New tips from old sources

[Rparrny]

So I'm sitting here waiting for the English muffin dough that I made last night to do one final proofing before putting them on the cast iron griddle. I have made untold number of English muffin recipes before but none of them thrilled me. This recipe comes from a cookbook from the early 1900s and has you make the dough the night before and leave it out (not in the fridge) so that it overproofs...the thought being that will create large bubbles in the dough.

While waiting, I skimmed through the book to see what else it had to offer and I saw some cooking tips I had never known and now look forward to try.

Cereals: After an initial boil of about 10 minutes, cereals should be cooked over a double boiler for several hours...the slow cooking improves taste. Now I've done crockpot overnight oatmeal but this looks different. Cooking 1-3 hours over a double boiler...interesting.

Bread: Tons of recipes for Graham bread which I've never had...I never used Graham flour either.
They recommend heating up the flour before baking for superior results...new to me...

I'm still reading so I will update with other pearls I find...

Do you have any pearls in YOUR cooking?

 

[Addie]

If any of you ever get to Boston and want to see some weird "receipts", Radcliff College for Women has a library dedicated to women authors of cookbooks dating back to King Henry VIII and earlier. Make sure your bring a pair of white cotton gloves with you. You can learn how to cook a swan with some interesting stuffing for it.

Maryanne Esposito on PBS often goes there for some inspiration. Even Julia has made a trip or two there.

 

[dragnlaw]

Cereals: After an initial boil of about 10 minutes, cereals should be cooked over a double boiler for several hours...the slow cooking improves taste. Now I've done crockpot overnight oatmeal but this looks different. Cooking 1-3 hours over a double boiler...interesting.

My mom always cooked the cereal in a double boiler. But I doubt very seriously she cooked it for 1 - 3 hours! I believe she had the "instant" style of the day... it only took 40 minutes. Just long enough to get 5 kids out of bed, dressed and ready for school but eat breakfast first.

I had a double boiler for years, same as hers and then suddenly it disappeared! Have no idea what happened to it but you can't get them readily now... only steamers. Miss it.

 

[Addie]

Many, many moons ago when I only had two children, I worked the night shift 11p.m. - 7 a.m. One of my first duties when I walked in the door was to go down to the kitchen, get a big bag of "Old Fashion Oatmeal" made by Quaker. I think it weighed five pounds. I dumped it into a huge commercial size pan, covered it with water, and placed the whole thing in a huge oven and set it at 275ºF.

By the time I left, the kitchen workers were setting up the trays with the hot oatmeal. Of course the patients who were allergic to oats, got Cream of Wheat. I don't know how they made that or at what time they started it. I do know they made that on top of the stove. There weren't many patients that received that. The menu for breakfast never, ever changed. I felt so bad for the patients. A lot of the trays went back to the kitchen with the oatmeal untouched.

 

[skilletlicker]

So I'm sitting here waiting for the English muffin dough that I made last night to do one final proofing before putting them on the cast iron griddle. I have made untold number of English muffin recipes before but none of them thrilled me. This recipe comes from a cookbook from the early 1900s and has you make the dough the night before and leave it out (not in the fridge) so that it overproofs...the thought being that will create large bubbles in the dough.

While waiting, I skimmed through the book to see what else it had to offer and I saw some cooking tips I had never known and now look forward to try.

Cereals: After an initial boil of about 10 minutes, cereals should be cooked over a double boiler for several hours...the slow cooking improves taste. Now I've done crockpot overnight oatmeal but this looks different. Cooking 1-3 hours over a double boiler...interesting.

Bread: Tons of recipes for Graham bread which I've never had...I never used Graham flour either.
They recommend heating up the flour before baking for superior results...new to me...

I'm still reading so I will update with other pearls I find...

Do you have any pearls in YOUR cooking?

I always make steel cut oats and grits in a double boiler. Never bothered with an initial boil and don't go much over an hour though. My oats are terrific but can see how a longer cook time might make them even better.

I don't make bread anymore but when I did, never cared for the taste of Hodgson Mill graham flour, the only brand in the store at the time. They make pasta too and don't like it either. Other whole wheat flours and pasta are great though, in fact, that's all I buy.

 

[Rparrny]

My mom always cooked the cereal in a double boiler. But I doubt very seriously she cooked it for 1 - 3 hours! I believe she had the "instant" style of the day... it only took 40 minutes. Just long enough to get 5 kids out of bed, dressed and ready for school but eat breakfast first.

I had a double boiler for years, same as hers and then suddenly it disappeared! Have no idea what happened to it but you can't get them readily now... only steamers. Miss it.

I've never had a double boiler per se...I put a stainless bowl on top of my pan of boiling water.

 

[skilletlicker]

...I put a stainless bowl on top of my pan of boiling water.

Me too.

 

[Rparrny]

...and the book keeps referencing the "spider"...some sort of cooking utensil...anyone know what it is?

 

[GotGarlic]

...and the book keeps referencing the "spider"...some sort of cooking utensil...anyone know what it is?

This. It's used often in Chinese cooking; mine came with my old wok. I use it when blanching food to lift it out of the boiling water.

 

[GotGarlic]

I've never had a double boiler per se...I put a stainless bowl on top of my pan of boiling water.

Me three

 

[dragnlaw]

I also use a stainless steel bowl or more often I have a glass bowl that fits even better.

But these you must stand by and the ones that are/were similar to the 'nowadays' steamers could, like the steamers, use the lids of the bottom boiling pot. As such they were much more stable as well.

Mine had a handle, just like the pot. Only difference was that it had that ridge where it could nestle onto the lower pot. If necessary you could use it directly on the stove as an extra pot. I think that's what made it so useful... try using your steamer pot directly on the burner...

 

[dragnlaw]

Here are some images of
My grandma's double boiler - the white enameled one.
and two pics of my and my mom's... they don't show a lid but they had them. Those handles are exact!

Now that I think about it, mom also had a different one with two little handles on either side instead of the larger 'sticking out' one for one handed maneuverability.

 

[caseydog]

I did a quick search on eBay, and there are lots of double-boilers for sale on there, old and new.

If you like learning how people cooked a few centuries ago, check out...

https://www.youtube.com/user/jastownsendandson

CD

 

[Cooking Goddess]

James Townsend's Youtube channel is one of Himself's video vices.* I keep telling him I am never going to make some of the meals he "suggests"... At least he's been putting things he's learned on the wood crafting videos to good use. Now he's accumulating wood crafting tools like I collect cookware.

*At least he isn't watching x-rated videos.

 

[everylastbite]

Ebay or even craigslist is a great source for that kind of gear, because it's cheap but was built to last forever (and does). For example I got an OG Presto pressure cooker for $5 and a replacement gasket off ebay for another $5. You'd get the same thing much more cheaply made for $30 new.