The following quotation from "The Chemistry of Cooking," etc., also shows that the flavor of food is greatly enhanced by thought, care and low degree of heat, Ellen H. Richards says, "The chemistry of cooking is therefore largely the chemistry of flavor production - the application of heat to food material in such a way as to bring about the right changes and only these.

"The flavor produced by cooking correctly done, will be delicate and unobstructive. Usually, except for broiled meats, a low heat applied for a long time, with the use of closed cooking vessels, develops the best flavors, while quick cooking, which necessitates high temperature, robs the fine products of nature's laboratory of their choicest elements. Present American cooking especially sins in this respect, either the food is insipid from lack of flavor or crudely seasoned at the last moment.

"The secret of our grandmother's cooking lay not solely in the brick oven - in the low steady heat it furnishes - but in the care, thought and infinite pains they put into the preparation of their simple foods. Compared with these the one-minute cereals and the lightning pudding mixtures of the present day are insipid or tasteless".

Numerous authorities might be given to sustain the fact that cooking at a low temperature is not out of harmony with the best hygienic systems of diet, even though the great value of the living cell and chemical composition has not been realized in most cases. The new truth can be easily adapted to families or health clubs and societies without reversing the regimen already established and proven of inestimable value, while an entire raw food diet radically undoes centuries of development.

It is possible, by care and effort, to fulfill the requirements of slow even heat, in the ordinary way of simmering, but it is not practical as labor is increased from constant watching, where every advance should lighten the labor, at the same time rendering greater service to humanity. Many and varied experiments have been made to attain the best results with the least labor. It has been discovered that all kinds of food that have usually been subjected to boiling may be cooked at a temperature of about 200º, in a vessel placed in boiling water with a very slight steam escape - a single or triple double boiler with a loose fitting cover - in just a trifle longer time than is required by hard boiling. The heat of the boiling water never raises above 212º at the common altitude unless steam is compressed. The first gentle bubbles - the condition known as simmering - occur from 200º to 205°. Even a heat of 190º or 185º will effect all the changes required in cooking, in a little longer time than at 200º. Dry seeds are much improved and the cooking hastened by being soaked over night then heated slowly. Cooking, in this way, requires no tending or watching, as most foods are not injured by being heated longer than is necessary in water where there is no motion of boiling to dissolve them. It is also a great convenience for keeping food warm when it cannot be served immediately.

For the purpose of saving heat, as well as time, labor and dishes, the triple double boiler has been constructed, over which several kinds of food may be prepared at one time with one stove eyelet or gas jet. As the top of the boiler is closed, water boils easily, and the labor of cooking is reduced to a minimum, at the same time the full nutrition and best flavor of food is retained. For small families single double boilers are more convenient.

So far as baking is concerned, the oven in which water will simmer but not boil is a safe heat for steady cooking of bread, potatoes, etc. It is the heat required for good custards. The heat must be much greater, or about 3000 for a short time, or until a delicate crust is formed upon the bread, and the substance is heated through quickly. The steam will prevent the heat of the interior from rising beyond the boiling point, even in a very hot oven unless the whole mass is burned to a crisp. All experiments, as well as the statements of good authorities, prove this. It requires the same time to raise the temperature of the inside of a loaf of bread to 212º as it would to boil nearly an equal amount of water, and before this degree of heat that is injurious is reached, the substance is brown on top and coagulated inside, requiring low temperature to complete the cooking.

Modern ovens are provided with thermometers, thus the degree of heat can be easily regulated. The common dairy thermometer records the temperature to 212º, but will break as soon as it passes beyond this point in the oven, hence it is not serviceable, but a little experience in regulating the oven with a dish of water or a custard will enable any housewife to judge the right degree of heat for slow steady baking that will not destroy the life of the cell, or render the food soaked or soggy.

Frying is not a desirable method of cooking, as the intense heat required for browning decomposes the fat globules, changing their chemical values into irritating acids, as well as destroying the cell life of the substance.

Common steaming is no improvement over boiling, as the heat is usually the same as that of boiling water. The steam in patent steam cookers is much hotter than boiling water or common steaming. The double boiler with slight steam escape regulates the heat perfectly to a few degrees below the boiling point, and is most effective for all kinds of cooking that have already been boiled, and serves for many things that are usually baked.

The chafing dish is a great convenience for preparing the warm part of many simple meals.