If the fat is not sufficiently heated, things put into it to
fry will be soaked in it, and instead of being brown and
crisp, they will come out a greasy mess, instead of a pretty
and interesting dish. The fat should be strained each time
it is used, it may be used for frying over and over again,
and will keep, if properly made, for several months. If the
heat is tested by a frymometer, it should be 345° for ordinary
frying, and 400° for whitebait.
Dry Frying. — In dry frying a very small quantity of fat
is used, and it is generally done in a shallow frying-pan,
which, I need hardly say, should be scrupulously clean.
The pan must be placed over a clear fire with a little fat in
it, and the article to be fried cooked on both sides of a pale
brown. This is an extravagant way of cooking, as the fat is
seldom fit for use a second time. In frying bacon, make
the pan hot before putting it in, and there will be sufficient
fat from its £)wn melting to cook it. Chopped vegetables
and potatoes are an excellent food with a little dripping, and
may be done in a frying-pan.
Note. — An iroii pan is best.
Roasting. — This process somewhat resembles baking,
as it is really cooking with dry heat. The best joints are
usually selected for this mode of cooking, and should be
hung until the fibre becomes tender, for a length of time
6
INTRODUCTION.
which depends on the state of the weather. An hour before
the joint is to be put down, all dust must be cleared away
from the grate and a good fire made up, all hollow places
in the fire must be filled ^up with coal. Weigh the meat,
and allow a quarter of an hour to each pound, and a quarter
of an hour over for all brown meats, as beef and mutton, but
twenty minutes to each pound and twenty minutes over for
all white meats, as veal and pork. The joint should be placed
as close as possible to a clear, bright fire for the first ten
minutes, and then be drawn at least sixteen inches from the
fire. The great heat at first hardens the outside and keeps
in the juices of the meat. Baste it very frequently while
cooking with the dripping that is produced by the melting
of the fat. If the meat is very lean, it should be basted with
hot dripping melted for the purpose. The meat may be
dredged with a little flour a quarter of an hour before it is
quite ready, to make it browner and to thicken the gravy a
little.
There are two other methods of roasting — one is done in
the oven, the other in an iron saucepan. The former way
of roasting, or baking, as it is usually called, is cooking a
joint in the oven. Place the joint for the first five minutes
in a very hot part of the oven to harden the outside and
keep in the juices. Baste it very often when the fat is suffi-
ciently melted. It is often found very useful* to place a
basin of hot water in the oven to keep the air of the oven
moist without cooling it. The oven should be properly
ventilated while the meat is being roasted in it, as when meat
is roasted in a closed oven an injurious vapour is generated
which should be allowed to escape.
Roasting in an iron saucepan is useful for small joints,
birds, &c. There should be just enough space round the
INTRODUCTION.
7
Page 7
Presented as published in 1890. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
If the fat is not sufficiently heated, things put into it to fry will be soaked in it, and instead of being brown and crisp, they will come out a greasy mess, instead of a pretty and interesting dish. The fat should be strained each time it is used, it may be used for frying over and over again, and will keep, if properly made, for several months. If the heat is tested by a frymometer, it should be 345° for ordinary frying, and 400° for whitebait.
Dry Frying. — In dry frying a very small quantity of fat is used, and it is generally done in a shallow frying-pan, which, I need hardly say, should be scrupulously clean. The pan must be placed over a clear fire with a little fat in it, and the article to be fried cooked on both sides of a pale brown. This is an extravagant way of cooking, as the fat is seldom fit for use a second time. In frying bacon, make the pan hot before putting it in, and there will be sufficient fat from its own melting to cook it. Chopped vegetables and potatoes are an excellent food with a little dripping, and may be done in a frying-pan.
Note. — An iroii pan is best.
Roasting. — This process somewhat resembles baking, as it is really cooking with dry heat. The best joints are usually selected for this mode of cooking, and should be hung until the fibre becomes tender, for a length of time
which depends on the state of the weather. An hour before the joint is to be put down, all dust must be cleared away from the grate and a good fire made up, all hollow places in the fire must be filled up with coal. Weigh the meat, and allow a quarter of an hour to each pound, and a quarter of an hour over for all brown meats, as beef and mutton, but twenty minutes to each pound and twenty minutes over for all white meats, as veal and pork. The joint should be placed as close as possible to a clear, bright fire for the first ten minutes, and then be drawn at least sixteen inches from the fire. The great heat at first hardens the outside and keeps in the juices of the meat. Baste it very frequently while cooking with the dripping that is produced by the melting of the fat. If the meat is very lean, it should be basted with hot dripping melted for the purpose. The meat may be dredged with a little flour a quarter of an hour before it is quite ready, to make it browner and to thicken the gravy a little.
There are two other methods of roasting — one is done in the oven, the other in an iron saucepan. The former way of roasting, or baking, as it is usually called, is cooking a joint in the oven. Place the joint for the first five minutes in a very hot part of the oven to harden the outside and keep in the juices. Baste it very often when the fat is sufficiently melted. It is often found very useful* to place a basin of hot water in the oven to keep the air of the oven moist without cooling it. The oven should be properly ventilated while the meat is being roasted in it, as when meat is roasted in a closed oven an injurious vapour is generated which should be allowed to escape.
Roasting in an iron saucepan is useful for small joints, birds, &c. There should be just enough space round the