SC - Re: Can Someone Explain This?

[Decker, Terry D.]

> The idea of fastening the bowl to the handle was suggested by several 
> others.  I would argue that the bowl was fastened to the "shovel" end, 
> the wide blade.  Medieval ovens weren't as cramped as ours.  Nor were 
> all of the coffins as small as our pies are.  Affixing a wooden or 
> metal bowl to the broad blade would allow a greater amount of liquid to 
> be poured into the shell, filling the shell more quickly, and thus 
> losing less heat from the open oven.  I would posit ooh! good fancy 
> word!) that there were more intact peels around than plain handles.  
> And, if a plain handle were wanted, why wouldn't someone just say to 
> attach the bowl to a stick or handle, rather than affixing it to the 
> broader peel blade?
> 
> Alys Katharine, overdosing on homemade eggnog again
> 
Uh, why wouldn't plain handles be available?  Why would the peel necessarily
be wide-bladed?  A traditional baker has an assortment of hooks, handles,
swabs, scrapers and peels available to remove ash, clean the oven, and
handle various baking pans and shapes of bread.  Metal heads attached to
wooden handles are fairly common.

If the bowl was attached to a peel, I would expect it to be permanently
attached to a narrow blade 4 to 6 inches wide with an oval handle and shaped
out of a single piece of wood for rigidity and control.  Thinking about it,
rigdity and control might be why the bowl would be attached to a peel rather
then bracketed to a handle.  The engineering is simpler.

Bear 
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