A reliable test to find out when salt beef is sufficiently boiled is to give one of the rib bones a sharp pull : if done enough, the bone will come away. To try salt pork, give the rind a sharp rap with the finger : if the rind breaks, the pork is done enough. The usual way of treating salt pork and beef at sea is to soak it all night in cold water ; sea water does very well for soaking pur- poses, but a good supply must be used, and the water must be •changed, and after soaking the meat it is boiled, trimmed off, and served. The following is a better way. Boil the meat, whether beef or pork, the day before it is required, put the boiled meat into •cold water, and allow it to soak all night. When the meat has soaked well, it is cold and firm, and far more convenient for trimming. It is then an easy matter to warm it up for when required. If the ■crew are having pea soup, the pork can be put into the soup after the peas are burst, and it will be improved. Beef can be put into hot water and allowed to remain until heated through. By this method more salt is drawn from the meat, you are always certain to have it ready when wanted, and the galley stove is not over- crowded with pans at the busiest time of the day. In tropical weather it is a nice change for the crew if you cut up the meat into slices and serve it to them cold. The fat from boiled salt beef or pork must never be thrown away or otherwise wasted. If saved and allowed to go cold, it is far nicer than lard for making pastry, and it can be used in many other ways. Those men who have qualified for certificates, and have made puff paste, short paste, etc., from salt beef dripping, can easily realise the value of this fat for many purposes. To draw out the flavour and nutriment from meat, as in the •case of beef tea, Irish stew, etc., it must be cut small, so that a greater amount of surface is open to the water to act upon, and the water must be cold, so that the albuminoids present in the meat may be dissolved in the water before the heat has coagulated them. The liquid must not boil, but simmer very gently with the lid on the pan. This simmering of meats is usually called stewing. When boiling poultry, either of the foregoing methods must be adopted, according to whether the flavour is wanted m the liquid or in the poultry. To bleach a boiled fowl, so that it will have a nice white appearance when served, put a few drops of lemon juice in the water in which it is boiling. 27 In every case when boiling, whether fish, meats, poultry, or vegetables, the scum which rises to the top of the liquid must always- be removed.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

A reliable test to find out when salt beef is sufficiently boiled is to give one of the rib bones a sharp pull : if done enough, the bone will come away. To try salt pork, give the rind a sharp rap with the finger : if the rind breaks, the pork is done enough. The usual way of treating salt pork and beef at sea is to soak it all night in cold water ; sea water does very well for soaking purposes, but a good supply must be used, and the water must be •changed, and after soaking the meat it is boiled, trimmed off, and served. The following is a better way. Boil the meat, whether beef or pork, the day before it is required, put the boiled meat into •cold water, and allow it to soak all night. When the meat has soaked well, it is cold and firm, and far more convenient for trimming. It is then an easy matter to warm it up for when required. If the ■crew are having pea soup, the pork can be put into the soup after the peas are burst, and it will be improved. Beef can be put into hot water and allowed to remain until heated through. By this method more salt is drawn from the meat, you are always certain to have it ready when wanted, and the galley stove is not overcrowded with pans at the busiest time of the day. In tropical weather it is a nice change for the crew if you cut up the meat into slices and serve it to them cold. The fat from boiled salt beef or pork must never be thrown away or otherwise wasted. If saved and allowed to go cold, it is far nicer than lard for making pastry, and it can be used in many other ways. Those men who have qualified for certificates, and have made puff paste, short paste, etc., from salt beef dripping, can easily realise the value of this fat for many purposes. To draw out the flavour and nutriment from meat, as in the •case of beef tea, Irish stew, etc., it must be cut small, so that a greater amount of surface is open to the water to act upon, and the water must be cold, so that the albuminoids present in the meat may be dissolved in the water before the heat has coagulated them. The liquid must not boil, but simmer very gently with the lid on the pan. This simmering of meats is usually called stewing. When boiling poultry, either of the foregoing methods must be adopted, according to whether the flavour is wanted m the liquid or in the poultry. To bleach a boiled fowl, so that it will have a nice white appearance when served, put a few drops of lemon juice in the water in which it is boiling. In every case when boiling, whether fish, meats, poultry, or vegetables, the scum which rises to the top of the liquid must alwaysbe removed.

Sea Cookery