While some things remain the same, one of the challenges that old recipes pose is the use of outdated and/or specialized terminology that the cook is expected to know by heart.  If a recipe called for “oleo,” would you know what to use?  What temperature is a “very hot oven?”

At Pam’s Old Fashioned Kitchen, I will preserve the authentic old-fashioned character of these recipes by using vintage terminology when practical to do so.

With no further ado, here are some of the more important vintage cooking terms:

Oven Temperatures

Very Slow Oven – 250° F
Slow Oven – 300° F
Slow Moderate Oven – 325° F
Moderate Oven – 350° F
Quick Moderate Oven – 375° F
Moderately Hot Oven – 400° F
Hot Oven – 425° F
Very Hot Oven – 450° F – 500° F
Extremely Hot Oven – over 500° F

Ingredients

Bottled Thick Condiment Sauce – Try A-1 Steak Sauce, Kitchen Bouquet, or other thick flavoring sauce
Cake of Yeast (2 oz) – 7 tsp active or instant dry yeast
Fat – Shortening
Minced Onion – Finely chopped fresh onion (not modern dried “minced onion” sold in the Spices section)
Oleo – Margarine (once called “Oleomargarine”)
Rich Milk – Use 4 parts whole milk plus 1 part heavy cream
Soda – Baking Soda
Suet – Use beef fat (true suet is white fat from specific parts of the cow)
Top Milk – Use 1 part heavy cream plus 1 part water (preferred), or Half & Half
Vanilla – Vanilla extract

Can and Container Sizes

No. ¼ – ½ cup, or 3 to 4 oz. by weight
No. ½ – 1 cup, or 6 to 8 oz. by weight
No. 1 – 1 cup, or ~9 oz. by weight
No. 1 Tall – 2 cups, or 16-18 oz. by weight
No. 1½ – 2 cups, or 16 oz. by weight
8Z Tall – 1 cup, or 8 to 9 oz. by weight
Picnic – 1¼ cup, or 10 to 11 oz. by weight
No. 211 – 1½ cups, or 12 oz. by weight
No. 300 – 1¾ cup, or 14-16 oz. by weight (often 14¾ oz.)
No. 303 – 2 cups, or 15½ to 17 oz. by weight
No. 2 – 2½ cups, or ~20 oz. by weight
No. 2½ – 3½ cups, or 28 to 30 oz. by weight
No. 3 Squat – 2¾ cups, or ~24 oz. (1½ lb.) by weight
No. 3 – 4 cups, or 31 to 35 oz. by weight
No. 3 Cyl – 5¾ cups, or 3 to 3¼ lbs. by weight
No. 5 – 7 cups, or 56 oz. by weight
No. 5 Squat – 8 cups, or 4 to 4½ lbs. by weight
No. 10 – 12½ to 13½ cups, or 6½ to 7 lbs. by weight

Techniques and Methods

Braise – Cook by browning in a small amount of oil or fat, adding a small amount of water or liquid from time to time, then simmering gently in a covered pot or skillet until tender.

Cream (verb) – To soften a fat, such as butter, with a spoon, fork, or beater.

Dredge – To coat with flour or other specified powder by sprinkling or by rolling the food in the powder.

Roast and Bake – Very old recipes give these terms two distinct meanings; to bake is to oven-cook in a covered container to contain moisture and prevent air convection, whereas to roast is to cook uncovered in an oven so that air is free to circulate around the food being cooked.  Later cookbooks, from the late 1940s onward, consider roasting and baking to be the same, with “bake uncovered” meaning the same thing as the older definition of “roast.”