Enamel is cleaned like a china plate, with plain water and good soap; whereas burn adheres more tightly to an enamel dish than an aluminum dish, it is easily removed and the upkeep simple and swift, adding much comfort to the housewife. In the purchase of any utensil, see that it is smooth, seamless, crackless, air-bubbleless, and light in weight. ELECTRIC CANNING AND PRESERVING When it comes to canning and preserving, the electrically equipped kitchen is splendidly prepared to handle this matter with the greatest ease and facility. Where there is a large electric range, it is unnecessary to have any additional canning machinery, for the sterilizing of the jars can be done right in the oven of the range. The jars may or may not be immersed in a water-bath, just as it suits the cook, without the bath is certainly easier and quicker, for the jars, when cold-packed in the usual way, are merely set on a rack in the oven. In this case, however, care must be observed not to keep them there the full length of time prescribed in the water-bath method, lest the rubber rings be scorched and afterwards develop defects. Failing a large electric range, the next best thing is the electric fireless cooker. Into this, a few jars may be placed at a time, kept at “high heat” long enough for the contents to reach the boiling point, when the automatic time-clock attachment will then throw the cooker on the “low” for the sterilization period. This method of canning is particularly desirable for suburban households where the kitchen garden is only of medium size; in that case the “crops” usually are produced in just about the quantity to make this the normal way of canning. With both of these electrical methods, it will be noticed that there is no huge, cumbersome and heavy boiler to be handled, a great labor-saving feature. In the electric kitchen, jams and marmalades are made in open kettles on top of the stove, or for that matter, can be cooked on the much smaller table appliances. The even, dependable temperature furnished by electric heat is appreciated in these long, slow-cooking processes, where with other methods, there is danger of burning unless ceaseless watch is maintained. In some of the new stoves, you can set the containers right in the oven (see Gas Ranges Chapter VII also Electric Ranges Chapter VI and Oil Stoves Chapter VIII). This is a great saving of effort to the woman without a maid, as in this way the canning and preserving processes can be much simplified, if attention is given to cutting out extra utensils and processes. For a household where marmalade, jelly and fruit-juice making is carried on on a large scale, an electric fruit-juice extractor adds greatly to the rapidity with which the work can be done. CHAPTER XXI CASSEROLES OR THE REVOLUTION CULINARY