1904 Electricity in the home1912 Electric Cookery 1945 The launderette2000? The house of the future ELECTRIC COOKERY. The new factor in housekeeping From the Daily Mail,  Sept November 2 1912 Within the last few months it has become quite evident that the housewife must seriously consider the question of reorganising her domestic arrangements by the introduction of an electric cooking stove in place of the present coal range, augmented by a gas or oil cooker. Domestic bliss Until recently the science of domestic electricity has been much neglected. Electricity has been thought of only as a means of lighting, of heating rather inefficiently, and, so far as cooking is concerned, of boiling a kettle - rather expensively. But lately the various public bodies responsible for the lighting of London and several provincial towns have gone most carefully into the question of cooking by means of electricity. They have perfected domestic cooking stoves and many cooking accessories, and have conclusively proved, not only to their own but to the consumer's satisfaction, that the electric cooker is the best possible one wherever electric power is to be obtained. As recently as October 16, for the occasion of a Tariff Reform banquet at Grosvenor House, presided over by the Duke of Westminster, electric ovens, grills, hot cupboards, and all other accessories necessary for preparing food for 200 guests were installed at three days' notice, as the existing cooking resources were insufficient. So successful was this trial of electric cooking in an emergency that it has been decided to adopt electric cooking permanently throughout the kitchens at Grosvenor House. And, in fact, so rapid has been the advance of the electric cooker that it looks as if every household which has an electric-lighting supply will adopt the cooker also. How much will it cost? Will it help the servant difficulty? How does an electric cooker heat the food? A SAVING OF MEAT. From the point of view of a practical housekeeper, I have gone well into the question of cost, and have come to the conclusion that, so far as out-of- pocket expenses are concerned, the electric cooker costs practically the same as my present arrangement of a kitchen range and a gas cooker. The modern servant infinitely prefers a stove, the heat of which does not depend upon her memory, and the coal shovel. A great point when considering the cost of the electric cooker in the year's expenditure is that every cook, whether of small private houses or large establishments, who uses one is emphatic in the belief that electric cooking reduces the butcher's bill, as there is less waste than by any other method, whether coal or coke fire or gas. All meat loses weight in the cooking, of course. A 10lb leg of mutton uncooked will often not weigh much more than 7lb when it comes to table, but cooked by electricity, the waste being less, the table weight will be increased by at least 1lb, which with meat at the present high prices should mean at least one shilling to the credit of the cooker. Carvers have also told me that they can serve more people from an "electric" joint than any other of similar weight, as, owing to the meat retaining more of the natural juices, it carves to more advantage. Now as to the actual bill for electricity. The Board of Trade measures electricity by the unit. One thousand candlepower burning for one hour consumes one unit of electricity. This is the recognised measure. The Borough of St Marylebone Electric Supply and about nine other towns put the unit at one halfpenny, at which rate they charge for both lighting and heating, plus a yearly contract charge for the whole, as settled by the number of lamps used. Thus £5 may be the annual charge for a medium-sized house or flat, and one halfpenny per unit for all electricity consumed. ACTUAL TESTS. Four homes were taken in an interesting test made recently; one was rented at £250 per annum, had fourteen rooms, and was occupied by a family of five with five servants; the second was a maisonette (half a large house) with four in the family and one maid; the third was a ten-roomed house with a family of six, and the fourth was a maisonette for a family of three whose cooking was done entirely on the electric range. The tests were taken over a given period of time. The consumption of electricity averaged one and a half units per day per person. Electricity for cooking purposes is usually obtainable at about one penny per unit. An interesting test made in a small middle-class home gives the entire cost of the day's cooking at sixpence. Beginning first thing in the morning, the time and amount of electricity used were carefully noted. For early morning tea the boiler or kettle of the electric range boiled rather more than two pints of water in four minutes, the electricity used equalling less than one-fifth of a penny. The whole cooking of the breakfast took ten minutes, the electricity used being less than seven-tenths of a unit. The menu was five rashers of bacon and toast cooked on the grill in less than seven minutes, five eggs boiled on a ring, and coffee made from the rapid boiler. The midday meat meal consisted of an 8lb joint, potatoes, and other vegetables for five people, milk pudding, and coffee. The electric oven retains the heat so well that the pudding was placed in the oven after the joint was removed and the electricity switched off, the retained heat being sufficient to cook it; 2 1/2 units, or 2 1/2d., cooked this meal. Tea time cost one penny for tea, hot grill cakes, and toast, and supper with a hot dish. During the day water was boiled, cakes baked, and some soup simmered, at the cost of another unit. Added to the cost of the electricity used must be the rental of the electric cooker and the initial cost of cooking utensils. A CLEAN, BRIGHT KITCHEN. To its credit electricity results in a perfectly clean, bright kitchen with no smuts, no flues, and no saucepans dirty on the outside. The further great advantage to the cook is that she will have a cooker of identical heat instead of an uncertain range, and that while she can regulate the temperature she will find that it always gives consistent results. She will find that she can cook electrically many things that are not usually cooked in English households. For instance, as the heat is consistent, and the oven enclosed with no chance of sudden draughts, the bread liked can be made at home. Further, the fumes of cooking are reduced to a minimum, as there are not stove fumes. Table cookery up to the present has been taken up more or less as a game, and the utensils held to be costly toys, but now the appliances are sufficiently perfect to commend them for general domestic use. The advance of the electric cooker can be gauged by the statement of the electric supply companies, who affirm that where they had but six private houses using cookers last Christmas they have 200 this year; or by the statement of the users, who say that they have no desire to return to old methods. Many big business houses have complete electric installations in their kitchens. Now as to the disadvantages of the electric cooker for domestic purposes, if disadvantages they be. For all small households it is not practical to keep up a constant hot-water supply for radiators simply by means of the electric cooker. So it is recommended that wherever possible a slow-combustion stove shall be installed in which can be burned small coal, coke, and most other house refuse, the cinders and ash from the sitting-room fires, the vegetable peelings, and ordinary waste matter. The electric cooker will not banish the coal fire from upstairs, and I do not suppose anyone really wants to do away with the open grate, a very dirty but very pleasant institution.