The fire for broiling must be clear, and for meats it must be hotter
and brighter than for fish. Coals from hard wood or charcoal are best,
but in all large towns and cities hard coal is nearly always used,
except in hotels and restaurants, where there is usually a special
place for broiling with charcoal. The double broiler is the very best
thing in the market for broiling meats and fish. When the meat is
placed in it, and the slide is slipped over the handles, all there is
to do is to hold the broiler over the fire, or, if you have an open
range, before the fire. A fork or knife need not go near the meat
until it is on the dish. A great amount of the juice is saved. With
the old-fashioned gridirons it is absolutely necessary to stick a fork
into the meat to turn it, and although there are little grooves for
the gravy to run into, what is saved in this way does not compare with
what is actually kept within the meat where the double broiler is
used. Professional cooks can turn a steak without running a fork into
the meat, but not one in a hundred common cooks can do it.
Mutton Chops.
Sprinkle the chops with salt, pepper and flour. Put them in the double
broiler. Broil over or before the fire for eight minutes. Serve on a
_hot_ dish with butter, salt and pepper for tomato sauce. The
fire for chops should not be as hot as for steak. Chops can be
seasoned with salt and pepper, wrapped in buttered paper and broiled
ten minutes over a hot fire.
Beef Steak.
Have it cut thick. It will never be good, rich and juicy if only from
one-fourth to one-half an inch thick. It ought to be at least three-
quarters of an inch thick. Trim off any suet that may be left on it,
and dredge with salt, pepper and flour. Cook in the double broiler,
over or before clear coals, for ten minutes, if to be rare, twelve, if
to be rather well done. Turn the meat constantly. Serve on a hot dish
with butter and salt, or with mushroom sauce, _maitre d' Hôtel_
butter or tomato sauce. Do not stick a knife or fork into the meat to
try it. This is the way many people spoil it. Pounding is another bad
habit: much of the juice of the meat is lost. When, as it sometimes
happens, there is no convenience for broiling, heat the frying pan
very hot, then sprinkle with salt, and lay in the steak. Turn
frequently.