How Victorian Cooks Judged Oven Temperature

Yesterday, my son replaced the electric starter on my fifteeen-year-old gas stove. The oven had been broken several days, so going without it was a real trial, especially since I'm so accustomed to baking anything with the push of a button. If I had been a cook in Bryony's time, I would have followed these instructions:

From Miss Beecher's domestic receiptbook: designed as a supplement to her Treatise on domestic economy.

The book states the cook must first prepare the oven for properly conducting heat.

* After the arch is formed, four or five bushels of ashes are spread over it, and then a covering of charcoal over that, then another layer of bricks over all.
* Have oven wood prepared of sticks of equal size and length.
* The fire made be made the back side of the oven.
* The oven must be heated so hot as to allow it to be used cosed fifteen minutes after clearing, before the heat is reduced enough to close it. This is called soaking.
* If it is burnt down entirely to ashes, the oven may be used as soon as cleared.

An experienced cook, the book states, can determine the right heat without guidelines. The novice, however, needs a few tips:

* If the black spots in the oven are not burnt off, it is not hot, as the bricks must all look red.
* If you sprinkle flour on the bottom and it burns off quickly, it is too hot.
* If you cannot hold your hand in longer than to count to twenty moderately, it is hot enough.
* If you can count to thirty moderatly, it is not hot enough for bread.

Whew! Bring on the microwave!