Therefore, let a gridiron be well cleaned as soon as it is done with, that is, washed thoroughly all over with hot water, soda, and a little sand ; no soap. If the bars are bright, to begin with, they should be kept so by being rubbed with scouring paper. Take particular care to rub in and between the bars ; and when it is quite clean hang the gridiron in some airy place where it will be free from dust. Before using it, make it hot, and wipe it well with a piece of clean paper ; then make it hot again, rub it with clean mutton suet to prevent the meat sticking to the bars, and it is ready. As it is very important that the meat should be taken straight from the fire to the table, we must be quite sure, before we lay the meat on the gridiron, that everything is quite ready for it, and that the cloth is laid, the dish and plates quite hot, and everything likely to be wanted provided. If, when the steak is done we have to spend a minute looking for the salt here, and two more making the dishes hot there, our broil will not be perfection, and, of course, nothing less will satisfy us. The French always season the steak with pepper and salt, and brush it over with oil before broiling it, and the plan, though unusual in English kitchens, is to be recommended. The gridiron should be placed slanting to begin with, and 36 2'he Girl’s Own Cookery Book. should be about two inches above the fire. It is our object to surround the meat as soon as possible with a brown coat that will keep in the juice, and therefore we expose it to a fierce heat at first. As time goes on we may raise it to the height of about five inches. And, above all, we must remember to turn the steak every two minutes till it is done. The F rench are, as a nde, so much cleverer than we in cookeiy, that when we do have the advantage of them, I think we may be pardoned if we make the most of it ; and this is such an opportunity. They make it a practice to turn the steak only once ; we turn it continually, and our way is the more successful of the two, as well as the more reasonable, because, by being continually turned, the inside of the meat is cooked gently, and so is made tender. Sometimes the steak is turned every minute, instead of every two minutes, and then it needs to be cooked a little longer. I should hope that no one who has read these pages, and I am sure no one who has tried to carry them into practice at all, would think of putting a fork into the meat in order to turn it. It will have been seen that almost the chief object in cooking is to keep in the juices, and of course, if a fork were thrust into the lean the gravy would escape through the holes made by the fork. Steak-tongs are frequently used to turn meat on the gridiron ; but even with them care should be taken not to squeeze the meat. A spoon and a knife will help us to turn the steak as well as anything, the flat side of the knife being used. If a fork is used, it should be placed in the fat or skin of the meat. ✪ Broiled Steak

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Therefore, let a gridiron be well cleaned as soon as it is done with, that is, washed thoroughly all over with hot water, soda, and a little sand ; no soap. If the bars are bright, to begin with, they should be kept so by being rubbed with scouring paper. Take particular care to rub in and between the bars ; and when it is quite clean hang the gridiron in some airy place where it will be free from dust. Before using it, make it hot, and wipe it well with a piece of clean paper ; then make it hot again, rub it with clean mutton suet to prevent the meat sticking to the bars, and it is ready. As it is very important that the meat should be taken straight from the fire to the table, we must be quite sure, before we lay the meat on the gridiron, that everything is quite ready for it, and that the cloth is laid, the dish and plates quite hot, and everything likely to be wanted provided. If, when the steak is done we have to spend a minute looking for the salt here, and two more making the dishes hot there, our broil will not be perfection, and, of course, nothing less will satisfy us. The French always season the steak with pepper and salt, and brush it over with oil before broiling it, and the plan, though unusual in English kitchens, is to be recommended. The gridiron should be placed slanting to begin with, and 36 2'he Girl’s Own Cookery Book. should be about two inches above the fire. It is our object to surround the meat as soon as possible with a brown coat that will keep in the juice, and therefore we expose it to a fierce heat at first. As time goes on we may raise it to the height of about five inches. And, above all, we must remember to turn the steak every two minutes till it is done. The French are, as a rule, so much cleverer than we in cookeiy, that when we do have the advantage of them, I think we may be pardoned if we make the most of it ; and this is such an opportunity. They make it a practice to turn the steak only once ; we turn it continually, and our way is the more successful of the two, as well as the more reasonable, because, by being continually turned, the inside of the meat is cooked gently, and so is made tender. Sometimes the steak is turned every minute, instead of every two minutes, and then it needs to be cooked a little longer. I should hope that no one who has read these pages, and I am sure no one who has tried to carry them into practice at all, would think of putting a fork into the meat in order to turn it. It will have been seen that almost the chief object in cooking is to keep in the juices, and of course, if a fork were thrust into the lean the gravy would escape through the holes made by the fork. Steak-tongs are frequently used to turn meat on the gridiron ; but even with them care should be taken not to squeeze the meat. A spoon and a knife will help us to turn the steak as well as anything, the flat side of the knife being used. If a fork is used, it should be placed in the fat or skin of the meat.

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Broiled Steak

The girl's own cookery book