Kitchen

The kitchen was the domain of the cook. Robert and Matilda McHenry had a Chinese cook who had a room in the basement. Originally, there was a porch off of the kitchen and as part of it there was an enclosed pantry. Now, this area is a modern caterer’s kitchen. Painted walls and linoleum on the floor provided easily cleanable surfaces.

Some of the essential equipment of a well-appointed kitchen included an ice box. For the McHenry’s, this box probably was in the porch pantry. An ice box in the kitchen close to the stove would defeat its purpose. Refrigeration was by ice. Depending on the season, it may either melt quickly or slowly so varying quantities were needed. By placing a placard in the window with various amounts such as “25”, “50”, “75” or “100”, the ice delivery man would know how many pounds to bring.

The stove could have burned wood or coal. It was a fine art to regulate the heat of the stove for the cooking or baking at hand. Different types of wood were kept in the wood box. Because they burned at different temperatures, the cook could adjust the temperature. For the oven, it is said that a good cook could judge the right temperature by how long he or she could keep their arm in it. The cast iron stove was manufactured by Coldwater Oil Company of Coldwater, Michigan but it burned wood. A variety of tea kettles, pans, sad irons, waffle irons are on the stove. The graniteware coffee pot was welcomed by cooks because of its light weight and easy to clean enamel surface.

Around the kitchen are a variety of labor-saving utensils such as hand-cranked beaters, ice cream scoops, soap savers, pot scrubbers, cherry pitters, apple peelers, meat grinders, cream whippers, lemon squeezers, nutmeg graters, cheese graters, butter molds, can openers, knife sharpeners, spatulas, colanders, cookie cutters, biscuit cutters, coffee grinders and meat juicers.

Most food was preserved in canning crocks. However, by the 1880s, food could be purchased that was commercially canned in tin cans. Tin can food received a big boost as the result of the Civil War. Many people felt that it had a “tinny” taste.