The Beveridge Automatic Cooker

The winter scene in a horn is from a Baltimore company's trade card (3x4 1/4in.). Patented on Feb 12, 1889, this is more recent than the steam kitchens I have studied. Christmas foods and other Dec. food history zoom talks are listed below.

Baltimore's Patapsco Baking Powder

William Pitt Clotworthy (1829Ireland-1902) of Baltimore created and patented Patapsco Baking Powder. The following excerpt from Howard's The Monumental City [Baltimore] 1873, is about its contents and unnamed earlier competitors – Bird (1843), Horsford (Rumford 1859) and Royal (1866).

The little blog that could... with over a million and a half views of 700+ posts

Actually, I missed it at one million... and now its over 1 1/2 million... since I rarely look at the stats (or the comments which I am woefully behind uplifting to the posts). Five years ago (Covid lockdown) I had to cut back on doing intensive posts each week, since I was spending so many hours (counted 50 hours on a slow week) on my Calendar of virtual food history talks HERE (hundreds of talks per month), to help support the closed museums, shops and tour guides. Now I just spend a few hours on the Calendar, but am busy trying to finish writing an increasingly long project. Eventually I hope to get back to doing more than one or two posts a month.

Thank you all for reading my blog. And now for some highlights...

Rumford Baking Powder recipe slide, Count Rumford taped talks and Hot Milk Cake

This recipe pull out card (recipe slide) of 1926, included 25 recipes for cakes and cookies, one being Hot Milk Cake, by Mrs. Lily H Wallace for Rumford Baking Powder. Two early Hot Milk Cake recipes are from church cookbooks c1900.

Click to enlarge and see how the ingredients are listed.
Several taped talks on Count Rumford

Octagon cast iron ovens

This unusual oven in the Kew Palace kitchen was made by the famous Carron Company of Scotland, and was restored in 2012 to its 1789 appearance under King George III (1738-1820). Cast iron octagon ovens were noted as early as 1751. The octagonal ovens were heated by the fire in the fire box, the ashes fell below, like later Rumford Roasters and other tin block ovens (pictures below).

Civil War bake ovens in the US Capitol

First and foremost, thanks to all Veterans and those who are serving now.

Following the attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861, four thousand soldiers moved into the newly remodeled Capitol. Men from Mass. quickly built two ovens in the basement to make the bread portion of their rations. Other ovens were built, producing 65,000 loaves a day (24/7) for a year and a half.

A dozen favorite posts from the past

Some of my favorite topics over the last 11 years - from the conical strawberry pottles image on left, HERE to the most popular, Snap-apple at Halloween - were easy to list, since they are viewed the most. It was harder not to include many others. I even considered making it a "baker's dozen" ...

Calendar of virtual food history talks

The Calendar, my Covid service project, will continue in a limited way, since I must cut back on the long hours I have spent on it the last four years.
There have been over 4,500 (in 2023) virtual food history talks, demos and tours by museums, historical associations, small businesses, groups, and others.

Rumford Roaster - never before seen pieces

How great would it be to own a c200 year old Rumford Roaster!  This Rumford Roaster, made by Elijah Fuller of Salem, was originally in an 18th century house in Peabody MA, and was working into the late 20th century; the home was demolished and the oven was saved and installed in a new house. Again removed and stored, the current owner contacted me and hopes it will be used and appreciated once again.

Robert Roberts - author, abolitionist, butler

Robert Roberts (c1777-1860) was a free African American who wrote the marvelous The House Servant's Directory in 1827. 

Federal-era kitchen apparatus in Gadsby's Indian Queen Hotel, Baltimore

By 1815, the Indian Queen Hotel in Baltimore had state-of-the-art kitchen equipment: a "patent oven" (metal wall oven), "steam for boiling" (steam kitchens), "stoves set in brick" (stew stoves), smoke jacks to turn meat on spits and a coffee roaster.

Rumford Roasters and Reip Ovens

Not all metal ovens are Rumford Roasters.  Count Rumford (Benjamin Thompson, 1753 - 1814) and his Roasters, pictured left, are certainly the most well known, but other iron and tin ovens inserted into the side of the hearth were used in Europe and the United States such as the Reip Oven and Roaster of Maryland, patented in 1825.