HOW THE VEGETABLES ARE COOKED

The question asked was: “How do you cook your vegetables?”

Boiling is by far the most common form of cooking for all vegetables.

Potatoes are the most frequently steamed vegetables. The others are only steamed by a small number, varying from 5% to 11%. Potatoes are the only vegetables which are to any great extent cooked in fat, half of the housewives using this method as an alternative to steaming and boiling, “Other methods” include baking in skin in the oven, baking in milk, etc., but the number of housewives who use these methods is negligible. The low figure for baking in the skin is most surprising in view of the extensive publicity devoted to this method.

GROUP DIFFERENCES

Income Group . A larger proportion of housewives steam vegetables in the upper than in the lower income group. (Table 41, page 21).

Regions . In the North more housewives steam vegetables than in the other regions. In the South more women cook potatoes in fat. (Table 42, page 22).

THE AMOUNT OF WATER USED FOR BOILING

The question asked was: “How much water do you put in the pan or pot?” In terms of ‘quarter covered’, ‘half covered’, ‘covered’, etc.)

“Why do you put this amount of water in?”

More than half of the sample cover their vegetables completely when cooking. A quarter cover them at least half-way, and the rest use little water or cover them only quarter-way. The percentage of housewives who use little water varies between 10% (for potatoes) and 21% (for cabbages).

The two principal reasons for current practice are habit, and a belief that too much water wastes goodness. The second reason is naturally much more prevalent among housewives who use little water. Conversely habit applies to a bigger proportion of those who use a large amount of water; also a greater number of these could give no reason for using the amount of water they do.

GROUP DIFFERENCES

Income Group . The upper income group uses less water for boiling vegetables than the lower. (Table 43, page 22).

Regions . In the South more housewives use a little water than in the other two regions. (Table 44, page 23).

The time taken to cook vegetables is dependent on whether they are put in hot or cold water, and whether a lid is used or not. These three factors are therefore dealt with in the same section.

ARE THE VEGETABLES PUT IN HOT OR COLD WATER FOR BOILING ?

Question asked: “Do you put vegetables in hot or cold water?”

There is a marked difference in practice between root and other vegetables. The great majority put the latter into boiling water. A much smaller proportion does this with root vegetables and over half start cooking them in cold water.

LID USED

The question asked was: “Do you use a lid?”

“If a lid is not used, or only put on halfway, why is this?”

About half of the women in the sample use a lid for green vegetables, and 88% for root vegetables and potatoes.

The question why a lid was not used or only used half-way was only asked for cabbages, swedes, turnips and potatoes.

More than half of those who do not use a lid for cabbages said that this keeps their colour better, and 20% said they leave it off from habit.

The main reason for leaving the lid off when cooking potatoes, swedes and turnips is that otherwise the water would boil over.

THE LENGTH OF TIME VEGETABLES ARE COOKED

The question asked was: “How long does it take you to cook vegetables?”

In using the following results, it should be kept in mind that the answers are generally estimates of the housewife, who was not always able to say exactly how many minutes she cooked her vegetables.

About 60% of the sample cook green vegetables between twenty and thirty minutes, nearly a quarter cook them less than twenty mintues, and the rest more than thirty minutes.

Potatoes are cooked between twenty and thirty minutes by three-quarters of the housewives, half of the rest cook them for less than twenty minutes, and the other half for more than thirty minutes.

More than half the sample cook root vegetables more than thirty minutes, about a third between twenty and thirty minutes, the remainder less than twenty minutes.

GROUP DIFFERENCES

Income Group . A higher percentage in the upper income group put green vegetables in hot water, and use a lid; this group also cooks green vegetables a shorter time. These differences are not very marked for root vegetables. (Tables 45, 48 & 50, pages 23, 25 & 26).

Urban and rural: working and non-working . A slightly smaller number of rural housewives start by putting their vegetables in cold water. There is no difference in the use of the lid, but a slightly larger proportion of rural housewives cook vegetables longer than urban. (Most probably this is due to the smaller number of rural housewives who have a gas or electric stove) (Tables 46 & 51 pages 24 & 26).

Region . The North has the highest percentage of housewives who put their green vegetables in cold water and who use a lid, and they also cook their vegetables longer than do those in the other two regions. (Tables 47, 49 & 52, pages 24, 25 & 26).