(See pages 7, 8 and 9 for Meat Charts)

To be sure of success in meat cookery, know first the structure of the cut of meat you are to prepare, then use a standard tested method for making that cut tender, flavory and juicy.

Always have a good fire before placing meat over the heat, for all meat cookery requires the greatest heat first to seal the appetizing juices in. Your skill will be shown in your first ten minutes of handling.

The short fibered cuts comprising the loin cuts, porterhouse, and club steaks may be given the entire short cooking over a hot fire. Practically all the other cuts on the carcass require long moist cooking after the searing process.

All boiling pieces should be put into boiling water first and after ten minutes’ brisk boiling, the heat should be reduced so that the meat simmers until the connective tissue softens and the meat is tender and just right for carving. Too long brisk boiling makes the meat stringy. Roasts should be cooked on the same principle. Put into the hot oven for fifteen minutes, then reduce the heat and cook the cut slowly, basting frequently. Steaks and chops that are to be pan broiled, should be put on a hot pan and quickly turned so as to sear and brown evenly, then allowed to cook through, over the hot fire. As salt draws the juices out of meats it should not be added until after the first ten or fifteen minutes of cooking, when the meat is thoroughly seared.

METHODS

This process of cooking subjects the meat, fish or poultry to the direct rays of the fire, quickly searing and browning the meat; this is the approved method of cooking tender steaks and chops, fish and spring chicken. An intense, even heat is necessary.

A very hot frying pan is used without addition of any fat; chops and steaks are cooked in this way.

Roasting is oven cooking in an uncovered pan. Baking differs only in the fact that the pan is covered, thus making the cooking self basting. Prime ribs, loin or leg, and fowl, are roasted; rump, short ribs and shoulder are frequently baked.

Wipe the meat, dredge with flour and brown the entire surface in a little fat, place the meat on a rack in a deep kettle and cover with boiling water. Cook with vegetables and seasoning, adding vegetables at intervals to allow for the perfect cooking of each class of vegetables by the time the meat is done. Place cover on kettle and simmer slowly about four hours. Serve with the thickened liquor.

Cooking in liquid at 212° F. is boiling. Meat should never be boiled rapidly, as the fibers become tough and the tissues dissolved. To have boiled meats tasty and juicy, plunge the meat into boiling water and cook for ten minutes, then lower the heat and cook slowly until tender. An excellent way to cook shank, clod, shoulder plate, brisket or neck. A fireless cooker is practical for this type of cookery. A pressure cooker makes it possible to cook a tough fowl or cut of meat in a very short time.

Cooking in a closely covered pan in the oven is termed braising; a small amount of water is used. The meat is usually sautÉed first, to prevent escape of much juice. Vegetables are often cooked with the meat. The temperature should be kept low. It is an excellent way for cooking spareribs, brisket, rump, shoulder or chuck roast. Besides stewing or boiling, it is an excellent way to prepare the tough cuts.

Pan frying in just enough fat to brown the foods nicely and keep them from sticking to the pan is called sautÉing. Fish, steaks, chops and potatoes are cooked by this method.

Meat for a stew, such as neck, clod, shank, brisket or chuck, can be cut in small pieces, browned to hold in juices before cooking in the boiling water; or, omitting that process, put directly in a small amount of hot water and cooked at a low temperature for a long time. All nutriment is retained in the meat.

For this method of cooking, an iron kettle is best. Half fill the kettle with fat and place over fire; melt and, when a slight blue vapor arises, test with a small cube of bread. If bread browns in one minute, the temperature is right for uncooked mixtures (doughnuts). If it browns in forty seconds, it is right for cooked materials (croquettes). The temperature of the fat should average 350-400 degrees F. Keep the temperature even; if too cool, the food will soak fat; if too hot, both fat and material to be cooked will burn. Foods cooked in deep fat should be drained on brown paper.