Standard Paper-Bag Cookery — Edition Insights

WHAT IS PAPER BAG COOKERY?

THE principles contained in Paper-bag Cookery are not new. Woodsmen and hunters have known for ages that if they wanted fish or game done to a turn, a jacket of clay outside the meat which was protected from soil by leaves or corn husks, gave, on removing the clay case, the very quintessence of delicate, savory cookery.

Now within the last two years, a series of experiments has resulted in the perfecting of a system of Paper-bag Cookery that revolutionizes the old time kitchen drudgery with its unending round of greasy pots and pans to be taken into account.

The advantages of this method of cooking are manifold. They may be epitomized thus:

I. It makes food more savory and nutritious.

II. It is sanitary. No dust can reach the article being cooked and, the cooking accomplished, the bag can be thrown into the stove or kitchen scrap basket with no temptation for a lazy maid to tuck away a greasy pan in the dish closet for the delectation of "germs" or roaches.

III. It is economical. Not only does it save the time and strength of the housewife with no aftermath of dirty cooking dishes to be washed, but it prevents the shrinkage of meats as caused by ordinary cookery. Nothing is lost, because there is no evaporation; careful experiments prove that the weight of the cooked food tallies almost exactly with the weight of the raw. There is also a great saving of fuel, some claiming as high as 40 per cent., owing to the less time required in Paper-bag Cookery. While this may be a generous estimate it is certain that Paper-bag Cookery takes on the average, one-third less time than other cooking.

IV. With ordinary care there is no danger of food burning, and no deterioration in flavor if left in the bag some little time before serving.

V. It is odorless; a great thing, this, for the flat-dweller who has to cook in restricted quarters, taking care always that cooking odors do not permeate the house.

VI. Its price is not prohibitive. Indeed, it is most reasonable.

Paper-bag Cookery calls for no big outlay of money, no patent stove oven, no complex apparatus or appliances. All that is necessary is an oven of any sort--coal, gas, electric, wood or oil--a broiler, a paper bag specially and sanitarily prepared,--grease proof and waterproof,--a wood cookery dish if the food contains liquid or a number of separate ingredients, and something to cook therein. Another convenience are the wire clips for fastening the mouth and corners of the bag, which can be purchased wherever the bags are sold.

THE KIND OF PAPER BAG TO USE.

While a sheet of heavy foolscap paper made into a bag serves for the cooking of a single chop--it is self-evident that for larger proportions, larger bags and bags from strong, absolutely sanitary paper must be used. While there are bags and bags now upon the market, not all fulfill these essential conditions. After much experimenting, the Continental Paper Bag Co., of Rumford, Maine, and New York City, has succeeded in producing the ideal bag which may now be found in varying sizes, at all the large house-furnishing stores, grocers, butchers, etc., or the bags may be ordered direct from headquarters. These bags are put up in bulk in bundle lots, or in sealed packages of assorted sizes. Each of the sealed packages contains thirty bags of assorted sizes with the necessary clips and a small book of recipes with full directions. Retail price 25 cents a package--fifty packages to a shipping bundle.

In order to make paper bag cookery of the greatest value to housewives, both as regards cleanliness and ease of operation, to say nothing of the many cases where the flavor of the food is actually improved, the author heartily recommends the use of specially prepared wood cookery dishes. These dishes are most inexpensive, varying in price from about thirty for ten cents to six for ten cents, depending upon size. They can be purchased wherever the paper bags are sold,--department stores, house furnishing stores, grocery stores, etc., etc., or may be obtained direct from the Oval Wood Dish Company, Delta, Ohio. The food is placed in the wood cookery dish and the dish is put into the bag. The advantage lies in the fact that should the bag break, the food and juices are saved in the dish and the oven will not be soiled by leakage. Then again, the food can be removed from the bag when finished with greater ease than when the dish is not used. The dishes are so cheap that they can be thrown away with the bag after the food is prepared.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR USING THE BAG.