozen or steamed puddings.
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The stew-pans that are porcelain-lined are better than the tin-lined, because the tin is liable to melt when frying is done, as, for instance, when meat and vegetables are fried for a stew. Granite ware stew-pans are made in the same shapes as the porcelain-lined.
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The tin sauce-pans are nice for sauces and gravies. The porcelain-lined come in the same shapes. Copper is a better conductor of heat than either tin or iron, but when it is not kept perfectly clean, oxide of copper, which is very poisonous, collects on it, and is dissolved by oils and fats. Then when fruit, pickles, or any food containing an acid is allowed to cool in the vessels, verdigris is produced; and this is a deadly poison
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The stamped tin-ware is made from a better quality of metal than the soldered; therefore, it comes higher, but it is in the end cheaper, and it is always safer. Bread, milk and dish pans should be made of stamped tin. The pans for roasting meat should be made of Russian iron.
The spoons for basting and mixing, and also the ladle, should be strong and well tinned.
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The plain wooden lemon squeezer is the most easily kept clean, and is, therefore, the best. That made of iron, with a porcelain cup, is stronger, but it needs more care.
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The Dover egg beater is the best in the market. It will do in five minutes the work that in former years required half an hour. There are three sizes. The smallest is too delicate for a large number of eggs. The second size, selling for $1.25, is the best for family use.
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An apple parer saves a great deal of time and fruit, and is not very expensive.
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Wooden buckets and boxes come in nests, or, they can be bought separately. A good supply of them goes a great way toward keeping a store-room or closet in order.
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The Japanned ware is best for canisters for tea and coffee and for spice and cake boxes. Cake boxes are made square and round. The square boxes have shelves. The most convenient form is the upright. It is higher-priced than the other makes.
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The spice box is a large box filled with smaller ones for each kind of ground spice. It is very convenient, and, besides, preserves the strength of the contents.
There are so many beautiful moulds for fancy dishes that there is no longer any excuse for turning out jellies, blanc-mange,
