When you are ready to put the whole meal in the oven, your instruction card will tell you the correct temperature to set the thermostat. You can then leave the oven unwatched for a period of three to four hours. No preliminary cooking is necessary; in fact, the things can be put on in cold water if necessary; furthermore, the cost of cooking is no more, and sometimes less, than with the old-fashioned hit or miss method. Canning with this oven is simplicity itself, as there is no need to lift the big containers to the cooking surface. Many people prefer the fireless-cooking, oven gas stoves. These are excellent when made by the best manufacturers and certainly help the servantless house greatly. The old-fashioned methods of finding out if your oven is hot are as follows: Poking your head into the oven, perilous; thrusting an unoffending hand therein; browning pieces of paper or a bit of flour; burning the gas and letting it go at that; gauging the size of the flame: but these are unreliable, for everyone feels the heat differently and the quality of paper varies and atmospheric conditions differ. How many times have you cooked the same thing the same way, and have had success one day and failure the next. What waste--and how discouraging! With the particular stove in question, the novice soon becomes an expert. As much of the cooking can be done in the oven, not so large a surface stove need be bought; a small family can actually use a two-burner surface. BURNERS The burners on all the best stoves are regulated by the gas companies, from whom it is wise to buy, unless you are purchasing the installed, made-to-order stove. One firm emphasizes its burner because it spreads well; it claims there is a saving of gas, which is quite true. This stove also stresses its glass oven door. Now the glass oven door is a fine thing, but when meats are being cooked, the glass becomes greased, and unless cleaned off at once may leave furrows. The cabinet stove is the type used practically all over this country. It sits on high legs and has the oven (top or bottom), warmers and shelves. The stove without shelves is not called the cabinet style. Usually the cabinet has the ovens to right or left or below the cooking top. Some of these stoves have a separate splasher on the side of the back wall or the side wall; this is not absolutely necessary if the stove is so finished that the splashing will wash off easily. Some stoves are completely enameled, including splasher; others are just blue iron or polished steel. Of course, there are the expensive enameled stoves which only have to be washed for the dirt and dust to slide off. [Illustration: _Courtesy of Clark Jewel Stove Company._ TAKING THE GUESS WORK OUT OF OVEN TEMPERATURES BY THE USE OF AN AUTOMATIC HEAT REGULATOR]