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The primary kitchen for the Hand household was this large room in the basement. However, its functions were augmented by various outbuildings that are now gone, including a bake oven, root cellar, and a wood and stone spring house which survived until Hurricane Agnes in 1972. Although the basement level is underground on three sides, there are windows and an exterior door on the east side presently covered by the piazza, which is one reason for suspecting that the basement may be part of an earlier structure.
The kitchen fireplace was reopened in the fall of 1997 and is in working order. Open hearth cooking is demonstrated on select days during the tour season and at special events throughout the year.
Cooking was frequently done over small fires and piles of hot coals in the large fireplace. The whetstone (for keeping knives sharp) and the iron crane are original features. The iron crane can hold a variety of pots, kettles, and griddles above the main fire. Trammels of wrought iron would be used to regulate the distance above the fire, thus regulating the temperature. Small piles of coals would be placed away from the main fire to create “burners,” over which to place spiders (frying pans with three legs), Dutch ovens (on short legs), or small pots on a spider trivet, so that many and varied hot dishes desired by the family could be prepared at one time.
Outdoors, large open fires would heat great copper kettles on tripods for everything from bath and laundry water to apple butter. The long stirrer by the copper kettle allowed women in long skirts to stay as far away as possible from the fires.
One-dish meals such as stews were made, or leftovers were combined, and could be eaten by servants with bread to sop up the stew or food. Not all were accustomed to using knives and forks. Sometimes pewter plates were used for everyday food service, depending on the financial circumstances of the household.
The tin reflector oven would roast smaller pieces of meat. Listed on Hand's inventory is one "Kitchen Jack" for 1 pound and 10 shillings. A kitchen jack can also be referred to as a clock jack or a spit jack. The spit jack is a labor-saving device for roasting large joints of meat. The kitchen jack on display is a reproduction from Ball & Ball Hardware Reproductions. Winding the handle on the clock jack unit on the mantle will raise the weight attached to the rope pulley system, which will slowly descend and cause the clock jack to turn the rope pulley system attached to the spit bar resting on the andirons.
Wood was another common material. It was used for boxes such as the dough box on the windowsill; for trays used for carrying flat ware, china, or glassware, up and down stairs; and other utilitarian items that have long since become obsolete.
Next to the door is a stone sink on a simple wooden base, which was an uncommon sight for this period. Usually only a wooden bench was used. Washing was done in wooden tubs and buckets; water would drain down the drain hole in the corner, into a slop bucket, and was usually reused or thrown out into the farmyard.
Herbs from the nearby kitchen garden were used for flavorings, medicines, dyes, insect repellents, and for their aromatic qualities.
White sugar at that time often came in the shape of cones. Sugar cane was boiled down, placed in molds, left to harden and then “popped out” in the cone form. This extremely labor intensive processing was done by enslaved people in the Caribbean and brought to American ports. It was not rare, but in most cases very expensive. The cone was most likely saved for special company and would be under lock and key.
Basement KitchenThe primary kitchen for the Hand household was this large room in the basement. However, its functions were augmented by various outbuildings that are now gone, including a bake oven, root cellar, and a wood and stone spring house which survived until Hurricane Agnes in 1972. Although the basement level is underground on three sides, there are windows and an exterior door on the east side presently covered by the piazza, which is one reason for suspecting that the basement may be part of an earlier structure.
The kitchen fireplace was reopened in the fall of 1997 and is in working order. Open hearth cooking is demonstrated on select days during the tour season and at special events throughout the year.
Cooking was frequently done over small fires and piles of hot coals in the large fireplace. The whetstone (for keeping knives sharp) and the iron crane are original features. The iron crane can hold a variety of pots, kettles, and griddles above the main fire. Trammels of wrought iron would be used to regulate the distance above the fire, thus regulating the temperature. Small piles of coals would be placed away from the main fire to create “burners,” over which to place spiders (frying pans with three legs), Dutch ovens (on short legs), or small pots on a spider trivet, so that many and varied hot dishes desired by the family could be prepared at one time.
Outdoors, large open fires would heat great copper kettles on tripods for everything from bath and laundry water to apple butter. The long stirrer by the copper kettle allowed women in long skirts to stay as far away as possible from the fires.
One-dish meals such as stews were made, or leftovers were combined, and could be eaten by servants with bread to sop up the stew or food. Not all were accustomed to using knives and forks. Sometimes pewter plates were used for everyday food service, depending on the financial circumstances of the household.
The tin reflector oven would roast smaller pieces of meat. Listed on Hand's inventory is one "Kitchen Jack" for 1 pound and 10 shillings. A kitchen jack can also be referred to as a clock jack or a spit jack. The spit jack is a labor-saving device for roasting large joints of meat. The kitchen jack on display is a reproduction from Ball & Ball Hardware Reproductions. Winding the handle on the clock jack unit on the mantle will raise the weight attached to the rope pulley system, which will slowly descend and cause the clock jack to turn the rope pulley system attached to the spit bar resting on the andirons.
Wood was another common material. It was used for boxes such as the dough box on the windowsill; for trays used for carrying flat ware, china, or glassware, up and down stairs; and other utilitarian items that have long since become obsolete.
Next to the door is a stone sink on a simple wooden base, which was an uncommon sight for this period. Usually only a wooden bench was used. Washing was done in wooden tubs and buckets; water would drain down the drain hole in the corner, into a slop bucket, and was usually reused or thrown out into the farmyard.
Herbs from the nearby kitchen garden were used for flavorings, medicines, dyes, insect repellents, and for their aromatic qualities.
White sugar at that time often came in the shape of cones. Sugar cane was boiled down, placed in molds, left to harden and then “popped out” in the cone form. This extremely labor intensive processing was done by enslaved people in the Caribbean and brought to American ports. It was not rare, but in most cases very expensive. The cone was most likely saved for special company and would be under lock and key.
Basement Kitchen
