To prepare the meat for baking, wipe it with a cloth wet
in cold water, but do not wash it, because that tends, to draw
out the juices ; trim oiif all defective portions ; lay it in a
baking-pan without salting it, and quickly brown it ; it may
then be seasoned, arid "frothed" by dredging it with flour
and basting it -with drippings or butter. The bones cut from
the joint may be put into the pan with it ; and a little beefr
METHODS OF COOKING. 43
suet, or salt pork if it is not fat enough to yield drippings,
or some scraps of vegetables and sweet herbs, may be used
under it. But no water should be put into the pan : the
water, even when boiling, is not as hot as the outside of the
meat ; and, in addition, the steam which rises from it softens
the entire surface of the meat, and draws out its juices. It
is futile to expect to restore the extracted juices by means
of basting ; if the meat is not washed or salted, and is
quickly browned, it will retain its juices so entirely that a rich
gravy will flow from it when it is carved. Directions are
given elsewhere for making gravy from the drippings of
baked meats.
The reason why separate ovens should be used for meat
and pastry is because the particles of fat which fly from the
meat while it is baking burn upon the sides of the oven, and
impart their odor and flavor to delicate cakes and pastry.
Different meats should not be baked in the same pans : the
fact that they are often so cooked at hotels and restaurants
is one reason why such meats generally lack their distinctive
flavor.
The bread and pastry ovens do not require to be so hot
as those in which meat is baked, and means must be devised
to moderate their heat when it is excessive; opening the
doors, or slides in the doors, of the ovens, cools them rap-
idly. Their temperature should always be ascertained be-
fore any thing is put into them to cook. All the flues, and
the top and bottom of the ovens, should be kept free from
ashes, and the dampers should always be in good working
order. When an oven is too hot at the top, cool it by open-
ing the door, and then guard the top of whatever substance
is baking by covering it with buttered paper or with an extra
pan turned over it. If the oven is apt to burn from the
bottom, cover it half an inch deep with clean sand : this will
disperse the superfluous heat evenly throughout the oven.
44 PRACTICAL AMERICAN- COOKERY.
If an oven will not heat, have it attended to by the stove-
maker or tin-smith : if an oven is without ventilation, have
the close door changed for one supplied with ventilators.
The latest improvement in stove-ovens is the attachment of
a wire-gauze door in place of the iron door : the idea is an
admirable one.
BROILING.
The general principles of roasting apply to broiling. The
circulation of free air around the meat carries away from it
all the smoke arising from the burning fat, at the same time
with the products of combustion from the fire. The fire
must be hot enough to quickly sear the cut surface of the
meat, and only when this is done will the juices be retained.
Page 32
Presented as published in 1885. 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
To prepare the meat for baking, wipe it with a cloth wet in cold water, but do not wash it, because that tends to draw out the juices ; trim oiif all defective portions ; lay it in a baking-pan without salting it, and quickly brown it ; it may then be seasoned, and "frothed" by dredging it with flour and basting it -with drippings or butter. The bones cut from the joint may be put into the pan with it ; and a little beef suet, or salt pork if it is not fat enough to yield drippings, or some scraps of vegetables and sweet herbs, may be used under it. But no water should be put into the pan : the water, even when boiling, is not as hot as the outside of the meat ; and, in addition, the steam which rises from it softens the entire surface of the meat, and draws out its juices. It is futile to expect to restore the extracted juices by means of basting ; if the meat is not washed or salted, and is quickly browned, it will retain its juices so entirely that a rich gravy will flow from it when it is carved. Directions are given elsewhere for making gravy from the drippings of baked meats.
The reason why separate ovens should be used for meat and pastry is because the particles of fat which fly from the meat while it is baking burn upon the sides of the oven, and impart their odor and flavor to delicate cakes and pastry. Different meats should not be baked in the same pans : the fact that they are often so cooked at hotels and restaurants is one reason why such meats generally lack their distinctive flavor.
The bread and pastry ovens do not require to be so hot as those in which meat is baked, and means must be devised to moderate their heat when it is excessive; opening the doors, or slides in the doors, of the ovens, cools them rapidly. Their temperature should always be ascertained before any thing is put into them to cook. All the flues, and the top and bottom of the ovens, should be kept free from ashes, and the dampers should always be in good working order. When an oven is too hot at the top, cool it by opening the door, and then guard the top of whatever substance is baking by covering it with buttered paper or with an extra pan turned over it. If the oven is apt to burn from the bottom, cover it half an inch deep with clean sand : this will disperse the superfluous heat evenly throughout the oven.
If an oven will not heat, have it attended to by the stovemaker or tin-smith : if an oven is without ventilation, have the close door changed for one supplied with ventilators. The latest improvement in stove-ovens is the attachment of a wire-gauze door in place of the iron door : the idea is an admirable one.
BROILING.
The general principles of roasting apply to broiling. The circulation of free air around the meat carries away from it all the smoke arising from the burning fat, at the same time with the products of combustion from the fire. The fire must be hot enough to quickly sear the cut surface of the meat, and only when this is done will the juices be retained.