Manual of military cooking and dietary / War Office.

Date:
1933
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Manual of military cooking and dietary / War Office. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    28/204 (page 8)
    Previous to use, all utensils should be thoroughly clean and, when possible, exposed to the sun and fresh air daily. The practice of keeping them in cupboards, or piled up on the kitchen floor, until required for use, should be discouraged. All utensils, after being used, should at once be filled with hot water and placed over the fire to scald thoroughly, then cleaned and well dried. Grease remaining in a vessel will make it rancid, and moisture will rust it. In washing any greasy utensil it is better to use the hand instead of flannel, as the latter retains the grease. Knives and forks (unless plated) should be cleaned with brick-dust and flannel, and, if rusty, rubbed with a fresh-cut potato dipped in ashes. Plate or plated articles can usually be kept clean and bright by washing them with soap and boiling water, rubbing them dry whilst hot with soft cloths. Utensils with bone, ivory, or wooden handles should never be placed in hot water. Large knives, flesh forks, choppers, ladles, bowls, etc., should be well washed with hot water and soda, and afterwards polished with brick-dust ; after use they should be at once cleaned and put in their proper places in the kitchen. The meat block and benches should be well scraped, and then scoured with hot water, soap and soda. They should be used for no other purpose whatever than for chopping and cutting up meat. Cookhouses will be thoroughly cleaned daily, and tables scrubbed with soap and hot water on both sides. Tables and boards on which meat is cut up should be well scrubbed on both sides immediately after use. Cupboards in cookhouses are only to be used for the temporary storage of food supplies drawn for early con- sumption. Flues and fireplaces of all cooking ranges will be cleaned out daily. Dean’s and Soyer boilers should be removed daily, and the soot brushed away. Sinks will be cleaned and gutters and drains kept clear of any obstruction. Cooking utensils will be washed after each meal and put away until again required for use. In all cookhouses, cooking pots and dishes, when not in use, will be kept on a low shelf or rack and placed on their sides, so that their interiors are exposed to the air and can be readily inspected. The practice of keeping coal loose, or in open bins, in cook- houses is objectionable, as the coal dust enters the food and makes the cookhouse dirty. It is suggested that sufficient coal