OATMEAL is generally denominated by the cut, as pinhead rough cut, medium and fine cut, though these terms have different meanings in different districts. After the grinding the meal is passed through sieves and the siftings graded according to size_ It would be well for grocers to remember that oatmeal is a some what perishable article. By exposure to the air for a few weeks it becomes old meal and has acquired a bitter taste, which is quite disagreeable. In the oatmeal mills a sort of funnel, air-tight, ex tends from top to bottom of the mill, in which the oatmeal is packed. In keeping oatmeal in stores it must be kept from the air ; packing in air-tight boxes or paper bags will preserve it, The American Cultivator says : The use of oatmeal is largely on the increase in our large cities and towns, yet it is not so exten sively consumed in this country as in many of the European coun tries. The grain is very rich in gluten and fat, and contains a good quantity of starch and sugar, being everywhere recognized as a valuable food. It cannot be leavened into bread, but it makes good cakes. In Scotland the finer variety of oatmeal is baked thin, but the coarser kind is made into thick cakes, called ban nocks. In Norway the common food of the peasantry is a thin cake, called find brod, which is made of ground oats, husk and all, mixed with potatoes, and baked on a griddle or frying-pan. A palatable dish is made in parts of Scotland by toasting oatmeal before a bright fire, then mixing it with a little beef or mutton fat, and, after seasoning it with pepper, salt, and onions chopped small, again toasting it. The common method of cooking it, kow ever, in Scotland, is by stirring it with boiling water until it has the consistence of hasty pudding, and in this manner Scotch brose is made; but if more diluted and boiled for a longer time, it makes porridge. In Ireland it is mixed with Indian meal, and then stirred into boiling water, thus making the mixture called stir about. Whey and milk are often used instead of water, and the mixture should be well boiled, otherwise it is apt to produce flatu lence. The decorticated grain constitutes grits or groats, com monly used in the form of gruel.
OK/L 1. Sc G umbo.
OIL (for illuminating see Kerosene). The liquid vegetable oils are very numerous; first in rank, from a commercial point, is olive oil, made from the ripe fruit of the common olive ; when good and fresh, it is of a pale, greenish-yellow color, almost free from smell or taste, except a sweetish, nutty flavor much esteemed by those who use it. The finest qualities are the Provence oil, Florence oil, and Lucca oil. Common kinds are easily detected by their brownish color and disagreeable smell. These are used for cooking. The Genoa is used for the same purpose in Europe, and the Gallipoli, which is still inferior, is used in cloth-dressing, Turkey-red dyeing, and other manufacturing purposes. The high price of the best qualities makes adulteration very tempting. The finest quality is obtained by gently pressing the fruit. All of the other liquid vegetable oils are obtained from seeds. Very
large quantities of cotton-seed oil are exported from here to the south of France and other countries and imported again as olive oil.
The manufacture of olive oil must be commenced in the first half of November, because the fruit ripens at this time in the Provence. When it is once begun, it must be continued uninter ruptedly, day and night, until the close of the harvest. Accord ing to circumstances, the harvest may continue during three or four months. Before the olives are brought to the mill, they have been previously carefully spread out upon the floors of well ventilated storehouses, where they are allowed to remain for three days if the wind is south, and for four or five days if the wind is north.
The first operation consists in crushing the olives between two granite stones turning against each other vertically. The mass is then transferred, in rush-baskets, to an iron press, where it is subjected to a very gentle pressure. This produces the so-called virgin oil (huile vierge) to which the Provence oils owe their repu tation. After this first pressing, the mass in the baskets is again comminuted and again subjected to a somewhat stronger pressure in a lever press. The product constitutes the well-known, corn mercial finest oil. The mass is now removed from the baskets and again transferred to the mill, where it is completely ground up, when it is once more packed into the baskets and subjected to hydraulic pressure. During this latter operation the effect of partial fermentation is utilized by pouring boiling water on the mass in order to facilitate the separation of the oil. By this method of manipulation not only a larger yield of oil is obtained, but, at the same time, the deterioration of the larger portion of the oil contained in the olives is prevented, because only the very last pressing is performed with the aid of heat. And the last product is even superior to that obtained from fermented olives, since the latter assume frequently a musty, putrid odor which may contaminate the oil of the first pressing—a drawback which is avoided by using hot water.
Rape oil is the name which commonly covers the product of several seeds, such as rape, turnip and radish seed. The oil is of a clear brown color, sweet, with a mustard-like flavor ; it is ex tensively used for dressing wool, and its illuminating power is excellent. It is often sold as olive oil.
Hemp seed yields a green oil and is extensively used in Ilol land in the manufacture of soft soap. In Russia it is used with different kinds of food, and is greatly liked by all classes.
Whale or sperm oil is obtained from the whale, the finest oil being taken from the reservoir behind the head. The oil of the sperm whale is of superior quality and known to the trade as sperm oil.
Tallow is a solid animal oil produced from the fat of oxen and sheep.
Lard oil is a pale yellowish or nearly colorless liquid obtained from lard, etc., used chiefly as a lubricant and also in the adulter ation of olive oil. See Lard Oil.