Roasting and boiling joints must in the present day be necessarily divided into
two classes, viz., those cooked before or over an open fire, and those cooked by
an oven heated by steam over a close fire. We will first take the good old-
fashioned and extravagant open grate, which can be made to extend almost to
any width by turning a handle, but which, alas ! when stretched, recalls the un-
pleasant circumstance to mind that in the present day the price of coals is far
different to what it was years ago. We will also suppose the house to use the
ordinary roa^sting-jack and hooks, as the still more old-fashioned machinery turned
xliv cassell's dictionary of cookery.
by the heat of the fire has disappeared as completely as the turn-spit dogs them-
selves.
We will take as an example of joints to be roasted at an open fire that
most common one of all, viz., a leg of mutton. First, with regard to the condition
of the joint — for much depends upon this — a leg of mutton kept till it is ripe,
or just fit for cooking, and one fresh killed, are two distinct things. The fact
is, that the great principle of cookery — forethought — is as much overlooked in
ordering a dinner as in cooking it. Housekeepers too often will simply order
a leg of mutton from the butcher's when the man calls for orders in the morning,
and when the leg is sent they don't know whether it was killed that moi'ning
or a fortnight before.
In cold weather it is a very simple plan to pick out a nice joint at the
butcher's, asking when it was killed, and then have it hung up in the larder,
or any cool place where there is plenty of air, till it is tender. The length of
time say a haunch or leg of mutton will keep in this country depends entirely
upon the weather. Of coiu'se, in some sultry August days a leg of mutton
will sometimes turn bad in one day ; but such days are rare, and in such
weather large hot joints by no means desirable.
In winter, especially during a frost, there is scarcely any limit to the time
a leg of mutton will keep. Only bear in mind that if the leg gets frozen it is
spoilt. In ordinary cold but not necessarily freezing weather, a leg of mutton
will keep from ten days to a fortnight. Recollect, too, the importance of keeping
the meat dry. For this purpose, flour with a dredger the whole of the joint, and
look to it every morning, and re-flour any part that looks in the least degree
moist. Experience alone will tell you when the joint should be cooked. Damp
close weather is veiy bad for keeping meat, even if it is not very hot. Cold dry
weather is, of course, the best of all, when the temperature is just above freezing.
Page 53
Presented as published in 1892. 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
Roasting and boiling joints must in the present day be necessarily divided into two classes, viz., those cooked before or over an open fire, and those cooked by an oven heated by steam over a close fire. We will first take the good oldfashioned and extravagant open grate, which can be made to extend almost to any width by turning a handle, but which, alas ! when stretched, recalls the unpleasant circumstance to mind that in the present day the price of coals is far different to what it was years ago. We will also suppose the house to use the ordinary roasting-jack and hooks, as the still more old-fashioned machinery turned
xliv cassell's dictionary of cookery.
by the heat of the fire has disappeared as completely as the turn-spit dogs themselves.
We will take as an example of joints to be roasted at an open fire that most common one of all, viz., a leg of mutton. First, with regard to the condition of the joint — for much depends upon this — a leg of mutton kept till it is ripe, or just fit for cooking, and one fresh killed, are two distinct things. The fact is, that the great principle of cookery — forethought — is as much overlooked in ordering a dinner as in cooking it. Housekeepers too often will simply order a leg of mutton from the butcher's when the man calls for orders in the morning, and when the leg is sent they don't know whether it was killed that morning or a fortnight before.
In cold weather it is a very simple plan to pick out a nice joint at the butcher's, asking when it was killed, and then have it hung up in the larder, or any cool place where there is plenty of air, till it is tender. The length of time say a haunch or leg of mutton will keep in this country depends entirely upon the weather. Of course, in some sultry August days a leg of mutton will sometimes turn bad in one day ; but such days are rare, and in such weather large hot joints by no means desirable.
In winter, especially during a frost, there is scarcely any limit to the time a leg of mutton will keep. Only bear in mind that if the leg gets frozen it is spoilt. In ordinary cold but not necessarily freezing weather, a leg of mutton will keep from ten days to a fortnight. Recollect, too, the importance of keeping the meat dry. For this purpose, flour with a dredger the whole of the joint, and look to it every morning, and re-flour any part that looks in the least degree moist. Experience alone will tell you when the joint should be cooked. Damp close weather is very bad for keeping meat, even if it is not very hot. Cold dry weather is, of course, the best of all, when the temperature is just above freezing.