Storage of Foods
Part Two of
“Care of Food in the Home”
Successful care of food in the
home depends very largely on
whether there is a good storeroom,
suitable containers and an ice box or
some other means of keeping foods cool.
Storerooms.
The pantry, cellar, or other rooms
where food is kept should he clean, cool,
airy, dry, screened against flies and
other vermin, and free from musty or
other disagreeable odors.
If the cellar must be used as the chief
storage place for food, a dumb-waiter
on which supplies can be lowered and
raised soon pays for itself in time and
strength saved.
The liberal use of whitewash and un
slaked lime in the cellar helps to keep
down micro-organisms and undesirable
odors. Since the botton of Ihe cellar is
the coolest part, foods often keep best if
set on the floor, provided it is clean and
dry. If the floor is damp and tarlhy, a
layer of clean bricks may be arranged
under the food. If there is a furnace in
the main part of the cellar, it is general
ly too warm and dry for the w inter stor
age of fruits and vegetables, but a stor
room can oftentimes be partitioned off
and so ventilated that tho temperature
is kept constantly cool. A cool room in
a dry cellar is also a good place to store
canned foods.
In a cool, dry climate food may be
successfully kept in an air shaft extend
ing from the cellar or the lower floor of
the house to the roof and equipped with
a door opening into the kitchen or pan
try and w ire < r perforated shelves of
convenient Height. P>oth ends of this
shaft should be Recured.
Containers.
The choice of proper containers for
foods prevents much deterioration and
waste. Ay a general thing each food is
best la ot in its own closed container.
Dry feuds may be stored in glass, earth
enware. metal, wooden cr specially
treated cardboard or paper containers,
depending on how carefully they must
be prated d from air, bght and vermin.
I-or moist and watery foods the choice
of containers is more limited, for not
only must leakage be prevented but tho
etted of acids on some mdals must' be
considered. A container that has no
cracks or s< ams in which dirt or micro
organisms may lodge and that can be
thoroughly washed and aired before
fresh supplies are stored in it. is in many
cases preferable. Labeling food con
tainers plainly saves time when prepar
ing meals and helps 1" prevent the waste
ful and sometimes harmful accidents
that happen when fine materia! n
is mistaken fur another. /Oja
The food containers used in (he {11 A
refrigerators should be ronven- l\
ion' in rigo, washable, as light in W ^
weight ar possible so that undue jjl U
quantifies of ice will not be melt- Jj\ j\
ed in cooling them to the tern
perature of ihe refrigerator and
fitted with covers to prevent the
food from drying out and the I
escape or absorption of odors, in |
fad. ail foods and food materials > ■
that are to be used without wash
ing, such as butter, cheese or
sugar, should be wrapped or
kepi in covered receptacles, l
whether stored in the refrig- /
erator or in the pantry, cel- / '
lar or any other place.
Special Means of Keeping Foods Cool
Under ordinary household conditions
and where ice is obtainable, the refrig
erator is generally the best means for
keeping foods cool. When ice is placed
in the refrigerator it begins to melt by
absorbing heat from the surrounding air.
This air becomes colder and heavier, set
tles to the lower part of the refrigerator,
while the warmer air rises, gives up heat
by coming in contact with the ice, and in
turn becomes chilled and sinks to the
bottom. These currents of air come in
contact with the food, absorb heat from
it and so cool it.
On the continuous and rapid circulation
of cooled air in a refrigerator, then, in
large measure depends its value as a
storage place for foods. All spaces for
Ihe passage of air from the ice chamber
should be kept open. It is a mistake to
wrap the ice in paper or cloth. Such a
covering retards the circulation of air
and insulates the ice from the rest of 'he
refrigerator.
Each article placed in the refrigerator
contains a definite amount of heat that
will melt a definite amount of ice. Hot
foods should, whenever possible, be
cooled to room temperature before being
put into the refrigerator. Also, there is
no excuse for using ice to chill such
things as the thick paper wrappings of
parcels from the market, the tops of car
rots, or the outside leaves of lettuce,
which will all be discarded later.
Furthermore, ice is melted to no pur
pose when vegetables and fruits that
are to be prepared almost immediately
are placed in the refrigerator only to ho
taken out again after a few minutes.
The coldest place in the refrigerator
should be reserved for the most perish
able foods such meat and milk. This
is usually just below the ice chamber,
bu1 it can easily h:> located with a reli
able thermometer. Such a test may also
show that no part of the refrigerator is
as cold as was supposed and therefore
that too great dependence should not he
placed on it as a storage place for highly
perishable foods. In older to check the
growth of micro-organisms effectively,
the temperature of the refrigetator
should be at least fid" F. and preferably
less. Tests conducted by the United
States Bureau of Standards show that in
order to maintain such a temperature
the household refrigerator of medium
size should have on the top and side's 1 i
inches of insulating materia! and 'hree
inches on the bottom. Barge refrigera
tors need thicker insulation than this
The main object in using a re
frigerator i1 to save food, not* ice.
IM and real ccone >nv >onsists in hav
Bj|t ing well insulated wall in k< ep
jPj ing the ice chamber well stocked,
Jill in opening the dooi only when
iicc<::;ir" and for as brief
a period a- no-sible and in
putting re th>n,r into ihe re
frigerator that does no!, so
to si eak. pay ittj way.
The reftigerator hold I
he 1 i pi suuieulousiv clean.
Only clean food, clean ire
and clean coulaim rs should
be tint into it. ami an,\ food
spilli d should be w iped up
immediately wilh a clean,
(Continued on l’ugp 13)
What Do
You Eat for
Breakfast
By MAH) I. BARBER
What do you have fot breakfast? Breakfasts are said 10
mean many things to many men. The choice ranges from the
simple coffee and rolls to the breakfast that could be a dinner
if the fruit were served for dessert rather than for a first
course.
The important thing is to .start the day right with a break
fast which satisfies your individual requirements. A cup of
coffee and three doughnuts may not hurt a man doing physical
work, but it may not only start the day wrong for the desk
worker, but it may end his day wrong also!
Children should be encouraged to eat a substantial break
fast. It is usually well to begin with fruit because this will
often stimulate a sleepy appetite. Next comes the cereal—and
school children usually prefer a ready-to-eat cereal, such as
cornflakes. This type of breakfast food is especially good in
warm weather. The busy housewife has only to put it into ihe
cereal bowls. Berries or bananas can be served in the howl
with the cornflakes, and this saves both time and service.
Eggs in some form, bran muffins or toast, and a beverage will
complete the meal.
Do you know that one egg will supply about one-tenth
of the iron your body needs for a day? Wheat bran is also a
good source of iron, so with an egg and a bran muffin for
breakfast, you have a good beginning to which the iron from
vegetables and fruits can be added during the day.
We are giving you a recipe for bran muffins and several
eggs. There are many interesting ways to cook eggs, yet the
housekeepers serve them in the same way over and over again.
Buttermilk Bran Muffins
2 tablespoons butter 1 Mi cups crumbled bran
2 tablespoons lard 1 cup flour
N cup sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg % teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
Cream shortening and sugar together; add egg, butter
milk and bran; then flour, sifted with soda and salt. Kill
muffin pans three-fourths full and bake in a moderate oven
(370" F.) for 20 minutes.
Baked Egg*
Put one teaspoon of melted butter in each individual bak
ing dish. Break one or two egg" into each dish. Sprinkle with
salt and pepper, and place a small piece of butter on each.
Bake in a moderate oven until eggs are firm.
Tomato sauce may be poured over the eggs before they
are baked. Or the eggs may be covered with white sauce and
grated cheese.
Eggs With Sausage
Cook one half cup of sausage meat with one fourth of
a chopped onion. Add six eggs which have been bi aten, and
seasoned with salt and pepper. Cook slowly, stirring constantly
until the eggs are thick. Serve on slices of buttered toa't.
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always, delivered to your
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/ZZ._ — ^ These crackers are just the
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.1 ing, camping, hunting and fish
ir»g trips. Always ready to eat
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B j i p.*' kfd in Im
’o keep the cJiint4 »reshne«.s m
rn i \ i!is< i i j' < < i, < im.iic
i III 1 I 'll’I ll i.llll < 1 I • !. I, I 111
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