Meat, Cold. — When newly-cooked meat is brought from table, put it on a dry dish ; if the gravy is left about it the meat becomes sour. To enjoy cold meat it should be cooked the day before, and not cut, as the juices thus remain, and add a richness to the meat. Meat, Cold, How to Use.— Mince up any cold meat you may have at hand with par- sley, pepper, and salt. Mix with it one-third of its weight of bread-crumbs, and either bake it or boil it in a basin. If preferred, it may be made into small rolls, and fried in butter. Meat, Cooking of. — " In whatever man- ner meat is cooked," observes ]Mr. Donovan, "there is a considerable diminution of sub- stance, the loss consisting chiefly of water, juices, soluble matter, and fat. In an economical point of \-iew, a comparison of the loss incurred in the two most usually employed processes — • roasting and boiling — is interesting, yet it has not occupied the attention of the public as much as the importance of the subject seems to demand. Professor Wallace, of Edinburgh, has given lis the results of some experiments made to determine the loss which meat under- goes in cooking. It is to be regretted that it is not more in detail, and that the weight of the bone in each joint was not ascertiuned ; but still it is of great value. The results, reduced to 100 pounds of meat, are as follows : — lbs. 100 lbs. of beef lost in boiling . . 26^ 100 lbs. of beef lost in roasting . . 32 100 lbs. of beef lost in baking . . 30 100 lbs. of legs of mutton, averaging about 94 lbs. each, lost in boiling 21|- 100 lbs. of shoulders of mutton, aver- aging 10 lbs. each, lost in roasting 31J 100 lbs. of loins of mutton, averaging 8 lbs. 12 oz. each, lost in roasting 35^ 100 lbs. of necks of mutton, averaging 10 lbs. each, lost in roasting . 23 J Thus the loss in boiling beef or mutton was less than in roasting. And it appears that meat loses by the cooking about one-fifth to one- third. A few years since, I undertook the super- intendence of some experiments of the same tendency. These trials were made on several parts of the different animals, with as much attention to accuracy as the nature of the sub- ject permitted. They were made on different qualities of the same kind of meat, at various seasons, both in England and Ireland. Such experiments are exceedingly troublesome, and occasion no small inconvenience; it is, there- fore, the less surprising that the subject has been so little investigated; and the following- results, in the absence of any others so par- ticularly detailed, will perhaps prove interest- ing. Allowance must be made for the nature of such processes. The degree of fatness was in* all cases brought to a standard by cutting off all excess, and leaving the meat in a proper state for the housekeeper's use. The meat was in all cases cooked as nearly as possible to the same degree, and the weights were determined with exactness; avoirdupois weight throughout i.s intended. The bones were entirely stripped of their meat previous to their being weighed." A piece of beef roasted formed the first experiments. It consisted of four of the largest ribs, and was not remarkably fat ; its weight was 11 lbs. 1 oz. During the process of roasting it lost 2 lbs. 6 oz., of which 10 oz. were fat, and 28 oz. were water dissipated by evaporation.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Meat, Cold. — When newly-cooked meat is brought from table, put it on a dry dish ; if the gravy is left about it the meat becomes sour. To enjoy cold meat it should be cooked the day before, and not cut, as the juices thus remain, and add a richness to the meat. Meat, Cold, How to Use.— Mince up any cold meat you may have at hand with parsley, pepper, and salt. Mix with it one-third of its weight of bread-crumbs, and either bake it or boil it in a basin. If preferred, it may be made into small rolls, and fried in butter. Meat, Cooking of. — " In whatever manner meat is cooked," observes ]Mr. Donovan, "there is a considerable diminution of substance, the loss consisting chiefly of water, juices, soluble matter, and fat. In an economical point of \-iew, a comparison of the loss incurred in the two most usually employed processes — • roasting and boiling — is interesting, yet it has not occupied the attention of the public as much as the importance of the subject seems to demand. Professor Wallace, of Edinburgh, has given lis the results of some experiments made to determine the loss which meat undergoes in cooking. It is to be regretted that it is not more in detail, and that the weight of the bone in each joint was not ascertained ; but still it is of great value. The results, reduced to 100 pounds of meat, are as follows : — lbs. 100 lbs. of beef lost in boiling . . 26^ 100 lbs. of beef lost in roasting . . 32 100 lbs. of beef lost in baking . . 30 100 lbs. of legs of mutton, averaging about 94 lbs. each, lost in boiling 21|- 100 lbs. of shoulders of mutton, averaging 10 lbs. each, lost in roasting 31J 100 lbs. of loins of mutton, averaging 8 lbs. 12 oz. each, lost in roasting 35^ 100 lbs. of necks of mutton, averaging 10 lbs. each, lost in roasting . 23 J Thus the loss in boiling beef or mutton was less than in roasting. And it appears that meat loses by the cooking about one-fifth to onethird. A few years since, I undertook the superintendence of some experiments of the same tendency. These trials were made on several parts of the different animals, with as much attention to accuracy as the nature of the subject permitted. They were made on different qualities of the same kind of meat, at various seasons, both in England and Ireland. Such experiments are exceedingly troublesome, and occasion no small inconvenience; it is, therefore, the less surprising that the subject has been so little investigated; and the followingresults, in the absence of any others so particularly detailed, will perhaps prove interesting. Allowance must be made for the nature of such processes. The degree of fatness was in* all cases brought to a standard by cutting off all excess, and leaving the meat in a proper state for the housekeeper's use. The meat was in all cases cooked as nearly as possible to the same degree, and the weights were determined with exactness; avoirdupois weight throughout i.s intended. The bones were entirely stripped of their meat previous to their being weighed." A piece of beef roasted formed the first experiments. It consisted of four of the largest ribs, and was not remarkably fat ; its weight was 11 lbs. 1 oz. During the process of roasting it lost 2 lbs. 6 oz., of which 10 oz. were fat, and 28 oz. were water dissipated by evaporation.

Cassell's dictionary of cookery