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Classic
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page 161
MEATS.
Inattention to the temperature of the water and too early application of salt
cause great waste in boiling meats. To make fresh meat rich and nutritious it
should be placed in a kettle of boiling water (pure soft water is best), skimmed
well as soon as it begins to boil again, and placed where it will slowly but
constantly simmer. The meat should be occasionally turned and kept well under
the water, and fresh hot water supplied as it evaporates in boiling. The hot
water hardens the fibrine on the outside, encasing and retaining the rich
juices--and the whole theory of correct cooking in a nut-shell, is to retain as
much as possible of the nutriment of food. No salt should be added until the
meat is nearly done, as it extracts the juices of the meat if added too soon.
Boil gently, as rapid boiling hardens the fibrine and renders the meat hard,
tasteless, and scarcely more nutritious than leather, without really hastening
the process of cooking, every degree of heat beyond the boiling point being
worse than wasted.
Salt meat should be put on in cold water so that it may freshen in cooking.
Allow twenty minutes to the pound for fresh, and thirty-five for salt meats, the
time to be modified, of course, by the quality of the meat.
A pod of red pepper in the water will prevent the unpleasant odor of boiling
from filling the house.
Roasting is almost unknown in these days of stoves and ranges--baking, a much
inferior process, having taken its place. In roasting proper, the joint is
placed close to a brisk fire, turned so as to expose every part to the heat, and
then moved back to finish in a more moderate heat. The roast should be basted
frequently with the drippings, and when half cooked, with salt and water. In
preparing
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