The Cook and Housekeeper's Complete and Universal Dictionary; Including a System of Modern Cookery, in all Its Various Branches, Adapted to the Use of Private Families

BREWING UTENSILS. The most desirable object in the process of brewing is the fixing of the copper, so as to make the fire come directly under the bottom of it. Many coppers are injured, and rendered unserviceable, for want of proper attention to this particular. The method adopted by the most experienced bricklayers is to divide the heat of the fire by a stop; and if the door and the draft be in a direct line, the stop must be erected from the middle of each outline of the grating, and parallel with the centre sides of the copper. The stop is nothing more than a thin wall in the centre of the right and left sides of the copper, ascending half way to the top of it; on the top of which must be left a small cavity, four or five inches square, for a draft of that half part of the fire which is next to the copper door, to pass through, and then the building must close all round to the finishing at the top. By this method of fixing the copper, the heat will communicate from the outward part of the fire round the outward half of the copper through the cavity; as also will the furthest part of the fire, which contracts a conjunction of the whole, and causes the flame to slide gently and equally all round the bottom of the copper. Considerable advantages result from this position of the copper. If the draught under it were suffered at once to ascend, without being thus divided, the hops would be scorched in the boiling, and liable to stick to the sides, which would considerably injure the flavour of the liquor, unless kept continually stirring. It will also save the consumption of fuel, and preserve the copper much longer than any other method, as there will be no difficulty in boiling half a copper full at a time without doing it any injury. – The next article of consideration in this case is the Mash-tub. This should be proportioned to the size of the copper, and the quantity of beer intended to be brewed. The grains should not be kept in the tub any longer than the day after brewing, as in hot weather especially the grains begin to turn sour as soon as they are cold; and if there be any sour scent in the brewhouse at the time the liquor is tunned, it will be apt to injure the flavour of the beer. – Tubs and Coolers require to be kept perfectly sweet and clean, and should not be used for any other purpose. In small houses, where many vessels are cumbersome and inconvenient, it is too common to use the same tubs for both washing and brewing; but this ought not to be done where it can be avoided; and where it is unavoidable, the utmost care is necessary to give them a double washing, scouring, and scalding. Coolers also require considerable care, or by the slightest taint they will soon contract a disagreeable flavour. This often proceeds from wet having infused itself into the wood, it being apt to lodge in the crevices of old vessels, and even infect them to such a degree, that it cannot be removed, even after several washings and scaldings. One cause incidental to this evil is, using the brewhouse for the purposes of washing, which ought never to be permitted, where any other convenience can be had; for nothing can be more injurious than the remains of dirty suds, left in vessels intended for brewing only. Nor should water be suffered to stand too long in the coolers, as it will soak into them, and soon turn putrid, when the stench will enter the wood, and render them almost incurable. More beer is spoiled for want of attention to these niceties than can well be imagined, and the real cause is seldom known or suspected; but in some families, after all the care that is taken in the manufacture of the article, the beer is never palatable or wholesome. – Barrels should be well cleaned with boiling water; and if the bung-hole will admit, they should be scrubbed inside with a hard brush. If they have acquired a musty scent, take out the heads, and let them be well scrubbed with sand and fuller's earth. Then put in the head again, and scald it well; throw in a piece of unslaked lime, and close up the bung. When the cask has stood some time, rinse it well with cold water, and it will then be fit for use. New casks likewise require attention, for they are apt to give the liquor a bad taste, if they be not well scalded and seasoned several days successively before they are used; and old casks are apt to grow musty, if they stand any time out of use. To prevent this, a cork should be put into every one of them as soon as the cock or fosset is taken out; the vent and the bung-hole must also be well closed. The best way to season new casks is to boil two pecks of bran or malt dust in a copper of water, and pour it in hot; then stop it up close, and let it stand two days. When the cask is washed and dried, it will be fit for use.

BREWING MACHINE. Where a family usually consume ten gallons of beer, or upwards, in a week, there is a Brewing Machine lately invented, which will be found singularly convenient and advantageous, and comparatively of little expense. The use of it in brewing curtails the labour, shortens the time in which the operation may be performed, greatly diminishes the quantity of fuel, and may be placed within very narrow limits, in the house of any tradesman in the most crowded city. Eighteen gallons of good beer may be brewed with this machine in the course of six hours, or a larger quantity with a machine of proportionate dimensions, in the same space of time. The process is so simple, that it may be comprehended by any person of ordinary capacity, and once seeing the operation performed will be sufficient. In the common mode of brewing, the principal difficulty consists in ascertaining the degrees of heat necessary to the production of good beer, without the use of a thermometer; but in the use of this machine, this difficulty is completely obviated. – The machine complete is represented by figure A; and B, C, D, E, F, represent its several parts. B is the bottom, made of strong sheet-iron, standing upon three legs. The hollow part of it contains the fire, put in at a door, the latch of which appears in front. The tube which projects upwards, is a stove pipe to carry off the smoke; and the circular pan that is seen between the legs, is a receptacle for the ashes or cinders that fall down through the grate above. C is a sheet-iron vessel, tinned on the inside, the bottom of which fits into the top of B; and the cock in C is to let off the wort, as will be seen hereafter. D is the lid of this vessel. E is made of sheet-iron, tinned inside and out, and full of holes to act as a strainer. It is to hold the malt first, and the hops afterwards; it goes into C, as may be seen in figure A. In the middle of E is a round space, F, made of the same metal, and rising up from the bottom, having itself no bottom. It has holes in it all the way up, like the outer surface of E. – In preparing for brewing, the machine is put together as in A, except placing on the lid. The first thing is to put the malt, coarsely ground, into E, and no part into F, or into the circular space between C and E; otherwise E cannot act as a strainer, when the liquor is drawn off; and in this consists its principal use. Having put in the malt, then add the water which of course flows into any part of the vessel C. Stir the malt well with a stick, or with something that will separate it completely, so that no adhesion may be formed by the flour of the malt. This is very apt to be the case in the common mode of brewing, when water is poured hot upon the malt; but here the water is applied in a cold state, so that there is little trouble in separating the malt completely in the water. If the small machine be used, which is adapted to a bushel of malt, and the beer is to be fully equal in strength to London porter, then eighteen gallons to the bushel may be considered as the general estimate; and for this purpose the first mash is to receive twelve gallons of cold soft water, which will produce nine gallons of wort. Having stirred the malt very carefully, light the fire under it, and get the liquor quickly to 170 or 180 degrees of heat. This may be ascertained by lifting off the lid, and dipping the thermometer from time to time into the centre F, and keeping it there a minute to give the quicksilver time to rise. While the mash is coming to this heat, stir the malt well three or four times. When the liquor has acquired its proper heat, put out the fire, and cover the whole of the machine with sacks, or something that will exclude the external air. In this state the mash remains for two hours: the cock is then turned, and nine gallons of wort will be drained off. Put the wort into a tub of some sort, and keep it warm. Then put into the machine twelve gallons more of water, rekindle the fire, and bring the heat to 170 degrees as soon as possible; when this is done, extinguish the fire, and let the mash now stand an hour. Draw off the second wort; and if only one sort of beer is wanted, add it to the first quantity. Now take out the grains, lift out E, clean it well, and also the inside of C. Replace E, put the hops into it, and the whole of the wort into the machine. Cover it with the lid, light the fire a third time, and bring the liquor to a boil as soon as possible. Let it boil a full hour with the lid off, and boil briskly all the time. The use of the centre F will now appear; for the machine being nearly full to the brim, the bubbling takes place in the centre F only, where there are no hops. There is a great boiling over in this centre, but the liquor sent up falls into E, and so there is no boiling over of C. When the full hour of brisk boiling has expired, put out the fire, draw off the liquor, leaving the hops of course in E. The liquor is now to go into shallow coolers; and when the heat is reduced to 70 degrees, take out about a gallon of the liquor, and mix it with half a pint of good yeast. Distribute it equally among the different parcels of wort, afterwards mix the whole together, and leave the liquor till it comes down to about sixty degrees of heat. The next removal is into the tun-tub, in which capacity C, without the addition of E, will serve very well. While the liquor is cooling, remove the spent hops from E, the stove pipe from B, the ash-receiver from the bottom. The machine remaining now as a tun-tub, draw off the liquor as soon as it is down to 60 degrees; or take it out of the coolers, pour it into the tun-tub, and put on the lid. If the weather be very cold, or the tun-tub be in a cold place, cover it with something to keep it warm. Here the fermentation takes place, sometimes sooner and sometimes later; but it generally shows itself by a head beginning to rise in about eight or ten hours; and at the end of eight and forty hours the head assumes a brownish appearance, and is covered with yeast instead of froth. The beer is then to be tunned into well-seasoned casks, sweet and sound, or all the expense and labour will be lost. The cask being fixed on the stand in the cellar, and the beer ready, skim off the yeast, and keep it in a deep earthen vessel. Draw off the beer into a pail, and with the help of a wooden funnel fill the cask quite full. The beer will now begin to ferment again, and must be allowed to discharge itself from the bung-hole. When the working has ceased, the cask is again filled up with the surplus beer; and a handful of fresh hops being added, the bung is finally closed down. If the whole process has been properly attended to, such a cask of beer will be clear in a week; and as soon as clear it may be tapped. Small beer may be tapped in less time. On a larger scale, or with casks of a smaller size, two sorts may be made, ale and small beer, taking the first wort for the former, and the second for the latter. – The advantages attending the Patent Machine are very obvious; for though the process appears to be minute, it is easily conducted, and but little time is required for the purpose. In the common method of brewing, the water must be carried from the copper to the mash-tub, while the machine serves for both purposes at once. With the common utensils the process is necessarily much slower, and the fuel consumed is nearly ten times as much; but the great convenience of all is the little room required and the place of brewing. In the common way there is wanted a copper fixed in brick-work, and for a family of any considerable size a brewhouse is indispensable. On the contrary, the machine is set up opposite any fire place, and the pipe enters the chimney, or is put into the fire place. There is no boiling over, no slopping about; and the operation may be performed upon a boarded floor, as well as upon a brick or stone floor. If there be no fire place in the room, the pipe can be projected through an opening in the window, or through the outside of any sort of building, not liable to suffer from the heat of the pipe. Even a garden walk, a court, or open field will answer the purpose, provided there be no rain, and the mash-tub be kept sufficiently warm. When the brewing is finished, the machine should be well scalded, rubbed dry, and kept in a dry place. The two coolers, G G, placed on different casks, have no necessary connection with the machine. They are made of wood or cast-iron, of a size to fit one within another to save room. The Patent Machine is sold by Messrs. Needham and Co. 202, Piccadilly, London. The price of one for brewing a bushel of malt is £8, for two bushels £13, for three £18, for four £24, for five £30, and for six £33. If the article be thought expensive, a few neighbouring families might unite in the purchase, and the money would very soon be more than saved in the economy of brewing.

BRIDE CAKE. Mix together a pound of dried flour, two drams of powdered mace, and a quarter of a pound of powdered loaf sugar. Add a quarter of a pint of cream, and half a pound of melted butter; a quarter of a pint of yeast, five eggs, with half of the whites beaten up with the yolks, and a gill of rose water. Having warmed the butter and cream, mix them together, and set the whole to rise before the fire. Pick and clean half a pound of currants, put them in warm and well dried.

BRIGHT BARS of polished stoves, may be restored to their proper lustre, by rubbing them well with some of the following mixture on a piece of broad-cloth. Boil slowly one pound of soft soap in two quarts of water, till reduced to one. Of this jelly take three or four spoonfuls, and mix it to a consistence with the addition of emery. When the black is removed, wipe them clean, and polish with glass, not sand-paper.

BRISKET OF BEEF, if intended to be stewed, should have that part of it put into a stewpot which has the hard fat upon it, with a small quantity of water. Let it boil up, and skim it well; then add carrots, turnips, onions, celery, and a few pepper corns. Stew it till it is quite tender; then take out the fat bones, and remove all the fat from the soup. Either serve that and the meat in a tureen, or the soup alone, and the meat on a dish, garnished with vegetables. The following sauce with the beef, will be found to be very excellent. – Take half a pint of the soup, and mix it with a spoonful of ketchup, a glass of port wine, a tea-spoonful of made mustard, a little flour and salt, and a bit of butter. Boil all together a few minutes, and pour it round the meat. Chop capers, walnuts, red cabbage, pickled cucumbers, and chives or parsley, small, and place them in separate heaps over it.

BROAD BEANS. Boil them tender, with a bunch of parsley, which must afterwards be chopped and put into melted butter, to serve with them. Bacon or pickled pork is usually boiled with the beans, but the meat will be of a better colour, if boiled separately.

BROCOLI. To dress brocoli, cut the heads with short stalks, and pare off the tough skin. Tie the small shoots into bunches, and boil them a shorter time than the heads. A little salt should be put into the water. Serve them up with or without toast.

BROILING. Cleanliness is extremely necessary in this mode of cookery; and for this purpose the gridiron, which is too frequently neglected, ought to be carefully attended to, keeping it perfectly clean between the bars, and bright on the top. When hot, wipe it well with a linen cloth; and before using it, rub the bars with mutton suet, to prevent the meat being marked by the gridiron. The bars should be made with a small gutter in them to carry off the gravy into a trough in front, to prevent the fat from dropping into the fire and making a smoke, which will spoil the flavour of the meat. Upright gridirons are therefore the best, as they can be set before the fire, without fear of smoke, and the gravy is preserved in the trough under them. A brisk and clear fire is also indispensable, that the bars of the gridiron may all be hot through before any thing be laid upon them, yet not so as to burn the meat, but to give it that colour and flavour which constitute the perfection of this mode of cooking. Never hasten any thing that is broiling, lest it be smoked and spoiled; but the moment it is done, send it up as hot as possible.

BROILED COD. Cut the fish in thick slices, dry and flour it well; rub the gridiron with chalk, set it on a clear fire, and lay on the slices of cod. Keep them high from the fire, turn them often, till they are quite done, and of a fine brown. Take them up carefully without breaking, and serve with lobster or shrimp sauce.

BROILED EELS. Skin and clean a large eel, cut it in pieces and broil it slowly over a good fire. Dust it well with dried parsley, and serve it up with melted butter.

BROILED FOWL. Cut a large fowl into four quarters, put them on a bird-spit, and tie that on another spit, and half roast. Or half roast the whole fowl, and finish it on the gridiron, which will make it less dry than if wholly broiled. Another way is to split the fowl down the back, pepper, salt, and broil it, and serve with mushroom sauce.

BROILED HERRINGS. Flour them first, broil them of a good colour, and serve with plain butter for sauce.

BROILED PIGEONS. After cleaning, split the backs, pepper and salt them, and broil them very nicely. Pour over them either stewed or pickled mushrooms in melted butter, and serve them up as hot as possible.

BROILED SALMON. Cut slices an inch thick, and season with pepper and salt. Lay each slice in half a sheet of white paper, well buttered; twist the ends of the paper, and broil the slices over a slow fire six or eight minutes. Serve them in the paper, with anchovy sauce.

BROKEN CHINA. To repair any article of this description, beat some lime into the finest powder, and sift it through muslin. Tie some of it into a thin muslin, put on the edges of the broken china some white of an egg, and dust on a little lime as quickly as possible; but be careful to unite the broken parts very exactly.

BROTH. A very nourishing kind of broth for weakly persons may be made as follows. Boil two pounds of loin of mutton, with a large handful of chervil, in two quarts of water, till reduced to one. Any other herb or roots may be added. Remove part of the fat, and take half a pint three or four times a day. If a broth is wanted to be made quickly, take a bone or two of a neck or loin of mutton, pare off the fat and the skin, set it on the fire in a small tin saucepan that has a cover, with three quarters of a pint of water, the meat being first beaten, and cut in thin bits. Put in a bit of thyme and parsley, and if approved, a slice of onion. Let it boil very quick, skim it nicely; take off the cover, if likely to be too weak; otherwise keep it covered. Half an hour is sufficient for the whole process.

BROWN GRAVY. Cover the bottom of a stewpan with lean veal an inch thick, overlay it with slices of undressed gammon, two or three onions, two or three bay leaves, some sweet herbs, two blades of mace, and three cloves. Cover the stewpan, and set it over a slow fire; but when the juices come out, let the fire be a little quicker. When the meat is of a fine brown, fill the pan with good beef-broth, boil and skim it, then simmer it an hour. Add a little water, thickened with flour; boil it half an hour, and strain it. Gravy thus made will keep a week.

BROWN BREAD ICE. Grate some brown bread as fine as possible, soak a small proportion in cream two or three hours, sweeten and ice it.

BROWN BREAD PUDDING. Half a pound of stale brown bread grated, half a pound of currants, ditto of shred suet, sugar and nutmeg. Mix it up with four eggs, a spoonful of brandy, and twice as much cream. Boil it in a cloth or bason of proper size three or four hours.

BROWNING. Powder four ounces of double-refined sugar, put it into a very nice iron fryingpan, with one ounce of fresh butter. Mix it well over a clear fire; and when it begins to froth, hold it up higher: when of a very fine dark brown, pour in a small quantity of a pint of port, and the whole by very slow degrees, stirring it all the time. Put to the above half an ounce of Jamaica, and the same of black pepper, six cloves of shalots peeled, three blades of mace bruised, three spoonfuls of mushroom and the same of walnut ketchup, some salt, and the finely-pared rind of a lemon. Boil gently fifteen minutes, pour it into a bason till cold, take off the scum, and bottle it for use. This article is intended to colour and flavour made-up dishes.

BRUISES. When the contusion is slight, fomentations of warm vinegar and water, frequently applied, will generally relieve it. Cataplasms of fresh cow-dung applied to bruises, occasioned by violent blows or falls, will seldom fail to have a good effect. Nothing however is more certainly efficacious than a porter plaster immediately applied to the part affected. Boil some porter in an earthen vessel over a slow fire till it be well thickened; and when cold spread it on a piece of leather to form the intended plaster.

BUBBLE AND SQUEAK. Boil, chop and fry some cabbage, with a little butter, pepper and salt. Lay on it slices of underdone beef, lightly fried.

BUGS. Dip a sponge or brush into a strong solution of vitriol, and rub it on the bedstead, or in the places where these vermin harbour, and it will destroy both them and their nits. If the bugs appear after once using it, the application must be repeated, and some of the liquid poured into the joints and holes of the bedstead and headboard. Beds that have much woodwork require to be taken down and well examined, before they can be thoroughly cleared of these vermin, and the mixture should be rubbed into all the joints and crevices with a painter's brush. It should also be applied to the walls of the room to insure success; and if mixed with a little lime, it will produce a lively yellow. The boiling of any kind of woodwork or household furniture in an iron cauldron, with a solution of vitriol, will prevent the breeding of bugs, and preserve it from rottenness and decay. Sulphur made into a paste, or arsenic dissolved in water, and applied in the same manner, will also be found an effectual remedy for the bugs. But if these do not completely succeed, take half a pint of the highest rectified spirits of wine, and half a pint of spirits of turpentine; dissolve in this mixture half an ounce of camphor, and shake them well together. Dust the bed or the furniture, dip a sponge or brush into the mixture, wet them all over, and pour some of the liquid into the holes and crevices. If any should afterwards appear, wet the lacings of the bed, the foldings of the curtains near the rings, and other parts where it is at all likely the bugs may nestle and breed, and it will not fail to destroy them. The smell of this mixture is not unwholesome, and may be applied to the finest damask bed without any fear of soiling it. It should be well shaked together, but never used by candle-light, for fear of its taking fire.

BULLACE CHEESE. To every quart of full ripe bullace, add a quarter of a pound of loaf sugar finely powdered. Put them into a pot, and bake them in a moderate oven till they are soft. Rub them through a hair sieve; to every pound of pulp add half a pound of loaf sugar powdered, and in the meantime keep it stirring. Pour the pulp into preserving pots, tie brandy paper over; and keep them in a dry place. When it has stood a few months, it will cut out very bright and fine.

BUNS. To make a good plain bun, that may be eaten with or without toasting and butter, rub four ounces of butter into two pounds of flour, four ounces of sugar, a nutmeg, a few Jamaica peppers, and a dessert-spoonful of caraways. Put a spoonful or two of cream into a cup of yeast, and as much good milk as will make the above into a light paste. Set it to rise by the fire till the oven be ready, and bake the buns quickly on tins. – To make some of a richer sort, mix one pound and a half of dried flour with half a pound of sugar. Melt eighteen ounces of butter in a little warm water, add six spoonfuls of rose-water, and knead the above into a light dough, with half a pint of yeast. Then mix in five ounces of caraway comfits, and put some on them.