What Every Housewife Should Know About Electric Cooking (1945) — Reading Companion

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Authors: General Motors Corporation. Frigidaire Division Digital Source: Project Gutenberg Gutenberg Release Year: 2021 First Publication Year: Not confirmed

Key Word: Stoves, Electric; Electric cooking Target Reader: Readers of public-domain and historical texts

Book Edition: Project Gutenberg digital edition Book Language: en

Edition facts

Words 8,383

Reading time 37 min

Text sections 2

The catalog record for What Every Housewife Should Know About Electric Cooking (1945) — Reading Companion provides practical reading context through 8,383 words, 37 min estimated reading time, and 2 detected text sections.

The text analysis averages about 17.2 words per sentence, while the detected sections provide another way to judge how the source is divided.

Project Gutenberg metadata also associates the work with “Stoves, Electric,” connecting these edition facts with the source record’s subject description.

Source: Project Gutenberg record #65804

A 1945 Frigidaire booklet answering 69 common questions about electric range cooking, with charts for vegetables, baking, and roasting. Emphasizes cost savings, convenience, and frozen food preparation.

Editorial Edition Score 4.5/5

★★★★★ ★★★★★

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Description quality20 pts
Title & short description10 pts
Source metadata20 pts
Text length15 pts
Chapters / structure15 pts
EPUB file integrity20 pts

Total of 100 points, scaled to a 2.5-5.0 range. Editions with an empty description or a missing EPUB file are not scored.

Edition quality

File: pg65804

Read the Text

_What Every Housewife should know about_ _Electric Cooking!_

Prepared by Frigidaire Division General Motors Corporation

_Where to find it...._

Electric Cooking in General Page 2 Surface Cooking Page 5 Using the Electric Oven Page 9 Utility of Electric Ranges Page 15 Care of the Electric Range Page 16 Vegetable Cooking Guide Page 20 Baking Times and Temperatures Page 21 Meat and Fowl Roasting Chart Page 22 Frozen Vegetable Cooking Guide Page 23 Frozen Meat Cooking Guide Page 24

This booklet has in it sixty-nine of the most frequently asked questions (and their answers) about cooking with an Electric Range.

In it, too, is some interesting information about the cooking of frozen food. This probably will answer more questions which have come up in your mind and these answers will be even more important in the future when Home Freezers are as common as Refrigerators and Electric Ranges.

So, keep this booklet handy. Read it. Learn for yourself the proven facts about Electric Cooking ... the answers that every housewife should know when she plans that new kitchen.

And remember: an Electric Range provides many cooking and baking advantages which have made it the preferred appliance among thousands of housewives.

Electric Cooking in General

1. Q. Do I Have to Learn to Cook All Over Again to Cook with Electricity?

A. Of course not! Just use your same favorite recipes (and many others) with confidence and ease—the only difference will be that your electric range will give you greater simplicity and accuracy, and add greater joy to cooking because it is cleaner, cooler and automatic.

2. Q. Is Cooking by Electricity Expensive?

A. In most sections of the country electrical cookery is no more expensive than other methods, often less expensive. In fact most modern electric ranges as produced by reliable manufacturers are designed and engineered for economical operation.

3. Q. Approximately How Much Does It Cost an Average Family to Operate an Electric Range?

A. Reproduced here is a table giving approximate electrical cooking costs compiled from the experience of electric range users in all parts of the country.

Electric Cooking Rate In Your Number of People in the Family Locality (Per Kilowatt Hour)

2 3 4 5 6 1c $.56 $.72 $.84 $.95 $1.02 1¼c .70 .90 1.05 1.19 1.28 1½c .84 1.08 1.26 1.43 1.53 1¾c .98 1.26 1.47 1.66 1.79 2c 1.12 1.44 1.68 1.90 2.04 2¼c (Ave. Elec. Cooking Rate) 1.26 1.62 1.89 2.14 2.30 2½c 1.40 1.80 2.10 2.38 2.55 2¾c 1.54 1.98 2.31 2.61 2.81 3c 1.68 2.16 2.52 2.85 3.06

4. Q. Is It Expensive to Pre-heat Such a Large Oven?

A. No. It costs approximately 1¼c to pre-heat a large electric oven to the average baking or roasting temperature—(350°F) and much of this heat is conserved during baking or roasting by the oven insulation. Actually, the current is on only a part of the time that the oven is in use.

5. Q. What About the Safety of an Electric Range?

A. All reputable electric ranges are inspected, tested and approved by the Underwriter Laboratories for fire and casualty hazards and must comply with their rigid standards. As a matter of general practice and recommendation of manufacturers, frames and all non-electrical parts are grounded to insure against becoming electrically alive while in use. All electrical parts are shielded and insulated to protect against accidental contact.

6. Q. Can Cooking be Continued with Safety During an Electrical Storm?

A. Yes, completely. Due to the reasons of safety mentioned above.

7. Q. What Happens if a Switch Is Turned On and Left On By Mistake?

A. Current will be wasted, that’s all. The oven cannot overheat because automatic controls prevent this. The surface units can be left on at high speed for days without damage to the unit or without hazard.

8. Q. Is There Any Hazard Involved By Leaving the Electric Oven Operating During My Absence?

A. No. You can place an entire meal in the oven and leave the house for the afternoon, and the range will automatically cook the dinner and turn off the heat at the proper time if the range is equipped with an automatic time control. Should you arrive home later than planned the oven will have retained sufficient heat for a reasonable length of time to keep the dinner warm enough for immediate serving.

9. Q. What Happens if Power Failure Occurs?

A. Experience indicates that power failures are negligible. And, even should they occur, there is no danger from the electric range. Only the inconvenience of being without the use of the range during the period the power is off.

Surface Cooking on the Electric Range

1. Q. Do the “Definite” _Surface_ Heats Provided by Most Electric Ranges, Have Any Advantages Over the “Infinite” Number of Surface Heats Provided by Ranges Using Other Fuels?

A. Yes. This is important because it eliminates “guesswork” in cooking and enables you to use even unfamiliar recipes with confidence and ease. The heat obtained at each switch setting will be repeated exactly each time you use it.

2. Q. How Many Surface Heats Should be Provided for Best Results?

Continue Reading →

This 1945 booklet from Frigidaire Division of General Motors presents itself not as a conventional cookbook but as a question-and-answer manual: sixty-nine of "the most frequently asked questions (and their answers) about cooking with an Electric Range." The opening pages immediately address the housewife's anxieties—whether she must learn to cook all over again, whether electric cooking is expensive, and how much it costs to preheat a large oven. The tone is reassuring, practical, and promotional, blending technical data with domestic advice.

The Question-and-Answer Structure as Persuasion

The booklet's organizing principle—sixty-nine questions and answers—is itself a rhetorical strategy. By posing concerns such as "Do I Have to Learn to Cook All Over Again?" or "Is Cooking by Electricity Expensive?", the text anticipates and neutralizes resistance to a new technology. The answers are concise and confident, often redirecting attention to benefits: "greater simplicity and accuracy, and add greater joy to cooking because it is cleaner, cooler and automatic." This format transforms potential objections into opportunities for reassurance, making the booklet as much a piece of marketing as a practical guide.

The cost table, for instance, provides monthly operating costs based on family size and local electricity rates, from 1¢ to 3¢ per kilowatt-hour. A family of four at the average rate of 2¼¢ would pay $1.89 per month—a figure presented as reasonable and predictable. The answer to question 4 calculates preheating cost at "approximately 1¼c," emphasizing that "much of this heat is conserved during baking or roasting by the oven insulation." Such details ground the promotional claims in specific numbers, lending an air of scientific authority.

Charts as the Core of Practical Instruction

The bulk of the booklet consists of reference charts: a Vegetable Cooking Guide, a Baking Times and Temperatures chart, and a Meat and Fowl Roasting Chart. These tables are the work's practical heart, offering precise timings and temperatures for dozens of items. The Vegetable Cooking Guide, for example, lists preparation methods alongside cooking times broken into "Minutes on High for Steaming" and "Minutes on Low or Simmer Until Tender," with a total column. Apples are peeled and quartered, then cooked 3 to 5 minutes on high; green beans may be "cut in slivers, lengthwise" or "broken," each with different timings.

The Baking chart covers breads, rolls, biscuits, pies, muffins, cakes, cookies, and entrees like soufflés and baked beans. Temperatures range from 300°F for baked beans (3 hours) to 450°F for pie shells (15 minutes). The Roasting Chart for meats and fowl specifies both oven temperature and internal temperature targets—rare beef at 140°F, medium at 160°F—along with minutes per pound. These charts assume a reader who already knows basic cooking terms but needs precise, appliance-specific guidance.

Frozen Food as a Glimpse of the Future

Near the beginning, the booklet signals a forward-looking interest: "This probably will answer more questions which have come up in your mind and these answers will be even more important in the future when Home Freezers are as common as Refrigerators and Electric Ranges." This prediction situates the electric range within a broader technological ecosystem, where frozen foods would become a staple. The table of contents lists separate guides for frozen vegetables and frozen meat, indicating that the booklet treats frozen food as a distinct category requiring its own methods.

Though the excerpts do not include those specific frozen food charts, the repeated emphasis on frozen preparation suggests that the booklet is not merely a manual for current practice but also a preparation for an anticipated shift in domestic food storage and cooking. The phrase "keep this booklet handy" implies that the information will remain relevant as kitchens evolve. This temporal awareness—addressing both present questions and future needs—distinguishes the work from a simple recipe collection.

Readers should approach this booklet as a period document that reveals mid-century attitudes toward technology, domestic labor, and consumer education. The question-and-answer format, the detailed charts, and the forward-looking mention of home freezers all reflect a moment when electric cooking was still establishing itself. The text is best used as a reference for specific cooking times and temperatures, but also as a primary source for understanding how manufacturers sought to build trust and competence in a new generation of kitchen appliances.

Sometimes I think of that brisk Frigidaire booklet, with its tidy charts and assurance that frozen peas could be a marvel. It holds a quiet kinship with Culture and Cooking; Or, Art in the Kitchen — Reading Companion, whose older, leisured prose whispers that a good stove is merely a stage for a patient hand. Both share a secret: that method, kindly followed, becomes its own gentle comfort.