British Military - The Development of Field cooking equipment and methods

The following is a work in progress. It is not a definitive guide, but is a researched starting point.

Instructions for cooks, along with Images from various War Department Manuals - in date order

The drawings are included for when they first appear in any manual

All of these manual are available in my Google drive folder for Cooking

1860 Instructions to military hospital cooks, in the preparation of diets for sick soldiers.

(This is the book that contains Alexis Soyer's nutritional recipes, and was published by the War Office 2 years after his death.)

General directions

The following simple Rules should be observed strictly by every Military Hospital Cook : - 

1. The kitchen should be always clean and tidy, everything (as far as possible) in its right place ; the tables scrubbed with soap and water daily, the floor washed frequently to keep the place sweet, and the chopping-block scraped. 

2. The day's work must not be considered finished until he has emptied and cleaned thoroughly, and carefully wiped, every pot, saucepan, or other cooking vessel in his charge. Damp will soon rust tin vessels ; and vegetables, if kept in a metal saucepan, will turn sour, and corrode the metal. 

3. Saucepans, stewpans, and other cooking vessels must not remain on the fire without a sufficient quantity of water or other liquid in them to prevent their burning. Once injured in this way (which is frequently the case from inattention), the pan becomes quite unfit for cooking pur- poses afterwards. The Bain Marie, or hot- water pan, is to be placed on the hot plate or hob of the stove, or over gas, filled with water, to hold the block-tin saucepans, to keep their contents hot : these saucepans must never be placed on the fire or gas ; the pan after the work of the day is over, must be emptied and dried. 

4. The copper boilers in use should at all times be kept well tinned ; otherwise they may become very hurtful, and even dangerous, to the sick. 

5. On no account must glazed iron ware be used to hold anything acid, or liable (as vegetables, for instance) to turn sour ; the glazing, being of a poisonous metallic nature, has a tendency to mix with and injure any such food. 

6. A different strainer must be employed for beef tea and greasy liquids, from that used for lemonade, barley water, and such-like drinks. For the former wire articles may be used, but not for the latter. 

7. In preparing the diets or drinks, the cook should be attentive to the quantities directed in the following receipts ; and for this purpose, he must not neglect to use, on all occasions, the weights and measures at his disposal. He should also be strictly guided by the time given. 

8. The first receipts given under the head of each " Diet” are intended to be principally followed ; but those prepared by M. Soyer may also be used, when it is thought advisable by the medical officer to introduce a little variation in the manner of preparing the different dishes. 

9. Great care must be observed in getting the meals sent to the wards hot ; for, however well in every other respect the cook may succeed in his task, if the diets are received by the patients in a cold or lukewarm condition, one half the benefit of good cookery will be lost to the sick. 

10. The cook, on the receipt of the articles of diet for the day, should weigh them in the presence of the issuer, and also in the presence of one or two patients, to satisfy himself and them that the proper quantities have been issued. These quantities should be entered on the slate furnished to him for this purpose. 

11. The bread and tea in the tea diet are to be apportioned according to the instructions of the Medical Officer. 

12. The meat on low diet is to be used for beef tea, so as to make 3-4ths of a pint of good beef tea for each patient on such diet. 

13. The meat on half and whole diets is to be boiled with the vegetables, barley, and flour, so as to allow to each patient the quantity of soup specified in the Diet Table ; and a 4-oz. of sugar for each diet may be charged in addition to that on the Dietary, also 1 oz. of pepper for seasoning every 60 diets. The meat on full diet, when not made into soup, is to be roasted, baked, or stewed, and 2 oz. of extra bread will be given in lieu of the barley and flour.

14. In the diets, when no soup is given, the vegetables are to be cooked in bulk, and served up to each patient in the proportions specified. 

15. When potatoes cannot be procured of a sufficiently good quality, 3 oz. of rice, 3 oz. of flour, or 8 oz. of bread, may be issued in lieu of 16 oz. of potatoes.

16. Preserved potatoes, when issued, will be in the proportion of 1 oz. of the preserved to 5 oz. of fresh, and 1 oz. of mixed preserved vegetables in lieu of 10 oz. of fresh. When egg-powder is used instead of eggs, 2 large teaspoonfuls will be found equal to a fresh egg, or an ounce of powder to 3 eggs ; the powder should be gradually mixed with cold water, well beaten, and allowed to stand a little time before it is used for cooking. 

17. Half an ounce of coffee may be substituted for -oz. of tea at breakfast and supper, on the order of the surgeon. 

18. Milk is to be calculated at 20 oz. to the imperial pint. 19. When meat is issued with bone, an additional quantity, equal to 4 oz. per lb., will be allowed. A fowl to produce 1 lb. of meat (or 2 diets ) should weigh not less than 12 lb. 

20. When small quantities of flour, sugar, butter, &c. are required by the cook to prepare the diets in accordance with any of the following receipts, he should apply to the surgeon to sanction the issue. 

War Office, 

1st January 1860. 

General instructions for encampment

Page 11

Cooking party :-Two men per company, under the serjeant cook.

"when the wagons arrive the following parties should then be told off and paraded by the adjutant :--- 

Cooking party :- Two men per company, under the serjeant cook, 

Latrine party :- All the pioneers who carry pickaxes and shovels, and one man per company. 

Water party :- One non-commissioned officer and two men per company, under a serjeant. 

Ration party :- A non-commissioned officer and two men per company, or more if the company is strong, under the quarter-master serjeant.  

Wood party :- Two men, or more if requisite, and a non-commissioned officer per company. 

The remainder will sit down close to the piles of arms. 

The Serjeant Cook will select the place for the kitchen, within the space marked out by the camp colours, and will make the kitchen as soon as the tools can be procured. If the encampment be for one night or two nights only, company cooking trenches may be dug between the officers' and men's tents ; the former must, in this case, be 15 paces further to the rear. 

Page 12

The Corporal of Pioneers will at once begin the latrines, it being essential that the ground should not be fouled ; for this purpose he will dig a narrow trench some 15 feet long and about 1' 6" deep. If the camp be only for one night, this will suffice ; if for a longer period, this trench may be filled in and a deeper and larger one made, brushwood, branches, or grass being used to give a little shelter (Plate XXVI.) . The latrines, on service, would usually be in front of the line ; at home, in rear. The trenches should be at right angles to the line 

The Ration party, under the quartermaster serjeant, will go to the Depot and receive the rations. 

The Wood party will, if no fuel is issued, seek for, and bring it to the Kitchen.

Page 24

COOKING.

To cook rapidly and well is an art which can be easily acquired, and which every soldier should learn. Officers commanding companies should see that there are a certain number of men ( at least 8 or 10) in their company who have been instructed in cutting up meat, in making field kitchens, and in cooking. 

The Serjeant Cook is specially trained for the purpose of instructing men in this essential portion of their duty, and officers commanding companies should see that the company cooks really learn these things. It is a matter of paramount necessity that soldiers' food should be carefully looked after. This duty should never be left to a non-commissioned officer, but should be carefully attended to by the company officers themselves. 

When a regiment encamps, the cooking party, consisting of the serjeant cook, the assistant cook, and two men per company, will proceed to make the kitchen. If the encampment is only for a night, one trench per company should be dug, about 10 feet long, 10 inches wide, and 12 inches deep, and with a splay mouth pointing towards the wind ; it will be advantageous if these trenches are cut on a gentle slope. If the regiment consist of 250 to 400 men, one kitchen is ample ; it is both more convenient, and takes less fuel, to cook in a large kitchen. If the regiment is stronger than 400, it may be advisable to have two kitchens, one for each half- battalion ; the serjeant cook will look after one, the assistant cook after the other. 

Page 25

All brushwood and long grass should be carefully cut for a circle of 20 feet round the kitchen, and may be used to light the fire with. 

The water party must bring up the requisite water in camp kettles, which are of two kinds ; the Flanders, or large pattern, which will cook for 8 men, or, without vegetables, for 15 ; and the Torrens, or small, which will cook for 5 men, or, without vegetables, for 8. The former kettle weighs 8 lbs. , the latter 3 lbs. The Flanders kettle is generally used where transport is provided, the Torrens when the men themselves have to carry the kettle. Each company should mess by kettles, that is to say, the mess should be composed of a number of men according to the kettle used. 

The serjeant cook should divide the meat, potatoes , &c., to the various companies, and the company cooks should cut it up into conveniently sized pieces and place it in the kettles.

Lighting the fires is often not an easy task, and should be performed by a man used to the work. Small pieces of dry wood should be sought for, and, if possible, be carried by the cooks from one encampment to another ; these pieces should not be larger than lucifer matches, and the first light being obtained, the fire should be gradually fed with larger pieces until pieces of wood three to four inches in diameter are used. The moment the fire is well lighted, the kettles should be laid on the trench, and be brought to a boil, after which they should be allowed to simmer gently. The dinners ought to be ready in an hour after the kettles are put on the fire. 

Page 26

If there is no time to dig a trench, or the ground be hard, the kettles may be placed in rows 10 in. apart, and the fires lighted between them, the heat being thus applied to the sides in place of the bottom. By this method, however, the cooking takes a little longer, and requires a little more fuel. Troops should, under all circumstances, have their dinners ready one hour and a half after the rations are issued. 

If troops remain in camp more than a day or two, it is advisable to make a regular kitchen. Three trenches should be made, converging to a point, of the same dimensions as before. The turf should be cut from the top of the trenches and used to build a chimney from 3 to 4 feet high, other sods being obtained from a little distance for this purpose. Plate XXVII.

This kitchen should be constructed as follows :-- 

The site having been selected, a picket must be driven to mark the centre of the chimney, and circles respectively of one foot and three feet radii marked on the ground for the base of the chimney. The trenches are next traced, the centre one towards the quarter from which the wind is blowing. The centre trench is traced 10 feet long and 10 inches broad, with a mouth as shown on plan ; the other two trenches are traced in a similar manner, one on either side, making an angle of about 40° with the central one. 

One man excavates each trench, commencing from the bottom of the chimney, making it in the thickness of the chimney only 6 inches wide and 12 inches deep. When beyond the base of the chimney, each man works to a width of 10 inches, gradually increasing the depth to 14 inches at the mouth, and forms the ramp. Another man cuts out the bottom of the chimney to connect the three trenches, and then commences building it, laying stones or sticks over the trenches at their ends, to carry the base of the chimney, and gradually building it up with sods cut by a fifth man. The men in the trenches having completed them, are employed respectively in providing and mixing clay, carrying water, and getting stones and sticks to lay across the trench. Great care must be taken in the construction of the chimney, all holes and interstices being plastered up with clay. The inside of the trenches may be rendered with clay if it be plentiful, in which case the dimensions should be slightly increased ; if clay be scarce, the trenches should be cut smooth. Each trench will accommodate seven kettles, the holes for which should be moulded from one, the intervals between being covered with stones, hoop-iron, or sticks plastered with clay, all interstices being closed with sods, &c. Such a kitchen will cook for 360 men, and will last a fortnight even when not rendered with clay. 

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One non-commissioned officer will superintend the construction of the kitchen, by a party of five men, whose duties are as follows, viz. : —

• One man to cut out one trench, and temper clay. 

• One " " " carry water. 

• One " " " prepare brushwood. 

• One " to build the chimney, and 

• one man to cut turf.

The tools, &c. , required are, — 

• Axes, pick 3

• Hooks, bill 1

• Kettle, camp 1

• Pickets, bundle of 1 

• Spades 4

Time to construct, 3 1/2 hours. Time to cook, 1 hour.

Page 28 

It is desirable to add other branches to such a kitchen, so that the men may stand out of the smoke. 

Baking bread is generally performed by the Commissariat. But it is very desirable that troops should have a change of food when possible, and also that, if requisite, they should bake their bread. 

A field oven consists of a hearth sunk below the surface, with an arch formed by a hurdle ; and can be made as follows :-·---- 

The lines to be traced, are the cutting lines of the hearth ; its doorway, and those for the ramp. A rectangular space 5 feet long and 3 feet 6 inches broad, is excavated to a depth of 6 inches, to form the hearth of the oven. It is levelled, and covered with a layer of clay mixed with cow-dung, which is also plastered on the sides of the excavation. At the mouth of the oven a sod-work flue, 9 inches square inside, is constructed, a square hole (a) one foot high and broad being left in the lower part of it, on a level with the hearth, for a door to the oven. At the other end of the oven, a wall of sod work plastered with clay is built up to the height of the top of the arch, and a hole dug 3 feet deep, 3 feet 6 inches wide, 9 inches in front of the chimney, connected with the ground level by means of a ramp 18 inches wide ; this hole is for the baker to stand in.

While the above work is being done, the arch of the oven is made :-An arc is struck on the ground with a radius of 1 foot 10 inches, and nine pickets rather more than 5 feet long are driven into the ground, and a brushwood hurdle 5 feet in height formed on the pickets ; the concave surface is then covered with a mixture of one part cow-dung to three parts clay, and, having been dried in the sun, is coated over with another thin coat of the same mixture. The arch so prepared is laid over the hearth already levelled, and is then well coated over externally with the clay mixture, and finally covered over with the earth from the ramp to a thickness of 1 foot 3 inches at the top, the slopes projecting 18 inches beyond the hearth. The entrance to the oven is closed, either by a door made of hurdle work covered with clay, or simply by sods. 

Page 29

One non-commissioned officer and seven men are required to construct each oven ; two men being employed in cutting out, and preparing the hearth, building the flue and end walls, and excavating the ramp, two more men in procuring and mixing the dung and clay, while three men cut the brushwood, make the hurdle, and plaster it. Plate XXVIII. shows the oven complete.

The following tools are required :- 

• Axes, pick 2

• Hook, bill 1 

• Knives, gabion (or bill hooks) 3 

• Line, tracing 1

• Mallet 1

• Shovels, field 4

The oven might be completed in four hours, but as the putting on of the second coat of plaster on the arch must be delayed until the first is dry, the time will depend much on the heat of the sun. This oven will contain from 70 to 80 two-pound loaves, and would therefore bake, each time it was heated, bread enough for from 140 to 160 men. The time for heating such an oven on the first occasion would be from one hour to one hour and a quarter. 

A kneading trough, of the dimensions shown in Plate XXVIII. should be constructed near the oven.

Page 30

An excellent oven may also be made by intertwining hay bands together, bending them into a semicircle, and covering the arch so formed with earth. The bands of Jones's gabion also answer the same purpose.

STRIKING CAMP. 

The hour for assembly and the hour for reveille are named in orders, and it is very desirable that the men should not be disturbed one moment sooner than requisite. The practice of knocking tent pegs to loosen them, drawing picket posts, &c. , which young soldiers , in their desire to be smart, often resort to, should never be allowed ; no man should stir until the reveillé is sounded, which should be from the Head Quarters of the Division, and taken up by the brigade and regimental bugles in succession. 

Page 31

The moment reveillé has sounded, the cooks should proceed at once to light the fires and make coffee ; for which purpose the firewood, water, and all requisite materials should be prepared overnight. It being a matter of great importance that men should not march on an empty stomach, this should not be left to the serjeant cook alone, but officers commanding companies must see that all preparations are made overnight. While breakfast is being got ready, the blankets will be rolled up and packed in the wagons, the trenches round the tents filled in, and the refuse round the kitchen collected. When the men have had their breakfasts, the fires will be extinguished, the refuse thrown into the trenches , the trenches filled, and chimneys levelled.

1875 Manual of Instructions for Non Commissioned Officer and men of the Army Hospital Corps

Page 229

The cooking place or kitchen should be made to leeward of the camp. ‘The following directions and plan are taken from the Horse Guards’ Regulations. 

1885 Manual for Medical Staff Corps

Page 24

X. Duties of Serjeant or Corporal Cooks, and Assistant Cooks. 

106. (365.) The non-commissioned officer or private per- forming the duties of Cook or Assistant Cook will act under the orders of and be directly responsible to the medical officer in charge, and will receive instructions from the quartermaster, if present, or in his absence from the steward. 

107. (366.) The cook will attend at the provision store, at such hours as may be ordered, io receive the articles required for the preparation of the diets and extras prescribed, as shown by the provision ticket (Army Form I 1218); he will likewise attend at the meat store to see that the issues of beef, mutton, &c., are correct. 

108. (367.) He will be responsible that all the food is well cooked, and ready to be issued at the appointed times, and he will be most careful that the meals sent to the patients are quite hot, and in a condition as nice- looking as possible. 

109. (368.) He will be held responsible that the cook- house, scullery, pantry, and all cooking utensils are kept scrupulously clean, and are arranged in an orderly manner. 

110. (369.) He will give all the assistance in his power in training the assistant cooks, as well as those orerlies who may be sent to the kitchen for instruction, and he will report immediately to the steward any irregularity or neglect of duty on their part. 

111. (370.) He will be responsible that a sufficient supply of hot water is at all times ready for baths or other purposes. 

112. (371.) The assistant cook, when employed in the separate charge of a hospital kitchen, will perform his duties in accordance with the instruction for cooks, 

113. (372.) The general instructions for cooks in military hospitals are laid down in Appendix to Part I, page 26, and are to be regularly observed. 

Page 26

Appendix to part 1,

(See paragraph 113.)

Instructions for Cooks in Military Hospitals.

The following simple rules will be strictly observed by every Military Hospital Cook :— 

(1) The kitchen should be always clean and tidy, every: thing being, as far as possible, in its right place. The tables should be serubbed with soap and water daily, the floor washed frequently, and the chopping-block scraped. 

(2) The day's work will not be considered finished until the cook has emptied and cleaned thoroughly, and carefully wiped, every pot, saucepan, or other cooking vessel in his charge. Damp will soon rust tin vessels ; and vegetables, if kept in a metal saucepan, will turn sour and corrode the metal. 

(3) Saucepans, stewpans, and other cooking vessels must not remain on the fire without a sufficient quantity of water or other liquid in them to prevent burning, When a pan is injured in this way it becomes quite unfit for cook ing purposes, The bain marie, or hot-water pan, is to be placed on the hot plate or hob of the stove, or over gas, filled with water, into which will be placed the block tin saucepans: these saucepans must never be placed by themselves directly on the fire or gas ; the hot-water pan, after the work of the day is over, must be emptied and dried. 

Page 27

(4) The copper boilers in use should at all times be kept well tinned, otherwise they may become very hurtful and even poisonous for cooking purposes. 

(5) On no account must anything acid, or liable (as vegetables for instance) to turn sour be retained in vessels of glazed ironware, as the glazing being of a metallic nature may mix with and injure such food. 

(6) A. different strainer must be employed for beef-tea, and all greasy liquids, from that, used for lemonade, barley-water, and similar drinks, For the former, wire strainers may be used, but not for the latter. 

(7) In preparing diets or drinks, the cook will be attentive to the quantities directed in existing regulations, and in apportionating the quantities must, on all occasions, use the . weights and measures at his disposal. He will also be strictly guided by the time given.

 (8) Great care must be observed in sending the meals to the wards hot; for however well in every other respect the cook may succeed in his task, if the diets are received by patients in a cold or lukewarm condition, one-half the benefit of good cookery will be lost to them. 

(9) On receipt of the articles of diet. for the day the cook should weigh them in the presence of the issuer, and also of one or two patients, to satisfy himself and them that the proper quantities have been issued. These quantities should he entered on the slate furnished to him for that purpose. 

(10) The bread and tea in the tea diet. are to be apportioned according to the instructions of the medical’ officer. 

(11) The meat: on low diet ig to. be used so as to make three-fourths of a pint of good beef-tea for each patient on such diet. 

(12) The meat on half and entire diets is to be boiled with the vegetables, barley, and flour, so as to allow to each patient the quantity of soup specified in the diet table ; and in accordance with the Allowance Regulations a quarter of an ounce of sugar for each diet may be charged in addition to that on the dietary, also pepper for seasoning will be allowed, at the rate of 2 oz for every 100 diets of all kinds, excepting tea and milk, The meat on varied diet is roasted, baked, or stewed, and 2 oz, of extra bread is riven in lieu of the barley and flour ; 1 oz. of mustard may be issued for every 20 beef diets. 

Page 28

(13) In the diets, when soup is given, the vegetables are to be cooked in bulk, and served up to each patient in the proportion specified. 

(14) When potatoes cannot be procured of a sufficiently good quality, 8 oz. of rice, or 3 oz, of flour, or 8 oz, of bread may be substituted in lieu of 16 oz, of potatoes. 

(15) Preserved potatoes, when issued, will be in proportion of an ounce of the preserved to 5 oz. of fresh, and an ounce of mixed preserved vegetables in lieu of 10 oz. of fresh. When ege-powder is used instead of eggs, two large teaspoonfuls will be found equal toa fresh egg, or an ounce of powder to three eggs ; the powder should be gradually mixed with cold water, well beaten, and allowed to stand a little time before it is used for cooking. 

(16) Milk is to be calculated at 20 oz. to the imperial pint. 

(17) When meat is issued with bone, an additional quantity, equal to 4 oz, per lh., will be allowed, A fowl to produce 1 lb, of meat (or two diets) should weigh not less than it lb. 

(18) When small quantities of flour, sugar, butter, &e., are required by the cook to prepare the diets in accordance with any of the directions, he should apply to the medical officer to sanction the issue, The cook will he further guided by the following additional rules :— 

(19) Roast: mutton,—In carving a lee of mutton, the cook should hold the knuckle or shank bone in the left hand, the inside of the leg turned upwards. The first slice should be cut slantways, close to the knuckle ; and continue cutting in slices down to the thigh hone, passing the knife round it, The fat from the broad end should be cut away in the first instance, and distributed as required. 

(20) In a shoulder of mutton, the meat, before being cut up into diet portions, should be cut from the bone in the following way :— Cut the meat off in one piece from the under part of the bladebone by running the knife close to the bone; then turn it over, and cut down off each side of the ridge bone ; then run the knife up under the meat, close to the bladebone, there will only remain a few pieces round the shank bone, which should be cut up and distributed among the diet portions. The meat should be cut in slices across the grain. 

Page 29

(21) If a neck of mutton is roasted, it should be trimmed, and a great part of the fat removed. The scrag end should be boned, rolled, and tied round, the bones being put into the soup. For broth, the neck of mutton should be divided into chops ; for half or entire diets, they should be skewered and tied up, and boiled in the broth. 

(22) Chops should be always trimmed before they are cooked. 

(23) Roast beef.—In small hospitals the parts sent for roasting are generally the middle and chuck ribs (the middle has four, and the chuck three, ribs), or part of them. In all eases this description of joint should be boned, that is, the bones should be broken and placed in the soup, and the meat then rolled, skewered, and tied with a strong string. If baked, the meat should have a piece of greased paper placed over it. In carving for distribution the meat should be cut in slices ; if, however, the joint is roasted with the bone, the meat should be removed in one piece from the bone, by inserting the knife under it, close to the bone ; the bones should be used for soup. 

(24) The shoulder (or leg of mutton piece) should be cut from the bone after it has been cooked. 

(25) When the buttock and mouse buttock is supplied for roasting, the meat should be cut when raw from the bone and then cut across in pieces of two inches thick. The French make a hole in the meat half an inch square, with a skewer, and fill it with fat. The pieces should then be cooked very slowly, and carved for distribution in slices of half an inch thick across the grain. The same plan should be adopted when the meat is stewed or boiled in soup. 

(26) Fowls should be roasted whole, and afterwards divided. But if one portion of a fowl is required, a quarter should be cut from the raw fowl, covered with paper, and either baked or roasted. If a fowl has been once cooked, to make it hot again it should be placed on a plate in a basin, with very little water under the plate ; it should then be covered over with another plate, placed in the oven, and kept there for 20 minutes. 

Page 30

(27) Fish diets —The fish should, if possible, be filleted from the bone; a plain sauce may be made of the skins, bones, and cuttings, boiled in a little water, with a sprig of parsley and salt, and strained. A sole is filleted by removing both skins, cutting off the head, making a cut down on each side of the backbone, and inserting the knife under the flesh close to the bone. Each sole will make four fillets, which should be placed in a baking dish, slightly greased, with a piece of paper over it, and kept in the oven from 10 to 15 minutes. 

(28) When cod, haddock, ling, &., are to be oiled, they should be cut in slices when raw, and each slice tied round with string, to be removed when the fish is dished up. Small haddocks and large whiting are best filleted and done as soles.

(29) As very great difference exists in the quality of beef, mutton, fowl, and fish, it is essential that the cook should be able to form a correct opinion as to the quality of these articles, and at once, when the quality is inferior, report the same to the steward.

(30) Four-year-old beef is the best ‘for hospital use, Ox beef will make the highest flavoured beef- tea. Younger meat may be more tender, and make apparently stronger soup, but, like veal broth, it is merely more gelatinous. The lean of ox heef is of a bright red colour, cow beef of a pale red; a very dark beef indicates bull beef, which requires longer cooking. The colour of the fat, if yellow, indicates that the animal has been fed upon oil-cake, the meat of which is not so good for hospital use as that of cattle fed on roots or pasture. 

(31) The mutton for broth should be, if possible, four years old; 30 per cent. more of two-year-old mutton is required to make the same quantity and quality of broth as four-year-old. Ram mutton, if lean, can be used. As mutton differs in quality and flavowr in almost every county of the United Kingdom, itis impossible to describe that which distinguishes the best in each variety, but fine white fat, flesh close grained and of a bright red colour, the inside of the leg well formed and plump, indicates good mutton. In cooking old fowls for chicken soup or tea, place bones and all, with very little water, in a widemouthed bottle, and then put in a stewpan of boiling water, After boiling for two hours, strain off, and serve ; the broth being ciluted if deemed too strong; chicken only, should, if possible be used for chicken broth. 

There is no item (32)

Page 31

(33) In roasting fowls in ovens the same directions should be observed as for roasting fowls before the fire, but the oven must be made much hotter for fowls than for meat. 

(34) The cook should be fully acquainted with the different qualities of flour, arrowroot, rice, &c., in order to know how to use them judiciously; for instance: some samples of flour will never thicken soup ; and to ascertain whether it is suitable for that purpose, a teaspoonful should be tried to see whether it can be made into tough paste. Rice also varies much ; it is not always the finest and whitest that is the most nourishing or makes the best puddings; the common Bengal cargo rice is in such respects in genefal superior even to the best Carolina. Potatoes in damp weather, or those grown in a damp locality, are better steamed or baked in their skins ; they are liable to fall to pieces if boiled. 

(35) When chops or steaks cannot be broiled in frying pans they should be cooked in a very hot oven. With frying-pans the following mode should be adopted : Place the frying-pan on the fire, clean it well, rub some salt on it to make it quite dry and clean; then place in the chop or steak, inclining one side of the pan downwards, so that none of the melted fat touches the meat; turn it often to retain the gravy in it. 

(36) Fish to be broiled should, in the first place, be thoroughly dried; the frying-pan should then be made ready with the bottom well covered with fat, not too hot, which may be ascertained by throwing in a few bread crumbs or a drop of water ; Immerse the fish in it and cook gently ; when taken out it should be placed on a clean napkin. 

(37) Milk, rice-milk, &c., are best boiled in one saucepan within another, as in the bain marie; milk, &c,, should also always be kept hot in this way. 

(38) Great care is necessary in the management of the stove or fireplace, so as not to exceed the allowance of coals. The old open grate is now mostly replaced by either a kitchen range with oven and boiler, or a Flavell's Kitchener, or a Captain Marsh’s range. Those with the oven and boiler, which are generally of the B.O. or W.D. pattern, require the back part of the grate to be kept free from dust or soot that the oven may get properly heated. 

Page 32

(39) Flavell’s Kitchener also requires the flues to be kept clean, without which no oven will bake well ; this, as well as all close fireplaces, stoves, and boilers, should have the ashpit made to hold water, so that the cinders may drop into the water and thus keep the bars from burning out: it also adds to the heat of the fire. Captain Marsh’s stove, when fitted with hot-water cistern for baths, must never be left without water. When a fire is lighted in the hot-water grate, a warm hath may be had within 30 minutes, if the flues are kept clean. 

(40) When dome duty on board ship the cook will often have to use preserved provisions, as essence of beef, mutton broth, boiled chicken, mutton and beef ; such meats are as a rule too much done, and never make food as good as that which the cook prepares from the raw materials. Invalids, although they partake of the broth, or gravy, from preserved meat, will seldom eat the meat self. In cooking in most cases it is necessary only to remove the lid of the tin, and to place it in a stewpan of boiling water ; the pan should be kept on the fire, or in the oven, until the contents are warmed through; the fat on the top then removed, and the food sent up to the patient. The contents may also be emptied out of the tin into a stewpan, with a little water, and boiled ; then seasoned or flavoured according to taste or direction ; and the broth strained from the meat and served; the meat will make an excellent panada, Essence of beef added to this broth makes it stronger. Preserved vegetables, as carrots, Parsnips, onions, potatoes, &c, as well as dried parsley and other herbs, can all be- introduced into these broths or soups, at discretion. 

(41) For stews, the tins of beef and mutton (fresh or corned) may be used in any form ; an Irish stew may be made either with fresh or preserved onions and potatoes ; if fresh, the onions should be sliced thin, placed in a stewpan with a little fat, and allowed to get warm through, not browned; then add the potatoes with a very little water; when the potatoes are nearly done, add the seasoning, and empty the contents of the tin carefully on the top; when the potatoes are done, the meat will be sufficiently warmed through, and may then be served. Soup and boulli in tins will always admit of more water being added, and if raw vegetables are added they should be first boiled and mixed with the contents of the tin, five minutes before serving. 

Page 33

(42) Salt beef or pork, used at any time, should be soaked for at least thirty-six hours in water, changing the water three or four times. When being cooked, the water should also be changed the moment it begins to boil, and cold water added ; in this way, salted meat may be used almost like fresh; but in making soup from salted meat a large amount of vegetables should be added. Salt beef will also make an excellent panada, adding herbs and spice, and weight for weight of bread and egos; and formed into balls and baked ; it may also be served plain, or with any kind of sauce ; or it may be put into pudding paste and made into dumplings. 

(43) In stewing salt meat a little sugar should always be added, and in frying, a little vinegar, or lime juice, or sour wine. 

(44) In the case of frozen meat or vegetables, they should be placed in cold water in a warm room until thawed. Bread should be treated in the same way, and then dried or re-baked, which makes it eat like new bread. 

(45) It may sometimes occur that porridge of Indian meal or maize flour is ordered; if so the meal or flour should first be soaked in cold water in a cold place for twelve hours, and whatever floats on the top removed; it should then be boiled slowly for five or six hours.

Page 101

Part III - Instructions for Training Stretcher Bearers and Bearer Companies

300. The officer and men of the Transport Corps will also during an action afford every assistance in superintending the movements of the ambulances. 

The quartermaster-serjeant, Medical Staff Corps, with the company cooks, batman, and baggage, will be placed a short distance in rear of the dressing station, and will have food ready prepared for the company at the close of the action. 

Page 103

Instructions of Stretcher Bearers

310. The duties of bearers being primarily to search for and succour the wounded, by administering to them water and stimulants, by applying a temporary dressing such as the nature of the case may require, and by removing them and their arms and accoutrements to a place of safety ; and, secondarily, to pitch tents and hospital marquees, to cook for the wounded, and to find guards for the wagons on the line of march and in camp ; it follows as a matter of necessity that they must undergo a course of training to enable them to undertake the technical portion of these cuties. 

Page 171

Appendix

If the encampment be only for a night, a trench or two, according to the number of wounded in hospital, should be dug 6 feet long, 9 inches wide, and 18 inches deep at the mouth and continued for 18 inches into the trench, then sloping upwards to 4 inches at the back with a splay mouth pointing towards the wind, and a rough chimney 2 feet high at the opposite end formed with the sods cut off from the top of the trench. This trench will hold 6 Flanders or 9 Torrens’ kettles, and will cook for about 50 men. 

If there is no time to dig a trench, or the ground be hard or sandy, the kettles may be placed in rows, 10 inches apart, and the fires lighted between them, the heat being thus supplied to the sides in place of the bottom. 

On damp or marshy sites a wall trench will be found to answer best, constructed as follows :—Cut some sods of turf about 18 inches long by 9 inches wide, and lay them in two parallel lines 6 feet long with an interval between them of 2 feet 6 inches. Build these walls 2 feet high for Flanders and 18 inches high for Torrens’ kettles, Place sticks through the handles of the kettles and hang them over the centre with the ends of the sticks resting on the walls. This trench will hold 10 Flanders or 20 Torrens’ kettles, and will cook for about 100 men. 

Page 112

The inside of the trenches may be plastered with clay if it be plentiful. If this is done the dimensions should be slightly increased. If clay is scarce the trenches should be cut smooth. 

Each trench will accommodate nine Flanders or eleven Torrens’ kettles, the holes for which should be moulded from one in clay if procurable. The intervals across the trench should be covered by sods placed grass side downwards, or stones, hoop-irons, Ticks plastered with clay, and all interstices closed with clay or sods. 

Such a kitchen will cook for 220 men with the Flanders kettle, or for 165 men with the Torrens’ kettle, and will last a fortnight even if not plastered with clay. 

Time to construct with 1 non-commissioned officer and 5 men, 4 hours ; and time to cook, 1 hour. 

Page 172

43 Field Kitchens

If the encampment be only for a night, one or two trenches, according to the number of wounded in hospital, should be dug 6 feet long, 9 inches wide, and 18 inches deep at the mouth, and continued for 18 inches into the trench, then sloping upwards to 4 inches at the back, with a splay mouth pointing towards the wind, and a rough chimney 2 feet high at the opposite end formed with the sods cut off from the top of the trench, It will be advantageous if these trenches are cut on a gentle slope. This trench will hold 7 of the large oval kettles, The large oval kettle will cook for 8, or without vegetables 15, men ; the small oval will cook for 5, or without vegetables 8, men. 

If there is no time to dig a trench, or the ground be hard or sandy, the kettles may be placed in rows, 10 inches apart, and the fires lighted between them, the heat being thus applied to the sides in place of the bottom. By this method, however, the cooking takes a little longer, and requires a little more fuel. Troops should, under all circumstances, have their dinners ready one hour and a half after the rations are issued. 

Page 147

42 Portable Stove (Tomkins)

This stove is for use in field, stationary, and base hospitals. It consists of two ovens, two boilers with lids, four baking dishes, one grate, and two shelves. 

Page 148

The ovens (one of which is smaller than the other) are made of steel plate. The grate is made of wrought-iron, and the boilers and baking dishes of tin-plate. Each apparatus is considered capable of cooking for 50 patients. 

Place the ovens back to back, leaving space between them to receive the grate, which is provided with four hooks to engage in slots in angle pieces fixed to the bottoms of the ovens. Before the grate is set in its place, connect the ovens together by means of the plates pivoting on the sides of the smaller oven, and furnished with face to fit into slots cut in the top of the larger oven. These plates, when in position, close in the fire space. The doors of the oven have their hinges at top, and open upwards, Each oven has a movable shelf of plate-iron to rest on a ledge, and intended to receive one baking dish, the second being placed on the bottom of the oven. The boilers rest on the top of the ovens over the fire.

Page 149

To pack the stove for transport. Place the small oven inside the large one, with the large shelf on its top, and the small shelf at one side of it. Put the small boiler into the large one, and place the latter with the baking dishes inside the small oven. Place the grate in last, resting on the boiler. In packing the grate, place the bottom bars (not the hooks) next the boiler, or the latter will be injured. 

The large oven is fitted with links for pack transport

Total weight 90 1/2 lb

Dimensions, packed for transport— in. 

Height ... ... ... 14

Length ... ... ... 18 3/4

Depth ... ... ... 16 3/4

Page 147

2) The wall kitchen : 

On damp or marshy sites a wall kitchen will be found to answer best, constructed as follows:— Cut some sods of turf about 18 inches long by 9 inches wide, and lay them in two parallel lines 6 feet long with an interval between them of 2 feet 6 inches. Build these walls 2 feet high for large oval, and 18 inches high for small oval, kettles. Lay the wood all over the bottom between the two walls. Place sticks through the handles of the kettles, and hang them over the centre with the ends of the sticks resting on the walls, Light the fire. This trench will hold about 12 large oval, or 20 small oval, kettles. 

(3) If the ground be such that a trench or wall kitchen cannot be conveniently made, it is a good plan to place three bricks or stones to keep the kettle off the ground and build the fire underneath the kettle. Each kettle can be heated separately in this manner; or cooking may be performed by means of 

1905 Manual of Military Engineering

Chapter XV.—Camping arrangements. 

Cooking. 

174. To cook for a large party, the most economical method is to dig or build up a long trench for the fire, place the kettles on it (its width not being sufficient to allow them to drop in to it), and cover up between them with stones and clay, that the fire, fed from the windward end, may draw right through. A chimney can be built at the other end to increase the draught.

The section of a typical trench for this purpose is shown in Fig. 1, Pl. 57. 

The chimney can be built of sods, and is supported where it passes over the trenches, by flat stones, slates, wood covered with clay, &c. The inside of the trenches and of the chimney may be plastered with clay, which makes them last longer. Several such trenches may be combined, as shown in Fig. 2, to form what is known as the "parallel or rectangular kitchen, or three trenches may converge to one flue, as shown in Fig. 3, forming what is known as the broad arrow kitchen. 

176. Pl. 57, figs. 4 and 5, gives details of a covered kitchen, suitable for standing camps. The roof may be covered with tarpaulins, or in the manner described in Section 193.

177. For a small party the cooking may be done by digging a shallow trench, in the direction of the wind, to contain the fuel. Small pieces of iron will be found very useful tosupport the kettle. Another way is not to excavate the ground at all but to build up two rough walls of stones on the top of which the kettle is placed.

The simplest and best arrangement for cooking in the field for any party over 20, especially if the stay in camp is only for one night, is to place a proportion of the kettles on the ground in two parallel rows about inches apart, handles out-wards, block the leeward end of the trench so formed w4thanother kettle, lay the fire and place over it one or two rows of kettles resting on those already placed in position (see PL 59).

Mess tins can be arranged similarly, but in their case not more than eight should be used together.

1910 Manual of Military Cooking

1910 Manual of Military Cooking

Page 1

Duties of Serjeant-Cook and Cooks

The serjeant-cook will have complete control over the cooks of his regiment or battalion, who should receive their orders from him.

He will detail each cook to the apparatus suitable for preparing the various dishes required for the following day, dividing the work so that each man may know what he has to do, in addition to the cooking for his company.

He will afford every facility for varying the diet of the several messes, so that each company many have a complete change daily throughout the week ; and will arrange that the companies using the oven one day, shall have the use of the boilers and steamers the next day, and so on.

He will be personally responsible that no misappropriation of any kind whatever place, and should be present when the milk is issued with a list of the quantities ordered, to ensure that each company receives the correct amount. 

Groceries should be received by the serjeant-cook, who will weigh each day the quantities of the various articles received for each company, and satisfy himself that they agree with diet sheet and are the correct quantities for the number of men in mess. He will lock up in a cupboard, and retain the key. He will issue the various articles to each company-cook, and will see that the full quantity as issued is actually used, and that it is prepared by the cooks according to the instructions given. 

Page 2

When imparting instruction, the serjeant-cook should illustrate by taking any particular dish and preparing it himself, giving full details during its preparation. When at some future time the same dish is again being prepared, he will see that his previous instructions are carried out, checking errors on the part of the cook. Patience and tact are required, especially with young soldiers, in training them in their duties as cooks. 

When assistant cooks are allowed they should be trained under close supervision of the serjeant-cook with a view to replacing the cooks when required. 

The meat when issued to the cook will be at once placed in the dish belonging to the particular mess for which it is intended, care being taken to mark the dish with the number of the mess or room.

When nets are used for vegetables, &c., a tablet or piece of wood, with the number of each mess plainly marked thereon, should be attached to each. 

Cooks should not be allowed to have their meals in the cookhouse. Smoking is not permitted in the Kitchens. 

Cleaning Utensils. 

New utensils will be cleaned before they used. 

A new iron pot should first have a handful of sweet hay or grass boiled in it, then be scrubbed with sand and soap ; afterwards clean water should be boiled in it for about half an hour. A new tin should be filled with boiling water in which a spoonful of soda been dissolved, and placed over the fire to simmer; afterwards it should be scoured with soap and rinsed with hot water, the soda renders soluble the resin used in soldering. 

Tins can be kept clean by rubbing them gently with sifted wood. A copper stewpan or vessel can be cleaned with fine sand and salt, in the proportion of half salt to that of sand, then rubbed thoroughly with the hand or a brush. If there be any stains a lemon (or vinegar) may be used to remove them. 

Colanders should be well rinsed with boiling water, dried, and the frame cleaned and polished with whiting, care being taken that no particle of dust remains on it before hanging up for future use. 

Steamers, dishes and other tin ware should be well washed soap and soda water and polished with whiting.

Previous to use, all utensils should be thoroughly clean, and, when possible, exposed to the sun daily. The practice of keeping them in cupboards until required for use should be discouraged. 

All utensils, after being used, should at once be filled with hot water and placed over the fire to scald thoroughly, then cleaned and well dried. 

Grease remaining in a vessel will make it rancid, and will rust it. 

Named kitchen items in manual includes;

Warrens, Dean's Iron Ovens, Dean's Steel Boilers, Dean's Combined Cooking Apparatus, Richmond Cooking Apparatus, Brick Oven, and Soyer's stove.

1911 Royal Army Medical Corps Training

1933 Manual of Military Cooking

Page 265

Chapter XXVI. 

Field cooking. 

434, Improvised Field Oven.—Given an empty kerosene oil tin and a few bricks or stones, a very simple form of improvised oven for a small party can be made on the lines indicated below. The following materials are required to construct the oven :— An empty kerosene oil tin with the top removed, two pieces of iron (hoop-iron if obtainable) for the tin to rest upon, and some bricks or stones ; using mud or clay to cement the stones together. Build the base to form a cross as shown in Fig. 96; on this place the bars and the tin lying on its side, and proceed to build up the stones and mud round the tin, at the same time forming the side and back flues as shown in Figs. 97 and 98. The top is built, as in the Fig. 96, to form a cross-flue, the chimney being formed by means of an empty coffee tin or a piece of rolled tin. The opening to the oven can be closed with the top cut from the kerosene oil tin, and made tight with clay, or a stone may be used for the same purpose. The whole of the exterior should be covered with watery clay, or mud, as often as is necessary. The fire should be lighted under, the tin, wood being used as fuel. 

Page 120

Improvised pack container, for carrying hot soup, tea, etc., to the trenches 

Requirements—

• 1 pack. 

• 1 2-gallon petrol or lubricating oil tin. 

• 5 lb. hay. 

Method.—Place the hay in the bottom of the pack and firmly press in to a depth of 2 inches. Place the empty petrol or oil tin (which has previously been thoroughly scalded out) on the top of the hay, and then proceed to press hay very tightly all round the tin until the pack is full. There should not be less than 2 1/2 inches of hay evenly pressed all round the tin. There should now be sufficient room left to place a good wad of hay on the top of the tin at least 2 inches thick. Pour the boiling soup or tea into the tin and screw on the cap. Place the wad of hay on the top and securely strap the pack. The tin is now thoroughly encased in about 2 inches of hay tightly pressed, and is ready to be sent to the men in the front line. It will keep very hot for 12 to 24 hours. 

Points io Notice 

(i) Keep the hay as dry as possible. 

(ii) The soup or tea must always be poured into the prepared tin boiling hot. 

(iii) The tin must be scalded out each time it is used. This can be done without removing it from the pack. 

(iv) The same pack and hay will last for weeks. 

(v) If hay should get wet it must be dried and repacked before being used again. 

(vi) Tea leaves must be carefully strained off and none allowed to get into the tin with the tea. 

(vii) Each tin will take 16 pints. Two tins should be sufficient for a platoon. 

(viii) The lubricating oil tins “ Mobil oil B.B.”’ are the best for the purpose ; the handle is movable and allows for pressing the hay better. 

(ix) The pack must not be opened until actually required for use. 

(x) The total weight is 28-lb. when. full. 

(xi) Waste hay which is not quite good enough for feeding purposes should be used; straw or clover will not do. 

Page 87

Section V

Cooking in the field and on the line of march.

General instructions

The Kitchen, Travelling, has brought the system of providing hot meals for troops when away from their permanent stations to a very simple and satisfactory stage. Full instructions for its management will be found on page 95. It is not intended for use in standing camps of long duration at home ; in such cases Aldershot ovens and service camp kettles should be obtained from ordnance store and taken into use. 

There are many types of improvised ovens suitable for use in the field and in trench warfare, but a general principle is followed in their construction. The oven, consisting of a box compartment and flues, is built so that the draught to the chimney causes heat to circulate on three sides of the oven (see plate 2, page 125). In combination cookers the flues near the fireplace should be so arranged that the flame is carried under a single kettle trench for the purpose of boiling water in the service camp kettle, which may also be used as a stock pot and for providing tea, coffee, etc. This class of improvised cooking range is specially suitable for small messes, such as officers’ and serjeants’ messes. A hot plate can be constructed by fixing a sheet of iron supported by bricks above the ground, under which burned ashes from cooking furnaces should be strewn. A little wood added will keep the sheet of iron hot, and the plate is suitable for many forms of heating and finishing off cookery where only a moderate heat is required. 

The Aldershot ovens are, in many instances, so arranged that the flame from a specially constructed fire-place in front or at the side passes under the iron ground sheet with a chimney at the back or side, thereby, with the aid of fuel and stoking, providing a continual bottom heat. Bottom heat or, in other words, heat suitable for frying, is the result; and, in the case of cooking meat by frequently turning, the results achieved are usually satisfactory. 

The importance of erecting improvised ovens is to be able to serve baked meat, etc., as a change from the ordinary stew provided by the field cooker. 

Cooking in Mess tins

Page 88

Cooking in the field must of necessity at times be considered as amateur cookery. During the training season, therefore, it would be instructive for a C.O. to put all cooks out of action and call upon volunteers from a unit to cook the dinners, or to give orders that all men are to draw their rations in the raw state and cook them in their mess tins. 

The serjeant-cook should give demonstrations in mess-tin cookery to all ranks during the training season, the dishes selected being sea pie, Irish stew, stewed steak, soup from prepared peas-flour, use of emergency ration, cocoa, tea, coffee and baking-powder bread. A soldier having a knowledge of how to cook such dishes will be able to provide for himself temporarily when detached from the field cooker or permanent cooking appliances. Cooking in camp kettles is carried out in standing camps on a kettle trench similar to that shown at plate 4, page 126. In temporary or bivouac camps, service camp kettles may be arranged over an open wood fire as shown at plate 1, page 124. 

A similar system may be adopted for mess-tin cookery, but a brazier, as shown at plate 4, page 126, is more suitable ; or the mess tins may be piled round and on a tin or bucket well perforated under which a clear fire has been made. 

Cooking in Mess Tins, Camp Kettles, etc. 

The mess tins or camp kettles should be placed on the ground as shown on plan, plate 1, page 124, with the opening facing the direction of the wind. 

Eight is a convenient number of tins to form a “ kitchen,”’ but any number from 3 to 10 or 11 can be utilized. The handles of the vessels should be kept outside. 

Page 94

Mess tins should be well greased on the outside before being placed on the fire; if this is done and they are cleaned soon after being used they will suffer no damage. The tins when they are hot can be cleaned in a few minutes with turf, soil or rag.

Only a small quantity of wood is required for each “ kitchen,” a good draught being the object to be kept in view. The fuel used should be that obtainable in the vicinity of the “‘ kitchens,’’ and when mess tins are used each man should be instructed to prepare his own food, but when once the “kitchen ’’ is formed and the fuel collected, one man only need remain with each fire. 

The position of the tins in each “ kitchen ’’ will require to be changed from time to time, as some will be cooked sooner than others. It will be the duty of the man in charge to regulate this. 

The dinners can be cooked in 1 1/2 hours from the time they are placed on the fires. 

The following dishes are suitable for this method of cooking :— 

Plain stew, Irish stew, curried stew, sea pies, meat puddings. 

It is estimated that dinners of a battalion of 1,000 men can be arranged in a space of 40 yards by 30 yards, allowing an interval of 2 feet between the “ kitchens.’’ When possible more room should be given, as the men attending the fires are then less inconvenienced by the smoke. 

Page 91

Aldershot oven

The Aldershot oven consists of :— 

2 sections or arches. 

2 ends.

1 bottom. 

4 bars. 

9 tins. 

1 peel. 

Total weight, 374 lb. (about 3 1/4 cwt.). 

The bottom can usually be dispensed with, in which case the above weight is reduced by 66 lb.

The length of the two sections when up is 5 ft. lin. ; width 3 ft. 6 in. 

Capacity.—Each oven will bake 54 2-lb. or 24-lb. loaves (108 rations) in each batch, or if used for cooking, will cook dinners of meat and potatoes for about 220 men. See plate 5. 

How to Erect the Oven 

Select a gentle slope on clay soil, if possible, and avoid marshy or sandy ground. The mouth of the oven should face the prevailing wind. 

The site should be cleared and smoothed, and sods should be cut to build up the back, front, and sides of the oven. The bars are then placed over the site already prepared, the back one overlapping the front, the back of the oven placed in position, the plate forming the bottom of the oven is then placed against the front portion and firmly fixed; the sods are then built round the front, back and sides: a trench is next cut for the cook to work in, which is 18 in. deep, 2 ft. wide, and 6 ft. long, leaving a space of 12 in. between it and the oven. The clay or soil from the trench being mixed with water and grass, rushes, etc., to assist in binding it, is then thrown on the oven and well beaten down. The depth of clay or earth should be at least 6 in. The roof should slope backwards slightly, to carry off the rain. 

Kettles, portable cookers and ovens form the usual field outfit. When these are not to hand, the ingenuity of officers and men is tested to improvise substitutes. 

Beer barrels make excellent ovens ; one end is knocked out, the ground slightly sloped, so that it may rest firmly, the sides, back and top being covered with clay, well wedged downwards, to become quite hard ; the fire is then lit and allowed to burn until the whole of the barrel is consumed ; the hoops will then support the clay, and the oven may be safely used. Where the clay is good a small oven may be built by it alone. Build two walls the required distance apart, about 6 in. high, with clay that has been well beaten and mixed, the back being joined to the walls; then, with one hand on either side, gradually build the walls a few inches higher, the tops slightly sloping towards each other, leaving an interval in the form of a V in the centre ; then mould a piece of the clay large enough to fill the space, and place it in, care being taken to join well the edges with the walls both inside and out; a small fire should then be lit and allowed to burn slowly until the clay is dry ; it will then become baked and quite firm, and may be used as other ovens. 

Directions for Working Ovens of the Aldershot Mud or Clay-covered Type 

1. Every night wood should be laid in the oven ready for lighting in the morning. It is thus kept dry. 

2. When the oven is heated the embers are drawn out with a rake, and a small quantity of ashes left and raked even with the floor. 

3. The tins containing dough should not be put in till 20 minutes or half an hour after the fire is drawn, as otherwise the top heat is so fierce that it would burn the upper part of the bread. When meat is to be cooked it may be put in immediately the fire is drawn. 

Time for Heating, Baking, Cooking, etc. 

1st heating 1st day ... 4 hours.

1st heating 2nd day .... .. 2 hours. 

2nd and subsequent heating ... 1 1/2 hours. 

Baking ...  ... 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Cooking ... ... Up to 2 1/2 hours. 

Fuel Required for each Oven

 1st heating 1st day at ... 300 lb, wood. 

1st heating 2nd day ... ... 150 lb, wood. 

2nd and subsequent heating ... 75 lb. (baking). 

2nd and subsequent heating ... Up to 150 lb. (cooking). 

A rough heating rule for baking bread is to allow 1 lb. of wood for each pound of bread required. 

4. Immediately the oven is filled the door should be put up and wedged tightly with a piece of wood, the end of which should rest on the outer edge of the trench in front. The crevices round the end should then be filled in with wet clay to prevent any steam escaping. If this is properly done the steam providing the necessary moisture is retained, and the bread or dinners will not be burnt. Tin biscuit boxes filled with earth are a good substitute for other material used in the construction of the Aldershot oven. They may be used as follows: melt one side of the solder and form it into an oval shape; lay it on the ground, and cover it with a few inches of clay or soil sufficient to retain the heat; light the fire, and proceed as with the Aldershot pattern. 

Small joints of meat may also be baked in the service camp kettle. A small amount of fat should be placed in the bottom, then a few clean pebbles large enough to cover the fat, the joint placed on the pebbles, and the lid put on. It requires a little longer to cook than the ordinary oven, and it is hardly possible to perceive any difference in the taste. The camp kettles are, however, to a great extent damaged, and their use for this purpose should, if possible, be avoided. Ant-heaps can also be used as ovens, the insides being scooped out and the fire lighted as in the Aldershot oven. Another method is to dig into the side of a bank or trench and improvise a door with any old sheets of tin or iron to hand, plugging up the crevices when cooking, as with the Aldershot oven. 

1933 Manual of Military Cooking

Petrol-burning kitchen trailers

Various types of petrol-burning kitchen trailers are undergoing experimental trials, but as finality has not yet been reached it has not been found possible to publish details. 

Cooking by means of waste oil and water

(See plate 8) 

This form of cooking is most suitable when other types of fuel are unavailable. Any kind of crude oil or waste oil from lorry sumps may be used. 

Pass the oil through a filter or piece of muslin, and pour into a container. Fill another container with water. Petrol cans or drums are suitable for this purpose. Place a handful of cotton waste or rags, soaked in oil, in the flash pan, and set alight. Allow this to burn for a minute or two, until the pan is warm. Turn on the oil and water together, in the proportion of one drop of oil to two drops of water. If too much oil is released, a heavy smoke accompanied by excessive soot will be evacuated. If the correct proportions are used, little or no smoke will be apparent, and a sharp and continuous crackling noise will be heard from the flash pan. 

Water may be brought to the boil in 20 minutes by this method. This system can be adapted to most types of improvised field kitchens, 

Kitchens, Travelling 

(See plate 7) 

The travelling kitchen consists of two main parts, viz., the limber (or front part), the body (or back part). The Limber (Front Part) The limber is constructed with four compartments lined with a packing of asbestos; these can be hermetically sealed by closing the lids, which have a lining of the same material. These compartments contain four boilers, fitted with anti-splash plates and lids. When food at boiling point is placed therein it will remain hot for six or eight hours. Tea is usually quite hot after five hours; and ordinary stew will, as indicated above, retain a good heat considerably longer, but in all cases the weather must be taken into consideration. 

Frying Pans 

Four frying pans are carried, two on the " near" and two on the " off " side of the limber. These fit the openings over the fire in the body of the cooker. Each pan is provided with a cover, so that cooked food can be kept hot till served. Joints of suitable size can be baked in these pans. 

Compartments 

There are two compartments in the rear of the limber, " near " and " off. " In the " near " compartment cook’s implements should be stored, such as hand axe, holdall, with knives, etc., and in the " off " compartment the inventory board ; also any spare cook’s implements. 

Drawers 

The four drawers at the back part of the limber are to be used for the storage of sugar, tea, salt, and other condiments. 

Page 96

Lockers 

There are also two lockers under the rear of the limber, " near " and " off." In the " off " locker should be stored such accessories as spanners, washers, box of candles, lantern and holdall for small stores, and in the " near " compartment brake blocks, water brushes, canvas buckets and cordage. 

Rake 

A rake is supplied with each cooker and carried on the “ off ” side of the body. 

The Body (Back Part) 

Boilers 

The body has compartments for five boilers. Four boilers, each with anti-splash plate and lid, are used for the cooking of stews, puddings, soups, vegetables, tea, coffee, etc. There is also a boiler, fitted with a tap and an anti-splash plate and ld, for stock or boiling water, to make up the loss in cooking boilers due to evaporation. 

Fireplace 

The fireplace contains a "heat-regulator" and two  gratings," the correct adjustment of which should not be disregarded. The " heat-regulator " is moved by means of the rake to a " forward position " when heat is required in the direction of the rear boilers and pulled back over the entrance to the fireplace when forward heat is required, and placed in a central position for equal distribution of heat to all boilers. 

Gratings 

Both gratings should be fixed on the lower rests when wood fuel is used, and on the top rests if a steady coal fire is required, and when all pots are boiling push the bright embers forward and damp down to retain a steady heat. This kind of fire is also suitable for frying. When mixed fuel is in use it is usual to fix the back grating (farthest from the entrance to the fireplace) on the upper and the front grating on the lower rests. 

Dampers 

There are two dampers. These are used to regulate the draught and should remain open until the fuel has well burnt through and a clear fire remains.

Page 97

Dampers Down,— This is a common expression and means that the flues are partly or wholly closed when a small clear fire is burning, thereby retaining a good heat in the body of the cooker, and at the same time effecting a greater economy in the use of fuel than would be the case if the flues were kept free.

Chimney 

The chimney is retained in a vertical position by means of three bolts. It should be lowered to a horizontal position and supported by the rest when the cooker is not in use and when travelling over broken ground. The cowl of the chimney, when in use, can be adjusted to suit the prevailing wind. 

Soot Doors 

There are four soot doors, three at the front and one at the rear of the body. They should be opened for the purpose of removing soot deposits from the floor of the cooker.

Foot Rests 

The foot rests on either side of the cooker are for the cooks to stand on for the purposes of cleaning, also for making up, skimming and stirring the contents of the boilers. 

Carrying Poles 

The carrying pole is in two parts, each 5 ft. long, with two - hanging hooks. The two parts are connected by means of a socket and are to be used to remove the boilers, which should never be removed by hand.

Fuel Carriers 

Two fuel carriers are situated at the rear of the body. Each has a holding capacity of 14 cwt. of coal. The components, accessories, spare parts, equipment stores, etc., appertaining to a travelling kitchen are enumerated on A.F. G 1096-7. 

Page 127

Camp kettle or dixie trenches can be constructed with bricks or tea or biscuit tins filled with mud. Build with bricks or lay the tins in two rows 9 or 10 inches apart, joining well together with clay, and put one tin at the end. Cover to a depth of 1 tin only from the mouth of the trench with a well perforated sheet of iron and lay on a second row of tins as before, cutting the front out of the tin to be placed at the end. Cover the whole length with another sheet of iron, having previously cut out the holes to fit the dixies, or lap strips of iron across as supports. Place the dixies in position, and cover well round with clay, sloping off slightly towards the sides to let the rain run off. Fit a chimney into the tin at the end, and cover well round with clay. The bed of the trench should slope gradually towards the chimney. ‘The fire is only required at the mouth, and should not extend beyond the depth of one tin. 

The service camp kettle will cook comfortably for the following number of men :— 

Potatoes ... ... 32 men

Stewed meat with ingredients for plain stew, tomato stew, etc. 32 men

Sea pies ... ... 16 men

Meat puddings ... 16 men

Plain stew and dumplings 16 men

Green vegetables ... 16 men

Page 158

Appendix XV

Method of using peas, lentils, beans, or other pulses for the prevention of scurvy, in the absence of fresh vegetables.

(1) The dry seal must be whole, retaining the original seedcoat, not milled or decorticated. 

(2) They must be soaked in water for several hours ; the time necessary depends on the temperature, twenty-four hours at 50° F. to 60° F., and twelve hours or less at 90° F.

(3) The water must then be drained away, and the peas, beans, etc., allowed to remain in the moist condition with access of air. They will then germinate and the small rootlet grow out. This germination “will take forty-eight hours at 50° F. to 60° F., and twelve to twenty-four hours at 90° F. 

(4) The operations described in (2) and (3) could conveniently be done under active service conditions in such manner as the following :- 

Soaked.—The peas, beans, or other pulses, placed in a clean sack, should be steeped in a trough, barrel, or other suitable vessel, full of clean water, and should be occasionally stirred. The sack and trough, etc., should be large enough to allow for the swelling of the peas to about three times their original size, Ina hot climate six to twelve hours should suffice for this soaking. 

Germination —The peas should be lifted out of the water and spread out to a depth not exceeding two or three inches in a trough or other vessel with sides and bottom porous or well perforated with holes. This is to allow complete access of air. The seeds must be kept in a moist atmosphere. This is done by covering with damp cloth or sacking, which is sprinkled (by hand or automatically) as often as is required to keep the peas or beans thoroughly moist underneath. The germination should reach the stage mentioned in (3) above within twenty four hours in a hot climate. 

All the vessels should be clean. 

(5) It is important that the germinated pulses should be cooked and eaten as soon as possible after germination, and should not be allowed to become dry again, as in that case the anti-scorbutic properties, acquired during the process of germination, will again be destroyed. The pulses should not be cooked longer than necessary, and in no case for a longer period than 15 minutes, 

1940 Manual of Military Cooking

Page 181

There are many types of improvised ovens suitable for use in the field and in trench warfare, but a general principle is followed in their construction. The oven, consisting of a box compartment and flues, is built so that the draught to the chimney causes heat to circulate on three sides of the oven (see plate 15, page 190). In combination cookers the flues near the fireplace should be so arranged that the flame is carried under a single kettle trench for the purpose of boiling water in the service camp kettle, which may also be used as a stock pot and for providing tea, coffee, etc. This class of improvised cooking range is specially suitable for small messes, such as officers’ and serjeants’ messes. 

A hot plate can be constructed by fixing a sheet of iron supported by bricks above the ground, under which burned ashes from cooking furnaces should be strewn. A little wood added will keep the sheet of iron hot, and the plate is suitable for many forms of heating and finishing off cookery where only a moderate heat is required. 

The " Aldershot " ovens are, in many instances, so arranged that the flame from a specially constructed fire-place in front or at the side passes under the iron ground sheet with a chimney at the back or side, thereby, with the aid of fuel and stoking, providing a continual bottom heat. Bottom heat is, in other words, heat suitable for frying; and, in the case of cooking meat by frequently turning, the results achieved are satisfactory. The importance of erecting improvised ovens is to be able to serve baked meat, etc., as a change from the ordinary stew provided by the field cooker. “Camp kettle” or “‘ dixie’’ trenches can be constructed with bricks or biscuit tins filled with mud. Build with bricks or lay the tins in two rows 9 or 10 inches apart, joining well together with clay, and put one tin at the end. Cover to a depth of 1 tin only from the mouth of the trench with a well perforated sheet of iron, and lay on a second row of tins as before, cutting the front out of the tin to be placed at the end. 

Page 182

Cover the whole length with another sheet of iron, having previously cut out the holes to fit the dixies, or lay strips of iron across as supports. Place the dixies in position and cover well round with clay, sloping off slightly towards the sides to let the rain run off. Fit a chimney into the tin at the end and cover well round with clay. The bed of the trench should slope up gradually towards the chimney. The fire is only required at the mouth and should not extend beyond the depth of 1 tin. 

The service camp-kettle will cook comfortably for the following number of Men. 

Potatoes ... ... 32 

Stewed meats with ingredients for plain stew, tomato stew, etc. ... 32

Sea pies ... ... 16

Meat puddings ... ... 16

Plain stews and dumplings 16

Green vegetables ... 16

The serjeant-cook should give demonstrations in " mess-tin " cookery to all ranks during the training season, the dishes selected being such as sea pie, Irish stew, stewed steak, soup from prepared pea-flour, emergency ration, cocoa, tea, coffee and baking-powder bread. A soldier having a knowledge of how to cook such dishes will be able to provide for himself, temporarily, when detached from the field cooker or permanent cooking appliances. 

Cooking in camp kettles is carried out in standing camps on a kettle trench similar to that shown at plate 17, page 191. In temporary or bivouac camps, service camp kettles may be arranged over an open wood fire as shown at plate 14, page 189. 

Kettles, portable cookers, and ovens, form the usual field outfit. When these are not to hand, the ingenuity of officers and men is tested to improvise substitutes. 

Beer barrels make excellent ovens; one end is knocked out, the ground slightly sloped, so that it may rest firmly, the sides, back and top being covered with clay, well wedged downwards, to become quite hard ; the fire is then lit and allowed to burn until the whole of the barrel is consumed; the hoops will then support the clay, and the oven may be safely used. Where the clay is good, a small oven may be built by it alone. Build two walls the required distance apart, about 6 inches high, with clay that has been well beaten and mixed, the back being joined to the walls ; then, with one hand on either side, gradually build the walls a few inches higher, the tops slightly sloping towards each other, leaving a gap, in the form of a V, in the centre; then mould a piece of the clay large enough to fill the gap, and place it in, care being taken to join well the edges with the walls both inside and out; a small fire should then be lit and allowed to burn slowly until the clay is dry ; it will then become baked and quite firm, and may be used as other ovens. 

Page 183

Tin biscuit boxes filled with earth are a good substitute for material used in the construction of the Aldershot oven. They may be used as follows: melt one side of the solder and shape the tin into an oval; lay it on the ground, and cover it with a few inches of clay or soil sufficient to retain the heat ; light the fire, and proceed as with the Aldershot pattern. 

Ant-heaps can also be used as ovens, the insides being scooped out and the fire lighted as in the Aldershot oven. 

Another method is to dig into the side of a bank or trench and improvise a door with any old sheets of tin or iron to hand, plugging up the crevices when cooking, as with the Aldershot oven. 

A similar system may be adopted for mess-tin cookery, but a brazier, as shown at plate 16, page 191, is more suitable; or the mess tins may be piled round and on a tin or bucket well perforated under which a clear fire has been made. 

To cook rapidly and well for troops in the field is an art which can easily be acquired, and which every soldier should learn. It is a matter of paramount importance that soldiers’ food be carefully looked after, and this duty should be attended to by the officers themselves, who should also understand the construction of improvised ovens, etc. 

1954

The first mess tins are said to have been introduced in 1813, and were D shaped. This due to issues with the camp kettles arriving some hours after the unit arrived at that day's encampment. Still looking for evidence, but am sure that there will be something amongst Wellington's papers. They came with a dedicated pouch, which was worn on their Accoutrements  (webbing) , worn in the small of the back.

The 1939 patern Mess tins are rectangular, with the smaller one fitting inside the larger one. When brewing up, the larger one can be placed over the smaller one to act as a lid.

Improved Triplex stove

These Triplex Field cookers have been "Improved" by raising the entire cooker on bricks, insulating the oven and grate with bricks and/or fuel cans. Four shelves have been created behind the Hob, and the bottom one will be hot enough to heat food, and the top shelf hot enough to keep food warm. The top of the oven now works as another cooking hob, due to the protection from the wind.

Note that the Deane iron stove has also been raised up on bricks

Benghazi Burner

Having a readily available supply of hot water whilst preparing and serving food is paramount, especially when there are hundreds of soldiers being fed. Below is a couple of methods used to heat volumes of water in the field.

Quick list of fixed kitchen cooking items

These dates are the dates that they are first mentioned in various manuals

1856 - Soyer designed a number of sizes of his Field stove, with larger ones being used in military hospitals.

1858 - Soyer opens a modern kitchen at Wellington Barracks, Birdcage Walk, London. This kitchen has gas fuelled cookers for more efficiency, and Soyer stoves. Sadly dies before able to cook for 700 people from this kitchen.

1878 - Warren cooking apparatus, patented 1866

1878 - Feetham's Stove comprises an oven and hot-plate

1878 - Dean's Boilers

1878 - Dean's (or Galton's) Iron Ovens

1895 - Fowler’s Camp stove

1895 - The Brick Oven

1903 - Treble Boilers. These boilers have been constructed with a view to their adoption in small forts, where, in addition to the cooking, hot water is always required.

1903 - Benham's Apparatus 1. A ventilated Brick Roasting Oven. 2. A Steam and Hot Water Boiler. 3. Tin Boilers for meat, soup, &c. 4. A Hot Plate. 5. An Iron Chamber for steaming potatoes. 6. A Furnace to heat the whole. 

1910 - Dean’s Combined Cooking Apparatus.

1910 - Richmond Cooking Apparatus. Is comprised of two distinct parts.

(A) consisting of oven and steam chambers, hot plate and boiler for generating steam, also providing water for tea or coffee.

(B) portion consists of soup or vegetable boiler and stock pot. There are two sizes in use. The small apparatus will cook for 50 men. The larger cooker will cook for 150 men.

1933 - Hot-Air Ovens

Extracts and information has been taken from the following :-

Alexis Soyer, The First Celebrity Chef, by Frank Clement-Lorford - 2001

Chobham Common, Great Camp, 1853, by Phil Stevens - from Surrey Heath Museum - 2003

Civil Defence Handbook No. 8, Emergency Feeding - 1960

Commonwealth Gazette of Australia, various contracts for cooking equipment

Culinary Campaign, by Alexie Soyer - 1857

Emergency Planning Guidance to Local Authority, EPG Handbook 3, Emergency Feeding - 1986

Falkland Islands Sustainers Cookbook, by Maj. M. K. Murphy, WO1 T. A. Maloney, WO1 D.R. Norris - 1983

General Regulations and Orders for the army - 1798, 1811

Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations 1851 - Volume 2, 

Hannah Snell, the female soldier, Autobiography - 1750

Illustrated London News, various articles and images - various dates

Instructions to Military Hospital Cooks in the preparation of Diets for Sick Soldiers, with recipes and instructions by Alexie soyer - 1860

Journal kept during The Russian War, by Mrs. Henry Duberly - 1856

Lawes and Ordinance of Warre - 1640

Manual for the Medical Staff Corps - 1885, 1894

Manual for the Royal Army Medical Corps - 1899, 1904

Manual of Army Catering Service (MACS) - 1954

Manual of Instructions for Non-Commissioned Officers and Men of the Army Hospital Corps 1875

Manual of Military Cooking - 1914, 1933, 1940

Manual of Military Engineering - 1905, 1908, 

Memoirs of Serjeant Paul Swanston; being a Narrative of A Soldier's Life, Autobiography - Covers around 1790 to 1840s

Memories of Soyer, by F. Volant & J. R. Warren - 1859

Papers re Instruction of Army Hospital Corps, - 1860

RAF Air Publication 2328, Vol.1 ‘Cooking vehicle’

Recollection of Thirty-nine Years in the Army, by Sir C. A. Gordon - 1898

Recollections of Rifleman Harris, Autobiography - 1848 

Regulations & Instructions for Encampments - 1871

Royal Army Medical Corps Training - 1908, 1911, 1935 

Royal Warrant and Regulations for the Army - 1848, 1876

Rules and Articles for the better Government of our Horse and Foot-Guards - 1718

Samuel Pepys' Naval Records - 1700

The British Expedition to the Crimea, by W. H. Russell - 1858

The British Navy book, by Lieut.-Col. C. Field - 1915

The Female Shipwright, by Mary Lacy - 1773

The Life and Adventure of Mrs Christian Davies, Autobiography - 1740

The Life of a Provate Soldier in the Times of Peace, in the Cassell's Family Magazine - 1882

The London Gazette - Contracts

The Military guide for Young Officers, by Thomas Simes Esq - 1772

The Navy Royal, or a Sea Cook turn'd Projector, by Barnaby Slush - 1709

The New Zealand Gazette - contracts

The Private Soldier's and Militia Man's friend, by Henry Trenchard - 1776

The Royal Military Chronicle, or British Officers' monthly Register, by Cardon Scriven - 1811, 1817

The Royal Navy, a history from the Earliest Times to the Present, vol 5 by Wm. Laird Clowes - 1900

The United Service Magazine, Vol 3 - 1893

Various letters and documents - Canadian Library and Archive

Various letters and documents - Kent Archive

Various letters and documents - National Archive

Various letters and documents - National Army Museum

Various letters and documents - to and from Wellington - Southampton University Archive

Various letters and documents - Westminster City Archive

Various letters and documents - Lancashire Archive

Various letters and documents - Reading Archive