Chapter XII: Part 12

Take of Indian corn flour seven pounds, pour upon it four quarts of
boiling water, stirring it all the time; let it stand till about
new-milk warm, then mix it with fourteen pounds of fine wheaten flour,
to which a quarter of a pound of salt has been previously added. Make
a depression on the surface of this mixture, and pour into it two
quarts of yeast, which should be thickened to the consistence of cream
with some of the flour; let it stand all night; on the following
morning the whole should be well kneaded, and allowed to stand for
three hours; then divide it into loaves, which are better baked in
tins, in which they should stand for half an hour, then bake.
Thirty-two pounds of wholesome, nutritive, and very agreeable bread
will be the result. It is of importance that the flour of Indian corn
should be procured, as Indian corn meal is that which is commonly met
with at the shops, and the coarseness of the husk in the meal might to
some persons be prejudicial.

[NEVER TROUBLE ANOTHER FOR WHAT YOU CAN DO YOURSELF.]

1009. To make Bread with German Yeast.

To one quartern of flour add a dessertspoonful of salt as before;
dissolve one ounce of dried German yeast in about three tablespoonfuls
of cold water, add to this one pint and a half of water a little warm,
and pour the whole into the flour; knead it well immediately, and let
it stand as before directed for one hour: then bake at pleasure. It
will not hurt if you make up a peck of flour at once, and bake three
or four loaves in succession, provided you do not keep the dough too
warm. German yeast may be obtained at almost any corn-chandler's in
the metropolis and suburbs. In winter it will keep good for a week in
a dry place, and in summer it should be kept in cold water, and the
water changed every day. Wheat meal requires a little more yeast than
fine flour, or a longer time to stand in the dough for rising.

1010. Unfermented Bread.

Three pounds wheat meal, or four pounds of white flour, two heaped
tablespoonfuls of baking powder, a tablespoonful of salt, and about
two and a half pints of lukewarm water, or just sufficient to bring
the flour to a proper consistence for bread-making; water about a
quart. The way of making is as follows:

First mix the baking powder, the salt, and about three fourths of the
flour well together by rubbing in a pan; then pour the water over the
flour, and mix well by stirring. Then add most of the remainder of the
flour, and work up the dough with the hand to the required
consistence, which is indicated by the smoothness of the dough, and
its not sticking to the hands or the sides of the pan when kneaded.
The rest of the flour must then be added to stiffen the dough, which
may then be placed in tins or formed by the hand into any shape that
may be preferred and placed on flat tins for baking.

The tins should be well floured. Put the loaves at once into a
well-heated oven. After they have been in the oven about a quarter of
an hour open the ventilator to slacken the heat and allow the steam to
escape. In an hour the process of baking will be completed. Bread made
in this way keeps moist longer than bread made with yeast, and is far
more sweet and digestible. This is especially recommended to persons
who suffer from indigestion, who will find the brown bread invaluable.

1011. Baking Powders and Egg Powders.

These useful preparations are now much used in making bread and pastry
of all kinds, and have the merit of being both cheap and wholesome.
They may be procured of all grocers and oilmen. The basis of all
baking powders consists of carbonate of soda and tartaric acid or
cream of tartar, and egg powders are made of the same materials, with
a little harmless colouring matter such as turmeric. By the action of
these substances, carbonic acid is generated in the dough, which
causes it to rise in the same manner as the so-called "aerated bread"
made on Dr. Dauglish's system, by which carbonic acid is forced into
the dough before baking.

[NEVER PUT OFF TILL TO-MORROW WHAT YOU CAN DO TO-DAY.]

1012. How to Use Baking Powder, &c.

Baking powder may be used instead of yeast in making all kinds of
bread, cake, teacakes, &c., and for biscuits and pastry, either
without or in combination with butter, suet, &c. Bread, &c., made with
baking powder is never placed before the fire to rise as when made
with yeast, but the dough may be shaped and put into the oven as soon
as it is made. The chief points to bear in remembrance are that in
making bread two teaspoonfuls of baking powder should be used to every
pound of flour, but for pastry, cakes, buns, &c., three teaspoonfuls
should be used. The ingredients should always be thoroughly
incorporated by mixing; the tins on which or in which the dough is
placed to bake should be well floured, and not greased; and the oven
should always be very hot, so that the baking may be effected as
rapidly as possible.

1013. Bread (Cheap and Excellent).

Simmer slowly, over a gentle fire, a pound of rice in three quarts of
water, till the rice has become perfectly soft, and the water is
either evaporated or imbibed by the rice: let it become cool, but not
cold, and mix it completely with four pounds of flour; add to it some
salt, and about four tablespoonfuls of yeast. Knead it very
thoroughly, for on this depends whether or not your good materials
produce a superior article. Next let it rise well before the fire,
make it up into loaves with a little of the flour--which, for that
purpose, you must reserve from your four pounds--and bake it rather
long. This is an exceedingly good and cheap bread.

1014. Economical and Nourishing Bread.

Suffer the miller to remove from the flour only the coarse flake bran.
Of this bran, boil five or six pounds in four and a half gallons of
water; when the goodness is extracted from the bran,--during which
time the liquor will waste half or three-quarters of a gallon,--strain
it and let it cool. When it has cooled down to the temperature of new
milk, mix it with fifty-six pounds of flour and as much salt and yeast
as would be used for other bread; knead it exceedingly well; let it
rise before the fire, and bake it in small loaves: small loaves are
preferable to large ones, because they take the heat more equally.
There are two advantages in making bread with bran water instead of
plain water; the one being that there is considerable nourishment in
bran, which is thus extracted and added to the bread; the other, that
flour imbibes much more of bran water than it does of plain water; so
much more, as to give in the bread produced almost a fifth in weight
more than the quantity of flour made up with plain water would have
done. These are important considerations to the poor. Fifty-six pounds
of flour, made with plain water, would produce sixty-nine and a half
pounds of bread; made with bran water, it will produce eighty-three
and a half pounds.

1015. Use Bran-Water.

A great increase on Home-made Bread, even equal to one-fifth, may be
produced by using bran water for kneading the dough. The proportion is
three pounds of bran for every twenty-eight pounds of flour, to be
boiled for an hour, and then strained through a hair sieve.

1016. Rye and Wheat Flour.

Rye and wheat flour, in equal quantities, make an excellent and
economical bread.

1017. Potatoes in Bread.

Place in a large dish fifteen pounds of flour near the fire to warm;
take five pounds of good potatoes, those of a mealy kind being
preferable, peel and boil them as if for the table, mash them fine,
and then mix with them as much cold water as will allow all except
small lumps to pass through a coarse sieve into the flour, which will
now be ready to receive them; add yeast, &c., and mix for bread in the
usual way. This plan has been followed for some years: finding that
bread made according to it is much superior to that made of flour
only, and on this ground alone we recommend its adoption; but in
addition to this, taking the high price of flour, and moderately low
price of potatoes, here is a saving of over twenty per cent., which is
surely an object worth attending to by those of limited means.

[ALL THINGS HAVE A BEGINNING, GOD EXCEPTED.]

1018. Use of Lime Water in making Bread.

It has lately been found that water saturated with lime produces in
bread the same whiteness, softness, and capacity of retaining
moisture, as results from the use of alum; while the former removes
all acidity from the dough, and supplies an ingredient needed in the
structure of the bones, but which is deficient in the _cerealia_. The
best proportion to use is, five pounds of water saturated with lime,
to every nineteen pounds of flour. No change is required in the
process of baking. The lime most effectually coagulates the gluten,
and the bread weighs well; bakers must therefore approve of its
introduction, which is not injurious to the system, like alum, &c.

1019. Rice Bread.

Take one pound and a half of rice, and boil it gently over a slow fire
in three quarts of water about five hours, stirring it, and afterwards
beating it up into a smooth paste. Mix this, while warm, into two
gallons or four pounds of flour, adding at the same time the usual
quantity of yeast. Allow the dough to work a certain time near the
fire, after which divide it into loaves, and it will be found, when
baked, to produce twenty-eight or thirty pounds of excellent white
bread.

1020. Apple Bread.

A very light, pleasant bread is made in France by a mixture of apples
and flour, in the proportion of one of the former to two of the
latter. The usual quantity of yeast is employed, as in making common
bread, and is beaten with flour and warm pulp of the apples after they
have boiled, and the dough is then considered as set; it is then put
in a proper vessel, and allowed to rise for eight or twelve hours, and
then baked in long loaves. Very little water is requisite: none,
generally, if the apples are very fresh.

1021. Pulled Bread.

Take from the oven an ordinary loaf when it is about _half baked_, and
with the fingers, while the bread is yet hot, dexterously pull the
half-set dough into pieces of irregular shape, about the size of an
egg. Don't attempt to smooth or flatten them--the rougher their shapes
the better. Set upon tins, place in a very slow oven, and bake to a
rich brown. This forms a deliciously crisp crust for cheese. If you do
not bake at home, your baker will prepare it for you, if ordered.
Pulled bread may be made in the revolving ovens. It is very nice with
wine instead of biscuits.

1022. French Bread and Rolls.

Take a pint and a half of milk; make it quite warm; half a pint of
small-beer yeast; add sufficient flour to make it as thick as batter;
put it into a pan; cover it over, and keep it warm: when it has risen
as high as it will, add a quarter of a pint of warm water, and half an
ounce of salt,--mix them well together,--rub into a little flour two
ounces of butter; then make your dough, not quite so stiff as for your
bread; let it stand for three-quarters of an hour, and it will be
ready to make into rolls, &c.:--let them stand till they have risen,
and bake them in a quick oven.

1023. Rolls.

Mix the salt with the flour. Make a deep hole in the middle. Stir the
warm water into the yeast, and pour it into the hole in the flour.
Stir it with a spoon just enough to make a thin batter, and sprinkle
some flour over the top. Cover the pan, and set it in a warm place for
several hours. When it is light, add half a pint more of lukewarm
water, and make it, with a little more flour, into a dough. Knead it
very well for ten minutes. Then divide it into small pieces, and knead
each separately. Make them into round cakes or rolls. Cover them, and
set them to rise about an hour and a half. Bake them, and, when done,
let them remain in the oven, without the lid, for about ten minutes.

[GOD IS THE FIRST OF ALL.]

1024. Sally Lunn Tea Cakes.

Take one pint of milk quite warm, a quarter of a pint of thick
small-beer yeast; put them into a pan with flour sufficient to make it
as thick as batter,--cover it over, and let it stand till it has
risen as high as it will, i. e., about two hours: add two ounces of
lump sugar, dissolved in a quarter of a pint of warm milk, a quarter
of a pound of butter rubbed into the flour very fine,--then make the
dough the same as for French rolls, &c.; let it stand half an hour;
then make up the cakes, and put them on tins:--when they have stood to
rise, bake them in a quick oven. Care should be taken never to mix the
yeast with water or milk too hot or too cold, as either extreme will
destroy the fermentation. In summer it should he lukewarm,--in winter
a little warmer,--and in very cold weather, warmer still. When it has
first risen, if you are not prepared, it will not harm if it stand an
hour.

1025. Cooking Instruments.

1026. The Gridiron.

The gridiron, though the simplest of cooking instruments, is by no
means to be despised. In common with all cooking utensils the
Gridiron should be kept scrupulously clean; and when it is used, the
bars should be allowed to get warm before the meat is placed upon it,
otherwise the parts crossed by the bars will be insufficiently
dressed. The fire should be sharp, clear, and free from smoke. The
heat soon forms a film upon the surface of the meat, by which the
juices are retained. Chops and steaks should not be too thick nor too
thin. From a half to three-quarters of an inch is the proper
thickness. Avoid thrusting the fork into the meat, by which you
release the juice. There is a description of gridiron in which the
bars are grooved to catch the juice of the meat, but a much better
invention is the upright gridiron, which is attached to the front of
the grate, and has a pan at the bottom to catch the gravy. Kidneys,
rashers, &c., dressed in this manner will he found delicious.

1027. The Frying-pan

The frying-pan is a noisy and a greasy servant, requiring much
watchfulness. Like the Gridiron, the Frying-pan requires a clear but
not a large fire, and the pan should be allowed to get thoroughly hot,
and be well covered with fat, before meat is put into it. The
excellence of frying very much depends upon the sweetness of the oil,
butter, lard, or fat that may be employed. The Frying-pan is very
useful in the warming of cold vegetables and other kinds of food, and
in this respect may be considered a real friend of economy. All know
the relish afforded by a pancake, to say nothing of eggs and bacon,
and various kinds of fish, to which both the Saucepan and the Gridiron
are quite unsuited, because they require that which is the essence of
frying, _boiling and browning in fat_.

1028. The Spit.

The spit is a very ancient and very useful implement of cockery.
Perhaps the process of roasting stands only second in the rank of
excellence in cookery. The process is perfectly sound in its chemical
effects upon the food, while the joint is kept so immediately under
the eye of the cook, that it must be the fault of that functionary if
it does not go to the table in the highest state of perfection. The
process of roasting should be commenced very slowly, the meat being
kept a good distance from the fire, and gradually brought forward,
until it is thoroughly soaked within and browned without. The Spit has
this advantage over the Oven, and especially over the common oven,
that the meat retains its own flavour, not having to encounter the
evaporation from fifty different dishes, and that the steam from its
own substance passes entirely away, leaving the essence of the meat in
its primest condition.

[VIRTUE IS THE FAIREST OF ALL.]

1029. The Meat Hook.

The meat hook has in the present day superseded the use of the Spit in
middle class families. It is thrust into the meat, and the joint
thereby suspended before the fire. For roasting in this manner the
lintel of the mantel-piece is furnished with a brass or iron arm,
turning on pivots in a plate fastened to the lintel, and notched along
its upper edge. From this arm, which is turned back against the lintel
when not in use, the meat is hung and turned by means of a bottle-jack
or a skein of worsted, knotted in three or four places, which answers
the purpose equally well, and may be replaced by a new one when
required, at a merely nominal cost. Meat roasted in this manner should
be turned occasionally, the hook being inserted first at one end and
then at the other.

1030. The Dutch Oven.

The Dutch oven is of great utility for small dishes of various kinds,
which the Spit would spoil by the magnitude of its operations, or the
Oven destroy by the severity of its heat. It combines, in fact, the
advantages of roasting and baking, and may be adopted for compound
dishes, and for warming cold scraps: it is easily heated, and causes
no material expenditure of fuel.

1031. The Saucepan.

When we come to speak of the Saucepan, we have to consider the claims
of a very large, ancient, and useful family. There are large
saucepans, dignified with the name of Boilers, and small saucepans,
which come under the denomination of Stewpans. There are few kinds of
meat or fish which the Saucepan will not receive, and dispose of in a
satisfactory manner; and few vegetables for which it is not adapted.

When rightly used, it is a very economical servant, allowing nothing
to be lost; that which escapes from the meat while in its charge forms
broth, or may be made the basis of soups. Fat rises upon the surface
of the water, and may be skimmed off; while in various stews it
combines, in an eminent degree, what we may term the _fragrance_ of
cookery, and the _piquancy_ of taste. The French are perfect masters
of the use of the Stewpan. And we shall find that, as all cookery is
but an aid to digestion, the operations of the Stewpan resemble the
action of the stomach very closely. The stomach is a close sac, in
which solids and fluids are mixed together, macerated in the gastric
juice, and dissolved by the aid of heat and motion, occasioned by the
continual contractions and relaxations of the coats of the stomach
during the action of digestion. This is more closely resembled by the
process of stewing than by any other of our culinary methods.

1032. Various Processes of Cooking.

1033. Utility of the Kitchen.

"In the hands of an expert cook," says Majendie, "alimentary
substances are made almost entirely to change their nature, their
form, consistence, odour, savour, colour, chemical composition, &c.;
everything is so modified, that it is often impossible for the most
exquisite sense of taste to recognise the substance which makes up
the basis of certain dishes. The greatest utility of the kitchen
consists in making the food agreeable to the senses, and rendering
it easy of digestion."

1034. Theory of Cooking.

To some extent the claims of either process of cooking depend upon the
taste of the individual. Some persons may esteem the peculiar flavour
of fried meats, while others will prefer broils or stews. It is
important, however, to understand the _theory_ of each method of
cooking, so that whichever may be adopted, may be done well. Bad
cooking, though by a good method, is far inferior to good cooking by a
bad method.

1035. Roasting.--Beef.

A sirloin of about fifteen pounds (if much more in weight the outside
will be done too much before the inner side is sufficiently roasted),
will require to be before the fire about three and a half or four
hours. Take care to spit it evenly, that it may not be heavier on one
side than the other; put a little clean dripping into the dripping
pan (tie a sheet of paper over it to preserve the fat) baste it well
as soon as it is put down, and every quarter of an hour all the time
it is roasting, till the last half-hour; then take off the paper and
make some gravy for it, stir the fire and make it clear; to brown and
froth it, sprinkle a little salt over it, baste it with butter, and
dredge it with flour; let it go a few minutes longer, till the froth
rises, take it up, put it on the dish, &c. Garnish it with
horseradish, scraped as fine as possible with a very sharp knife.

[VICE IS THE MOST HURTFUL OF ALL.]

1036. Yorkshire Pudding

A Yorkshire Pudding is an excellent accompaniment to roast beef.

1037. Ribs of Beef.

The first three ribs, of fifteen or twenty pounds, will take three
hours, or three and a half; the fourth and fifth ribs will take as
long, managed in the same way as the sirloin. Paper the fat and the
thin part, or it will be done too much, before the thick part is done
enough.

1038. Ribs of Beef boned and rolled.

Keep two or three ribs of beef till quite tender, take out the bones,
and skewer the meat as round as possible, like a fillet of veal. Some
cooks egg it, and sprinkle it with veal stuffing before rolling it. As
the meat is in a solid mass, it will require more time at the fire
than ribs of beef with the bones: a piece of ten or twelve pounds
weight will not be well and thoroughly roasted in less than four and a
half or five hours. For the first half-hour it should not be less than
twelve inches from the fire, that it may get gradually warm to the
centre; the last half-hour before it is finished, sprinkle a little
salt over it, and, if you like, flour it, to froth it.

1039. Mutton.

As beef requires a large sound fire, mutton must have a brisk and
sharp one: if you wish to have mutton tender it should be hung as long
as it will keep, and then good eight-tooth (_i.e._,four years old)
mutton, is as good eating as venison.

1040. The Leg, Haunch, and Saddle

The leg, haunch, and saddle, will be the better for being hung up in a
cool airy place for four or five days, at least; in temperate weather,
a week: in cold weather, ten days, A leg of eight pounds will take
about two hours; let it be well basted.

1041. A Chine or Saddle.

_i.e._ the two loins, of ten or eleven pounds--two hours and a half.
It is the business of the butcher to take off the skin and skewer it
on again, to defend the meat from extreme heat, and preserve its
succulence. If this is neglected, tie a sheet of paper over it; baste
the strings you tie it on with directly, or they will burn. About a
quarter of an hour before you think it will be done, take off the skin
or paper, that it may get a pale brown colour, and then baste it, and
flour it lightly to froth it.

1042. A Shoulder.

A shoulder, of seven pounds, an hour and three-quarters, or even two
hours. If a spit is used, put it in close to the shank-bone, and run
it along the blade-bone.

1043. A Loin of Mutton.

A loin of mutton, from an hour and a half to an hour and
three-quarters. The most elegant way of carving this is to cut it
lengthwise, as you do a saddle. A neck, about the same time as a loin.
It must be carefully jointed to prevent any difficulty in carving.

1044. The Neck and Breast.

The neck and breast are, in small families, commonly roasted together.
The cook will then crack the bones across the middle before they are
put down to roast. If this is not done carefully, the joint is very
troublesome to carve. Time for a breast, an hour and a quarter. The
breast when eaten by itself is better stewed. It may be boned, rolled,
and then roasted. A belly of pork is excellent in this way, when
boned, stuffed, and roasted.

1045. A Haunch.

_i.e._, the leg and part of the loin of mutton. Send up two
sauce-boats with it; one of rich-drawn mutton gravy, made without
spice or herbs, and the other of sweet sauce. A haunch generally
weighs about fifteen pounds, and requires about three hours and a half
to roast it.

[THOUGHT IS THE MOST SWIFT OF ALL.]

1046. Mutton _(Venison fashion)_.

Take a neck of good four or five-year-old Southdown wether mutton, cut
long in the bones; let it hang in mild weather, at least a week. Two
days before you dress it, take allspice and black pepper, ground and
pounded fine, a quarter of an ounce each, rub them together and then
rub your mutton well with this mixture twice a day. When you dress it,
wash off the spice with warm water, and roast it in paste.

1047. Veal

Veal requires particular care to roast it a nice brown. Let the fire
be the same as for beef; a sound large fire for a large joint, and a
brisker for a smaller; put it at some distance from the fire to soak
thoroughly, and then draw it nearer to finish it brown. When first
laid down it is to be basted; baste it again occasionally. When the
veal is on the dish, pour over it half a pint of melted butter; if you
have a little brown gravy by you, add that to the butter. With those
joints which are not stuffed, send up forcemeat in balls, or rolled
into sausages, as garnish to the dish, or fried pork sausages. Bacon
is always eaten with veal.

1048. Fillet of Veal.

Fillet of veal of from twelve to sixteen pounds, will require from
four to five hours at a good fire: make some stuffing or forcemeat,
and put it under the flap, that there may be some left to eat cold, or
to season a hash: brown it, and pour good melted butter over it.
Garnish with thin slices of lemon, and cakes or balls of stuffing, or
duck stuffing, or fried pork sausages, curry sauce, bacon, &c.

1049. A Loin.

A loin is the best part of the calf, and will take about three hours
roasting. Paper the kidney fat, and the back: some cooks send it up on
a toast, which is eaten with the kidney and the fat of this part,
which is more delicate than any marrow, &c. If there is more of it
than you think will be eaten with the veal, before you roast it cut it
out, it will make an excellent suet pudding: take care to have your
fire long enough to brown the ends.

1050. A Shoulder of Veal

A shoulder of veal, from three hours to three hours and a half: stuff
it with the forcemeat ordered for the fillet of veal, in the under
side.

1051. Neck

Neck, best end, will take two hours. The scrag part is best made into
a pie or broth. Breast, from an hour and a half to two hours. Let the
caul remain till it is almost done, then take it off to brown the
meat; baste, flour, and froth it.

1052. Veal Sweetbread.

Trim a fine sweetbread--it cannot be too fresh; parboil it for five
minutes, and throw it into a basin of cold water; roast it plain, or
beat up the yolk of an egg, and prepare some fine bread-crumbs. Or
when the sweetbread is cold, dry it thoroughly in a cloth, run a lark
spit or a skewer through it, and tie it on the ordinary spit; egg it
with a paste brush, powder it well with bread-crumbs, and roast it.
For sauce, put fried bread-crumbs round it, and melted butter with a
little mushroom ketchup and lemon juice, or serve on buttered toast,
garnished with egg sauce, or with gravy.

1053. Lamb

Lamb is a delicate, and commonly considered tender meat; but those who
talk of tender lamb, while they are thinking of the age of the animal,
forget that even a chicken must be kept a proper time after it has
been killed, or it will be tough eating. To the usual accompaniments
of roast meat, green mint sauce or a salad is commonly added: and some
cooks, about five minutes before it is done, sprinkle it with a little
minced parsley.

1054. Grass-Lamb.

Grass-Lamb is in season from Easter to Michaelmas.

1055. House-Lamb.

House-Lamb from Christmas to Lady-day.

1056. Mint.

When green mint cannot be got, mint vinegar is an acceptable
substitute for it.

1057. Roasting a Hind-Quarter.

Hind-quarter of eight pounds will take from an hour and three-quarters
to two hours; baste and froth it.

1058. Roasting a Fore-Quarter.

Fore-quarter of ten pounds, about two hours.

1059. Preparation.

It is a pretty general Custom, when you take off the shoulder from the
ribs, to rub them with a lump of butter, and then to squeeze a lemon
or Seville orange over them, and sprinkle them with a little pepper
and salt.

[HOPE IS THE MOST COMMON OF ALL.]

1060. Roasting a Leg.

Leg of five pounds, from an hour to an hour and a half.

1061. Roasting a Shoulder.

Shoulder, with a quick fire, an hour.

1062. Roasting Ribs.

Ribs, about an hour to an hour and a quarter; joint it nicely; crack
the ribs across, and bend them up to make it easy for the carver.

1063. Roasting Loin, Neck or Breast.

Loin, an hour and a quarter. Neck an hour. Breast, three-quarters of
an hour.

1064. Poultry, Game, &c.

H. M.
A small capon, fowl, or chicken requires........... 0 26
A large fowl ....... 0 45
A capon, full size ........ 0 35
A goose ........... 1 0
Wild ducks, and grouse ..... 0 15
Pheasants, and turkey poults ... 0 20
A moderate sized turkey, stuffed . . 1 15
Partridges .......... 0 25
Quail .............. 0 10
A hare, or rabbit .....about 1 0
Leg of pork, 1/4 hour for each
pound, and above that allowance .................. 0 20
Chine of pork, as for leg, and ... 0 20
A neck of mutton ....... 1 30
A haunch of venison . . . about 3 30

1065. Effectiveness of Roasting.

Roasting, by causing the contraction of the cellular substance which
contains the fat, expels more fat than boiling. The free escape of
watery particles in the form of vapour, so necessary to produce
flavour, must be regulated by frequent basting with the fat which has
exuded from the meat, combined with a little salt and water--otherwise
the meat would burn, and become hard and tasteless. A brisk fire at
first will, by charring the outside, prevent the heat from
penetrating, and therefore should only be employed when the meat is
half roasted.

1066. The Loss by Roasting (General).

The loss by roasting is said to vary from 14-3/8ths to nearly double
that rate per cent. The average loss on roasting butcher's meat is 22
percent.: and on domestic poultry, 20-1/2.

1067. The Loss by Roasting (Specific).

The loss per cent, on roasting beef, viz., on sirloins and ribs
together is 19-1/6 th; on mutton, viz., legs and shoulders together,
24-4/5 ths, on fore-quarters of lamb, 22-1/3 rd; on ducks, 27-1/5 th;
on turkeys, 20-1/2; on geese, 19-1/2; on chickens, 14-3/5 ths. So that
it will be seen by comparison with the percentage given of the loss by
boiling, that roasting is not so economical; especially when we take
into account that the loss of weight by boiling is not actual loss of
economic materials, for we then possess the principal ingredients for
soups; whereas, after roasting, the fat only remains. The average loss
in boiling and and roasting together is 18 per cent. according to
Donovan, and 28 per cent. according to Wallace--a difference that may
be accounted for by supposing a difference in the fatness of the meat,
duration and degree of heat, &c., employed.

1068. Boiling.

This most simple of culinary processes is not often performed in
perfection; it does not require quite so much nicety and attendance as
roasting; to skim your pot well, and keep it really boiling, or
rather, simmering, all the while--to know how long is required for
doing the joint, &c., and to take it up at the critical moment when it
is done enough--comprehends almost the whole art and mystery. This,
however, demands a patient and perpetual vigilance, of which,
unhappily, few persons are capable.

The cook must take especial care that the water really boils all the
while she is cooking, or she will be deceived in the time; and make up
a sufficient fire (a frugal cook will manage with much less fire for
boiling than she uses for roasting) at first, to last all the time,
without much mending or stirring, and thereby save much trouble. When
the pot is coming to a boil, there will always, from the cleanest meat
and clearest water, rise a scum to the top of it; proceeding partly
from the foulness of the meat, and partly from the water: this must be
carefully taken off, as soon as it rises. On this depends the good
appearance of all boiled things--an essential matter.

When you have skimmed well, put in some cold water, which will throw
up the rest of the scum. The oftener it is skimmed, and the clearer
the surface of the water is kept, the cleaner will be the meat. If let
alone, it soon boils down and sticks to the meat, which, instead of
looking delicately white and nice, will have that coarse appearance we
have too often to complain of, and the butcher and poulterer will be
blamed for the carelessness of the cook, in not skimming her pot with
due diligence.

Many put in milk, to make what they boil look white, but this does
more harm than good; others wrap it up in a cloth; but these are
needless precautions; if the scum be attentively removed, meat will
have a much more delicate colour and finer flavour than it has when
muffled up. This may give rather more trouble--but those we wish to
excel in their art must only consider how the processes of it can be
most perfectly performed: a cook who has a proper pride and pleasure
in her business will make this her maxim and rule on all occasions.

Put your meat into cold water, in the proportion of about a quart of
water to a pound of meat; it should be covered with water during the
whole of the process of boiling, but not drowned in it; the less
water, provided the meat be covered with it, the more savoury will be
the meat, and the better will be the broth in every respect. The water
should be heated gradually, according to the thickness, &c., of the
article boiled; for instance, a leg of mutton of ten pounds weight
should be placed over a moderate fire, which will gradually make the
water hot without causing it to boil, for about forty minutes; if the
water boils much sooner, the meat will be hardened, and shrink up as
if it was scorched--by keeping the water a certain time heating
without boiling, its fibres are dilated, and it yields a quantity of
scum, which must be taken off as soon as it rises, for the reasons
already mentioned.

"If a vessel containing water be placed over a steady fire, the
water will grow continually hotter, till it reaches the limit of
boiling; after which, the regular accessions of heat are wholly
spent in converting it into steam: the water remains at the same
pitch of temperature, however fiercely it boils. The only difference
is, that with a strong fire it sooner comes to boil, and more
quickly boils away, and is converted into steam."

Such are the opinions stated by Buchanan in his "Economy of Fuel."
There was placed a thermometer in water in that state which cooks call
gentle simmering--the heat was 212°, _i.e._, the same degree as the
strongest boiling. Two mutton chops were covered with cold water, and
one boiled fiercely, and the other simmered gently, for three-quarters
of an hour; the flavour of the chop which was simmered was decidedly
superior to that which was boiled; the liquor which boiled fast was in
like proportion more savoury, and, when cold, had much more fat on its
surface; this explains why quick boiling renders meat hard,
&c.--because its juices are extracted in a greater degree.

[A SCRAPER AT THE DOOR KEEPS DIRT FROM THE FLOOR.]

1069. Time of Boiling.

Reckon the time from the water first coming to a boil. The old rule,
of fifteen minutes to a pound of meat, is, perhaps, rather too little;
the slower the meat boils, the tenderer, the plumper, and whiter it
will be. For those who choose their food thoroughly cooked (which all
will who have any regard for their stomachs), twenty minutes to a
pound will not be found too much for gentle simmering by the side of
the fire; allowing more or less time, according to the thickness of
the joint and the coldness of the weather; always remembering, the
slower it boils the better. Without some practice it is difficult to
teach any art; and cooks seem to suppose they must be right, if they
put meat into a pot, and set it over the fire for a certain
time--making no allowance, whether it simmers without a bubble, or
boils at a gallop.

[A LETTER-BOX SAVES MANY KNOCKS.]

1070. Before Boiling.

Fresh killed meat will take much longer time boiling than that which
has been kept till it is what the butchers call ripe, and longer in
cold than in warm weather. If it be frozen it must be thawed before
boiling as before roasting; if it be fresh killed, it will be tough
and hard, if you stew it ever so long, and ever so gently. In cold
weather, the night before you dress it, bring it into a place of which
the temperature is not less than forty-five degrees of Fahrenheit's
thermometer.

The size of the boiling-pots should be adapted to what they are to
contain; the larger the saucepan the more room it takes upon the fire;
and a larger quantity of water requires a proportionate increase of
fire to boil it. In small families block tin saucepans are best, as
being lightest and safest: moreover, if proper care is taken of them,
and they are well dried after they are cleansed, they are by far the
cheapest; the purchase of a new tin saucepan being little more than
the expense of tinning a copper one. Take care that the covers of your
boiling-pots fit close, not only to prevent unnecessary evaporation of
the water, but that the smoke may not insinuate itself under the edge
of the lid, and give the meat a bad taste.

1071. Average Boiling Times.

The following Table will be useful as an average of the time required
to boil the various articles:

H.M.
A ham, 20 lbs. weight, requires 6 30
A tongue (if dry), after soaking 4 O
A tongue out of pickle 2-1/2 to 3 O
A neck of mutton 1 30
A chicken O 20
A large fowl O 45
A capon O 35
A pigeon O 15

1072. Remove Immediately.

If you let meat or poultry remain in the water after it is done
enough, it will become sodden and lose its flavour.

1073. Degree of Cooking.

Beef and mutton is preferred by some people a little underdone. Very
large joints if slightly underdone, will make the better hash or
broil. Lamb, pork, and veal are uneatable if not thoroughly
boiled--but these meats should not be overdone. A trivet, a
fish-drainer, or an American contrivance called a "spider"--which is
nothing more than a wire dish raised on three or four short legs--put
on the bottom of the boiling-pot, raising the contents about an inch
and a half from the bottom, will prevent that side of the meat which
comes next the bottom being done too much; and the lower part will be
as delicately done as the upper; and this will enable you to take out
the meat without inserting a fork, &c., into it. If yeu have not a
trivet, a drainer, or a "spider," use a soup-plate laid the wrong side
upwards.

1074. Stock.

Take care of the liquor you have boiled poultry or meat in, as it is
useful for making soup.

1075. Using the Stock.

The good housewife never boils a joint without converting the broth
into some sort of soup.

1076. Reducing Salt.

If the liquor be too salt, use only half the quantity, and add some
water; wash salted meat well with cold water before you put it into
the boiler.

1077. The Process of Boiling.

Boiling extracts a portion of the juice of meat, which mixes with the
water, and also dissolves some of its solids; the more fusible parts
of the fat melt out, combine with the water, and form soup or broth.
The meat loses its red colour, becomes more savoury in taste and
smell, and more firm and digestible. If the process is continued _too
long_, the meat becomes indigestible, less succulent, and tough.

1078. Loss by Boiling (General).

The loss by boiling varies from 6-1/4 to 16 per cent. The average loss
on boiling butcher's meat, pork, hams, and bacon, is 12; and on
domestic poultry, is 14-3/4.

1079. Loss by Boiling (Specific).

The loss per cent, on boiling salt beef is 15; on legs of mutton, 10;
hams, 12-1/2; salt pork, 13-1/3; knuckles of veal, 8-1/3; bacon,
6-1/4; turkeys, 16; chickens, 13-1/2.

1080. Economy of Fat.

In most families many members are not fond of fat--servants seldom
like it: consequently there is frequently much wasted; to avoid which,
take off bits of suet fat from beefsteaks, &c., previous to cooking;
they can be used for puddings. With good management there need be no
waste in any shape or form.

[A BELL HUNG WELL ITS TALE WILL TELL.]

1081. Broiling.

Broiling requires a brisk, rapid heat, which by producing a greater
degree of change in the affinities of the raw meat than roasting,
generates a higher flavour, so that broiled meat is more savoury than
roast. The surface becoming charred, a dark-coloured crust is formed,
which retards the evaporation of the juices; and, therefore, if
properly done, broiled meat may he as tender and juicy as roasted meat.

1082. Baking.

Baking does not admit of the evaporation of the vapours so rapidly as
by the processes of broiling and roasting; the fat is also retained
more, and becomes converted, by the agency of the heat, into an
empyreumatic oil, which renders the meat less fitted for delicate
stomachs, and more difficult to digest. The meat is, in fact, partly
boiled in its own confined water, and partly roasted by the dry, hot
air of the oven. The loss by baking has not been estimated and reduced
to a tabular form.

1083. Frying.

Frying is of all methods the most objectionable, from the foods being
less digestible when thus prepared, as the fat employed undergoes
chemical changes. Olive oil in this respect is preferable to lard or
butter. The crackling noise which accompanies the process of frying
meat in a pan is occasioned by the explosions of steam formed in fat,
the temperature of which is much above 212 degrees. If the meat is
very juicy it will not fry well, because it becomes sodden before the
water is evaporated; and it will not brown, because the temperature is
too low to scorch it. To fry fish well the fat should be _boiling hot
(600 degrees),_ and the fish _well dried_ in a cloth; otherwise, owing
to the generation of steam the temperature will fall so low that it
will be boiled in its own steam, and not be browned. Meat, or indeed
any article, should be frequently turned and agitated during frying to
promote the evaporation of the watery particles. To make fried things
look well, they should be done over _twice_ with egg and stale
bread-crumbs.

1084. Bastings.

i. Fresh butter.
ii. Clarified suet.
iii. Minced sweet herbs, butter, and claret, especially for mutton
and lamb.
iv. Water and salt.
v. Cream and melted butter, especially for a flayed pig.
vi. Yolks of eggs, grated biscuit and juice of oranges.

1085. Dredgings.

i. Flour mixed with grated bread.
ii. Sweet herbs dried and powdered, and mixed with grated bread.
iii. Lemon-peel dried and pounded, or orange-peel, mixed with flour.
iv. Sugar finely powdered, and mixed with pounded cinnamon, and
flour or grated bread.
v. Fennel seeds, corianders, cinnamon, and sugar, finely beaten
and mixed with grated bread or flour.
vi. For young pigs, grated bread or flour, mixed with beaten
nutmeg, ginger, pepper, sugar, and yolks of eggs.
vii. Sugar, bread, and salt mixed.

1086. Estimating Meat for Cooking.

The housewife who is anxious to dress no more meat than will suffice
for the meal, should remember that beef loses about one pound in four
in boiling, but in roasting, loses in the proportion of one pound five
ounces, and in baking about two ounces less, or one pound three
ounces; mutton loses in boiling about fourteen ounces in four pounds;
in roasting, one pound six ounces.

1087. Caution on Charcoal.

Cooks should be cautioned against the use of charcoal in any quantity,
except whore there is a free _current of air;_ for charcoal is highly
prejudicial in a state of ignition, although it may be rendered even
actively beneficial when boiled, as a small quantity of it, if boiled
with _meat on the turn,_ will effectually cure the unpleasant taint.

[AN ILL-FIXED BLIND NO ONE CAN WIND.]

1O88. Preparation of Vegetables.

There is nothing in which the difference between an elegant and an
ordinary table is more seen, than in the dressing of vegetables, more
especially of greens; they may be equally as fine at first, at one
place as at another, but their look and taste are afterwards very
different, entirely from the careless way in which they have been
cooked. They are in greatest perfection when in greatest plenty, i.e.,
when in full season. By season, we do not mean those early days, when
luxury in the buyers, and avarice in the sellers about London, force
the various vegetables, but the time of the year in which, by nature
and common culture, and the mere operation of the sun and climate,
they are most plenteous and in perfection.

1089. New Potatoes and Green Peas.

New Potatoes and green peas, unless sent to us from warmer latitudes
than our own, are seldom worth eating before Midsummer.

1090. Unripe Vegetables.

Unripe vegetables are as insipid and unwholesome as unripe fruits.

1091. The Quality of Vegetables.

As to the quality of vegetables, the middle size are preferable to the
largest or the smallest; they are more tender, juicy, and full of
flavour, just before they are quite full-grown: freshness is their
chief value and excellence. The eye easily discovers if they have been
kept too long; they soon lose their beauty in all respects.

1092. Freshness of Vegetables.

Roots, greens, salads, &c., and the various productions of the garden, when first gathered, are plump and firm, and have a fragrant freshness no art can give them again; though it will refresh them a little to put them into cold spring water for some time before they are dressed.

1093. To Boil Vegetables.

Soft water will best preserve the colour of such as are green; if you
have only hard water, put to it a teaspoonful of carbonate of potash.

1094. Preparing Vegetables.

Take care to wash and cleanse Vegetables thoroughly from dust, dirt,
and insects--this requires great attention. Pick off all the outside
leaves, trim them nicely, and if they are not quite fresh-gathered and
have become flaccid, it is absolutely necessary to restore their
crispness before cooking them, or they will be tough and unpleasant.
To do this, lay them in a pan of clean water, with a handful of salt
in it, for an hour before you dress them. Most vegetables being more
or less succulent, it is necessary that they possess their full
proportion of fluids in order to retain that state of crispness and
plumpness which they have when growing.

1095. Staleness.

On being cut or gathered, the exhalation from their surface continues,
while from the open vessels of the cut surface there is often great
exudation or evaporation, and thus their natural moisture is
diminished; tho tender leaves become flaccid, and the thicker masses
or roots lose their plumpness. This is not only less pleasant to the
eye, but is a serious injury to the nutritious powers of the
vegetable; for in this flaccid and shrivelled state its fibres are
less easily divided in chewing, and the water which exists in the form
of their respective natural juices is less directly nutritious.

1096. Preservation.

The first Care in the preservation of succulent vegetables, therefore,
is to prevent them from losing their natural moisture. They should
alway be boiled in a saucepan by themselves, and have plenty of water:
if meat is boiled with them in the same pot, the one will spoil the
look and taste of the other.

1097. Cleaning.

To have vegetables delicately clean, put on your pot, make it boil,
put a little salt in, and skim it perfectly clean before you put in
the greens, &c., which should not be put in till the water boils
briskly: the quicker they boil the greener they will be.

1098. When Done.

When the vegetables sink, they are generally done enough, if the water
has been kept constantly boiling. Take them up immediately, or they
will lose their colour and goodness, Drain the water from them
thoroughly before you send them to table. This branch of cookery
requires the most vigilant attention.

[KEEP YOUR KEYS AND BE AT EASE.]

1099. Over-Cooked.

If vegetables are a minute or two too long over the fire, they lose
all their beauty and flavour.

1100. Undercooked.

If not thoroughly boiled tender, they are very indigestible, and much
more troublesome during their residence in the stomach than underdone
meats.

1101. Take Care your Vegetables are Fresh.

To preserve or give colour in cookery many good dishes are spoiled;
but the rational epicure, who makes nourishment the main end of
eating, will be content to sacrifice the shadow to enjoy the
substance. As the fishmonger often suffers for the sins of the cook,
so the cook often gets undeservedly blamed instead of the greengrocer.

1102. To Cleanse Vegetables of Insects.

Make a strong brine of one pound and a half of salt to one gallon of
water; into this, place the vegetables with the stalk ends uppermost,
for two or three hours: this will destroy all the insects which
cluster in the leaves, and they will fall out and sink to the bottom
of the water.

1103. Potatoes.

Most people esteem potatoes beyond any other vegetable, yet few
persons know how to cook them. The following will be found to be
excellent methods of cooking this delicious esculent.

1104. To Boil Potatoes.

Put them into a saucepan with scarcely sufficient water to cover them.
Directly the skins begin to break, lift them from the fire, and as
rapidly as possible pour off _every drop_ of the water. Then place a
coarse (we need not say clean) towel over them, and return them to the
fire again until they are thoroughly done, and quite dry. A little
salt, to flavour, should be added to the water before boiling.

1105. To Peel Potatoes.