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Classic
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page 370
HINTS ABOUT MARKETING.
Very few housekeepers understand how to select meats wisely or how to buy
economically. Most trust the butcher, or buy at hap-hazard, with no clear
understanding of what they want, and no consideration at all for economy; and
yet a little knowledge of facts, with a moderate amount of experience and
observation, will enable any one to buy both intelligently and economically. It
is best, when possible, to buy for cash. Ready money always commands the best in
the market, at the lowest prices. It is also better to buy of the most
respectable regular dealer in the neighborhood, than of transient and
irresponsible parties. Apparent "bargains" frequently turn out the worst
possible investments. If a dealer imposes on you, drop him at once. In buying
beef, select that which is of a clear, cherry-red color after a fresh cut has
been for a few moments exposed to the air. The fat should be of a light straw
color, and the meat marbled throughout with fat. If the beef is immature, the
color of the lean part will be pale and dull, the bones small, and the fat very
white. High-colored, coarse-grained beef, with the fat a deep yellow, should be
rejected. In corn-fed beef the fat is yellowish, while that fattened on grasses
is whiter. In cow-beef the fat is also whiter than in ox-beef. Inferior meat
from old or ill fed animals has a coarse, skinny fat and a dark red lean.
Ox-beef is the sweetest and most juicy, and the most economical. When meat
pressed by the finger rises up quickly, it is prime, but if the dent disappears
slowly, or remains, it is inferior in quality. Any greenish tints about either
fat or lean, or slipperiness of surface, indicate that the meat has been kept so
long that putrefaction has begun, and, consequently, is unfit for use, except by
those persons who prefer what is known as a "high flavor." Tastes differ as to
the choice cuts. The tenderloin, which is the choicest piece, and is sometimes
removed by itself, lies under the short ribs and close to the backbone, and is
usually cut through with the porterhouse and sirloin steaks. Of these the
porterhouse is generally preferred, the part nearest the thin bone being the
sweetest. If the generally preferred, the part nearest the thin bone being the
sweetest. If the tenderloin is wanted, it may be secured by buying an edgebone
steak, the remainder of which, after the removal of the tenderloin, is equal to
the sirloin. The small porterhouse steaks are the most economical, but in large
steaks, the coarse and tough parts may be used for soup, or, after boiling, for
hash, which, in spite of its bad repute, is really a very nice dish when well
made. A round steak, when the leg is not cut down too far, is sweet and juicy,
the objection being its toughness, to cancel which it may be chopped fine,
seasoned, and made into breakfast croquettes. The interior portion of the round
is the tenderest and best. The roasting pieces are the sirloin and the ribs,
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