mode of boiling. Gelatine is the glutinous matter in meat
which, when extracted and let get cold, makes the jelly you
see in good stock. Bones contain more gelatine than flesh
does. Two ounces of bones contain as much gelatine as
one pound of meat. Gelatine is utterly without flavor, but
very strengthening. Powdered bones may be dissolved com'
pletely into gelatine. Osmazome is that part of the substance
of meat which gives it flavor and perfume. Flesh of old
animals has more osmazome and consequently more flavor.
Our readers will at once acknowledge that the brown meats
have more flavor than the white. Under the influence of
dry heat (i. e., roasting) osmazome acquires higher properties
and gives forth a better flavor.
Meat is “under'dressed” when it has only been suffn
ciently heated through to coagulate the albumen it contains.
It is perfectly done when it has been heated throughout to a
temperature sufficiently strong to coagulate the coloring
matter of the blood. It is “too much dressed” when the
heat has continued long enough to harden the fibres. The
juices of flesh should be kept in (if the meat is dressed for
eating, not for soup), as they contain much nutritive matter,
and the succulence of the joint depends on their retention in
it. If meat is exposed to a “quick” heat the albumen on
the surface will coagulate and “keep in” the juices and the
meat will be lightly dressed. This is a peculiarly English
mode of cooking, for which foreigners occasionally style us,
jestingly, “Cannibal.”
It is essential that cooks should remember that there is
a certain amount of waste in meat when exposed to the
action of fire, i. e., when cooked. The fatter the ,meat the
greater the waste in roasting. It has been estimated by our
very clever domestic chemists that fresh beef and mutton
lose as follows: Beef, out of four pounds, will lose one
pound in boiling, one pound three ounces in baking, one
pound five ounces in roasting. Mutton loses out of four
pounds, fourteen ounces in boiling, one pound four ounces
in baking, one pound six ounces in roasting. Thus the
reader will perceive that a joint weighing eight pounds will
lose in roasting two pounds ten ounces, but the dripping
will remain over. Boiling is evidently a cheaper mode of
cookery (especially in England), as less substance is lost, and
the quantity abstracted, having passed into the water, renders
— 458 —
THE CHEMISTRY OF COOKIN
V/
that available for soup or broth, with a little additional stock,
The knowledge of these effects of heat on animal sub'
stances will guide the cook in her proceedings, whether the
family whom she serves prefer their meat well dressed or
underdressed. It will be of especial use in that most chem-
ical of all operations, making soup, or for making the stock
for it, and for gravies.
Page 226
Presented as published in 1920. 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
mode of boiling. Gelatine is the glutinous matter in meat which, when extracted and let get cold, makes the jelly you see in good stock. Bones contain more gelatine than flesh does. Two ounces of bones contain as much gelatine as one pound of meat. Gelatine is utterly without flavor, but very strengthening. Powdered bones may be dissolved com' pletely into gelatine. Osmazome is that part of the substance of meat which gives it flavor and perfume. Flesh of old animals has more osmazome and consequently more flavor. Our readers will at once acknowledge that the brown meats have more flavor than the white. Under the influence of dry heat (i. e., roasting) osmazome acquires higher properties and gives forth a better flavor.
Meat is "under-dressed" when it has only been sufficiently heated through to coagulate the albumen it contains. It is perfectly done when it has been heated throughout to a temperature sufficiently strong to coagulate the coloring matter of the blood. It is “too much dressed” when the heat has continued long enough to harden the fibres. The juices of flesh should be kept in (if the meat is dressed for eating, not for soup), as they contain much nutritive matter, and the succulence of the joint depends on their retention in it. If meat is exposed to a “quick” heat the albumen on the surface will coagulate and “keep in” the juices and the meat will be lightly dressed. This is a peculiarly English mode of cooking, for which foreigners occasionally style us, jestingly, “Cannibal.”
It is essential that cooks should remember that there is a certain amount of waste in meat when exposed to the action of fire, i. e., when cooked. The fatter the ,meat the greater the waste in roasting. It has been estimated by our very clever domestic chemists that fresh beef and mutton lose as follows: Beef, out of four pounds, will lose one pound in boiling, one pound three ounces in baking, one pound five ounces in roasting. Mutton loses out of four pounds, fourteen ounces in boiling, one pound four ounces in baking, one pound six ounces in roasting. Thus the reader will perceive that a joint weighing eight pounds will lose in roasting two pounds ten ounces, but the dripping will remain over. Boiling is evidently a cheaper mode of cookery (especially in England), as less substance is lost, and the quantity abstracted, having passed into the water, renders
— 458 —
THE CHEMISTRY OF COOKIN
V/
that available for soup or broth, with a little additional stock,
The knowledge of these effects of heat on animal substances will guide the cook in her proceedings, whether the family whom she serves prefer their meat well dressed or underdressed. It will be of especial use in that most chemical of all operations, making soup, or for making the stock for it, and for gravies.