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The Book of Household Management

Name: The Book of Household Management
Author: Mrs. Beeton

Mrs. Beeton · Public domain text

512,808 words · about 35 h 55 min to read

Cover of The Book of Household Management

Text only · 565 illustrations omitted. Illustrated source.

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The text of The Book of Household Management comes from Project Gutenberg e-text #10136. It is in English and public domain in the United States. Project Gutenberg’s header and license text are removed, and RedLectern sets the text out for reading on screen; no words of the book are rewritten or summarized. More formats (EPUB, Kindle) · How RedLectern is built

This text-only edition leaves out 565 illustrations. See the illustrated edition at Project Gutenberg.

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About this book

From Wikipedia

Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management, also published as Mrs. Beeton's Cookery Book, is an extensive guide to running a household in Victorian Britain, edited by Isabella Beeton and first published as a book in 1861. Previously published in parts, it initially and briefly bore the title Beeton's Book of Household Management, as one of the series of guidebooks published by her husband, Samuel Beeton. The recipes were highly structured, in contrast to those in earlier cookbooks. It was illustrated with many monochrome and colour plates.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article “Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management” (revision 1377835949), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Not written by RedLectern.

Author: Mrs. Beeton (1836–1865)
Language: English
Subjects: Home economics, Cooking, English
Length: 512,808 words · about 35 h 55 min
Sections: 46 reader sections · Table of contents
Audiobook: Listen free (LibriVox)
Source: Project Gutenberg #10136

Contents (46)

Opening under 1 min
Preface about 1 h
I. THE MISTRESS about 45 min
II. THE HOUSEKEEPER about 9 min
III. ARRANGEMENT AND ECONOMY OF THE KITCHEN about 24 min
IV. INTRODUCTION TO COOKERY about 17 min
V. GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING SOUPS about 15 min
VI. FRUIT AND VEGETABLE SOUPS about 1 h 36 min
VII. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF FISHES about 22 min
VIII. FISH about 1 h 52 min
IX. GENERAL REMARKS about 3 min
X. SAUCES, PICKLES, GRAVIES, AND FORCEMEATS about 2 h 23 min
XI. GENERAL REMARKS about 21 min
XII. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON QUADRUPEDS about 13 min
XIII. BAKED BEEF (Cold Meat Cookery) about 1 h 17 min
XIV. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE SHEEP AND LAMB about 19 min
XV. BAKED MINCED MUTTON (Cold Meat Cookery) about 54 min
XVI. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE COMMON HOG about 20 min
XVII. PORK CUTLETS (Cold Meat Cookery) about 1 h 1 min
XVIII. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE CALF about 6 min
XIX. BAKED VEAL (Cold Meat Cookery) about 59 min
XX. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON BIRDS about 11 min
XXI. CHICKEN CUTLETS (an Entree) about 2 h 26 min
XXII. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON GAME about 12 min
XXIII. ROAST BLACK-COCK about 55 min
XXIV. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON VEGETABLES about 15 min
XXV. BOILED ARTICHOKES about 1 h 40 min
XXVI. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON PUDDINGS AND PASTRY about 10 min
XXVII. VERY GOOD PUFF-PASTE about 2 h 32 min
Chapter XXVIII about 3 min
XXIX. BAKED APPLE CUSTARD about 1 h 41 min
Chapter XXX about 14 min
XXXI. TO MAKE SYRUP FOR COMPOTES, &c about 1 h 17 min
XXXII. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON MILK, BUTTER, CHEESE, AND EGGS about 9 min
XXXIII. SEPARATION OF MILK AND CREAM about 33 min
XXXIV. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON BREAD, BISCUITS, AND CAKES about 15 min
XXXV. TO MAKE YEAST FOR BREAD about 59 min
XXXVI. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON BEVERAGES about 8 min
XXXVII. TO MAKE CHOCOLATE about 34 min
XXXVIII. A FEW RULES TO BE OBSERVED IN COOKING FOR INVALIDS about 4 min
XXXIX. TO MAKE ARROWROOT about 18 min
Chapter XL about 56 min
Chapter XLI about 2 h 32 min
Chapter XLII about 1 h 17 min
Chapter XLIII about 1 h 21 min
Chapter XLIV about 35 min

The opening of Preface

I must frankly own, that if I had known, beforehand, that this book would have cost me the labour which it has, I should never have been courageous enough to commence it. What moved me, in the first instance, to attempt a work like this, was the discomfort and suffering which I had seen brought upon men and women by household mismanagement. I have always thought that there is no more fruitful source of family discontent than a housewife's badly-cooked dinners and untidy ways. Men are now so well served out of doors,--at their clubs, well-ordered taverns, and dining-houses, that in order to compete with the attractions of these places, a mistress must be thoroughly acquainted with the theory and practice of cookery, as well as be perfectly conversant with all the other arts of making and keeping a comfortable home.

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