To roast veal it requires to the fifty pounds, four and one-half to five hours. To roast pork it requires to the fifty pounds, four and one-half to five hours. Allow meat broth sufficient to make gravy for the command. Season to taste, remembering that to season correctly is one-half of good cooking. 9281 2 (17) 18 MANUAL FOR ARMY COOKS. Baking is that process by which a substance is cooked by heat in an oven. The temperature for baking most articles is about 400° F. This, of all cooking, requires great care and con- stant attention to detail. The action of the weather, exposure, locality, and fuel are hardly ever the same ; thus it will be seen that allowance must be made for these changes. Nothing is gained by the slightest haste. Full time must be allowed and, with attention, you may be sure of the most excel- lent results at all times. A71 easy method to test the heat of an oven. — If the hand and naked arm can be held in the oven for fifteen seconds the temperature is about right. If this can not be done without distress the oven is too hot. If the exposed part can be held comfortably in the oven for a greater length of time, it is too cold. This method allows the cook to determine approximately the proper degree of heat. Experi- ence will enable him to arrive at it precisely. Boiling is the most abused method of cooking. Rapid boiling should be avoided. Additional heat is not generated by furious boiling, and much of the aroma of a substance escapes when steam is rapidly generated. To boil properly, the fire should be clear, and after the boiling has com- menced the vessel so separated from the heat by the interposition of stove covers, or so far removed from the fire that the liquid shall have only a regular and very gentle movement, with slow steam generation and consequent slow evaporation. In boiling at least two articles of the Army ration — beans and peas — it is desirable to use soft water. Hard water, if hardness depends upon the pres- ence of carbonate of lime, can be rendered soft by boiling it an hour and then allowing it to cool, when most of the lime will be precipitated. For cooking beans and peas the water thus treated can be used at once, after carefully decanting MANUAL FOR ARMY COOKS. 19 it. But if it is to be "used for drinking or for making coffee or tea, it should, after decanting, be agitated in the air in order to aerate it. The boiling point of water is raised three or four degrees by the ordinary proportion of salt recom- mended for cooking vegetables. HINTS ON BOILING MEATS AND VEGETABLES. Boiled fresh meats and vegetables should be put on in boiling water, which sets and retains the juices, and boiled slowly ; they should be salted and seasoned while cooking. Cold water should be used when putting on salt meats and meats for soups, stevfs, corned meats, etc. Ham, bacon, and pork should be boiled from fifteen to twenty minutes per pound, mutton about fifteen minutes per pound, and beef until the bones are free or a fork will pierce easily. Meat, except hams, before boiling, should be cut into chunks of about five pounds each, all sou}^ bones cracked (the more the better), and all scum arising while boiling carefully removed and burned. The broth, except from salt meats, should be kept for stews, gravies, soups, etc.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

To roast veal it requires to the fifty pounds, four and one-half to five hours. To roast pork it requires to the fifty pounds, four and one-half to five hours. Allow meat broth sufficient to make gravy for the command. Season to taste, remembering that to season correctly is one-half of good cooking. 9281 2 (17) Baking is that process by which a substance is cooked by heat in an oven. The temperature for baking most articles is about 400° F. This, of all cooking, requires great care and constant attention to detail. The action of the weather, exposure, locality, and fuel are hardly ever the same ; thus it will be seen that allowance must be made for these changes. Nothing is gained by the slightest haste. Full time must be allowed and, with attention, you may be sure of the most excellent results at all times. An easy method to test the heat of an oven. — If the hand and naked arm can be held in the oven for fifteen seconds the temperature is about right. If this can not be done without distress the oven is too hot. If the exposed part can be held comfortably in the oven for a greater length of time, it is too cold. This method allows the cook to determine approximately the proper degree of heat. Experience will enable him to arrive at it precisely. Boiling is the most abused method of cooking. Rapid boiling should be avoided. Additional heat is not generated by furious boiling, and much of the aroma of a substance escapes when steam is rapidly generated. To boil properly, the fire should be clear, and after the boiling has commenced the vessel so separated from the heat by the interposition of stove covers, or so far removed from the fire that the liquid shall have only a regular and very gentle movement, with slow steam generation and consequent slow evaporation. In boiling at least two articles of the Army ration — beans and peas — it is desirable to use soft water. Hard water, if hardness depends upon the presence of carbonate of lime, can be rendered soft by boiling it an hour and then allowing it to cool, when most of the lime will be precipitated. For cooking beans and peas the water thus treated can be used at once, after carefully decanting it. But if it is to be "used for drinking or for making coffee or tea, it should, after decanting, be agitated in the air in order to aerate it. The boiling point of water is raised three or four degrees by the ordinary proportion of salt recommended for cooking vegetables. HINTS ON BOILING MEATS AND VEGETABLES. Boiled fresh meats and vegetables should be put on in boiling water, which sets and retains the juices, and boiled slowly ; they should be salted and seasoned while cooking. Cold water should be used when putting on salt meats and meats for soups, stevfs, corned meats, etc. Ham, bacon, and pork should be boiled from fifteen to twenty minutes per pound, mutton about fifteen minutes per pound, and beef until the bones are free or a fork will pierce easily. Meat, except hams, before boiling, should be cut into chunks of about five pounds each, all sou}^ bones cracked (the more the better), and all scum arising while boiling carefully removed and burned. The broth, except from salt meats, should be kept for stews, gravies, soups, etc.

Manual for army cooks