21. The result desired when meat is cooked has much to do with the
method of cookery to choose, for different methods produce different
results. To understand this, it will be necessary to know just what the
action of cooking is on the material that meat contains. When raw meat
is cut, the tiny meat fibers are laid open, with the result that, in the
application of the cooking process, the albuminous material either is
lost, or, like the albumen of eggs, is coagulated, or hardened, and thus
retained. Therefore, before preparing a piece of meat, the housewife
should determine which of these two things she wishes to accomplish and
then proceed to carry out the process intelligently.
The methods of cookery that may be applied to meat include broiling, pan
broiling, roasting, stewing or simmering, braizing, frying, sautéing,
and fricasseeing. All of these methods are explained in a general way in
_Essentials of Cookery_, Part 1, but explanations of them as they apply
to meat are here given in order to acquaint the housewife with the
advantages and disadvantages of the various ways by which this food can
be prepared.
22. BROILING AND PAN BROILING.--Only such cuts of meats as require short
cooking can be prepared by the methods of broiling and pan broiling. To
carry out these methods successfully, severe heat must be applied to the
surface of the meat so that the albumin in the ends of the muscle fibers
may be coagulated at once. This presents, during the remainder of the
preparation, a loss of the meat juices.
Meat to which either of these methods is applied will be indigestible on
the surface and many times almost uncooked in the center, as in the case
of rare steak. Such meat, however, is more digestible than thin pieces
that are thoroughly cooked at the very high temperature required
for broiling.
23. ROASTING.--The process of roasting, either in the oven or in a pot
on top of the stove, to be properly done, requires that the piece of
meat to be roasted must first be seared over the entire surface by the
application of severe heat. In the case of a pot roast, the searing can
be done conveniently in the pot before the pot-roasting process begins.
If the meat is to be roasted in the oven, it may be seared first in a
pan on top of the stove. However, it may be seared to some extent by
placing it in a very hot oven and turning it over so that all the
surface is exposed. Then, to continue the roasting process, the
temperature must be lowered just a little.
The roasting pan may be of any desirable size and shape that is
convenient and sufficiently large to accommodate the meat to be
prepared. A pan like that shown in Fig. 2 is both convenient and
satisfactory. It is provided with a cover that fits tight. In this
cover, as shown, is an opening that may be closed or opened so as to
regulate the amount of moisture inside the pan. In the bottom of the pan
is a rack upon which the meat may rest.
[Illustration: Fig. 2]
24. To prepare meat for roasting, flour should be sprinkled or rubbed
over its lean surface before it is put in the pan. This forms a paste
that cooks into a crust and prevents the loss of juices from the meat.
In roasting, the heat is applied longer and more slowly than in broiling
or frying, so that there is more possibility for the connective tissue
beneath the surface to soften. The surface is, however, as indigestible
as that of broiled meat.
An important point for every housewife to remember in this connection is
that the larger the roast the slower should be the fire. This is due to
the fact that long before the heat could penetrate to the center, the
outside would be burned. A small roast, however, will be more delicious
if it is prepared with a very hot fire, for then the juices will not
have a chance to evaporate and the tissues will be more moist and tasty.
25. FRYING AND SAUTÉING.--When meat is fried or sautéd, that is, brought
directly in contact with hot fat, it is made doubly indigestible,
because of the hardening of the surface tissues and the indigestibility
of the fat that penetrates these tissues. This is especially true of
meat that is sautéd slowly in a small quantity of hot fat. Much of this
difficulty can be overcome, however, if meat prepared by these methods,
like that which is broiled or roasted, is subjected quickly to intense
heat. In addition, the fat used for cooking should be made hot before
the meat is put into it.
26. BOILING.--To boil meat means to cook it a long time in water at a
temperature of 212 degrees Fahrenheit. This method of preparing meat is
not strongly advocated, for there is seldom a time when better results
cannot be obtained by cooking meat at a lower temperature than boiling
point. The best plan is to bring the meat to the boiling point, allow
it to boil for a short time, and then reduce the temperature so that the
meat will simmer for the remainder of the cooking.
In cooking meat by boiling, a grayish scum appears on the surface just
before the boiling point is reached. This scum is caused by the gradual
extraction of a part of the soluble albumin that is present in the
hollow fibers of the muscle tissue. After its extraction, it is
coagulated by the heat in the water. As it coagulates and rises, it
carries with it to the top particles of dirt and other foreign material
present in the water or on the surface of the meat. In addition, this
scum contains a little blood, which is extracted and coagulated and
which tends to make it grayish in color. Such scum should be skimmed
off, as it is unappetizing in appearance.
27. Whether the meat should be put into cold water or boiling water
depends on the result that is desired. It is impossible to make a rich,
tasty broth and at the same time have a juicy, well-flavored piece of
boiled meat. If meat is cooked for the purpose of making soup or broth,
it should be put into cold water and then brought to a boil. By this
method, some of the nutritive material and much of the flavoring
substance will be drawn out before the water becomes hot enough to
harden them. However, in case only the meat is to be used, it should be
plunged directly into boiling water in order to coagulate the surface at
once, as in the application of dry heat. If it is allowed to boil for 10
minutes or so and the temperature then reduced, the coating that is
formed will prevent the nutritive material and the flavor from being
lost to any great extent. But if the action of the boiling water is
permitted to continue during the entire time of cooking, the tissues
will become tough and dry.
28. STEWING OR SIMMERING.--The cheap cuts of meat, which contain a great
deal of flavor and are so likely to be tough, cannot be prepared by the
quick methods of cookery nor by the application of high temperature, for
the result would be a tough, indigestible, and unpalatable dish. The
long, slow cooking at a temperature lower than boiling point, which is
known as stewing or simmering, should be applied. In fact, no better
method for the preparation of tough pieces of meat and old fowl can be
found than this process, for by it the connective tissue and the muscle
fibers are softened. If the method is carried out in a tightly closed
vessel and only a small amount of liquid is used, there is no
appreciable loss of flavor except that carried into the liquid in which
the meat cooks. But since such liquid is always used, the meat being
usually served in it, as in the case of stews, there is no actual loss.
To secure the best results in the use of this method, the meat should be
cut into small pieces so as to expose as much surface as possible. Then
the pieces should be put into cold water rather than hot, in order that
much of the juices and flavoring materials may be dissolved. When this
has been accomplished, the temperature should be gradually raised until
it nearly reaches the boiling point. If it is kept at this point for
several hours, the meat will become tender and juicy and a rich, tasty
broth will also be obtained.
29. BRAIZING.--Meat cooked by the method of braizing, which is in
reality a combination of stewing and baking, is first subjected to the
intense dry heat of the oven and then cooked slowly in the steam of the
water that surrounds it. To cook meat in this way, a pan must be used
that will permit the meat to be raised on a rack that extends above a
small quantity of water. By this method a certain amount of juice from
the meat is taken up by the water, but the connective tissue is well
softened unless the cooking is done at too high a temperature.
30. FRICASSEEING.--As has already been learned, fricasseeing is a
combination of sautéing and stewing. The sautéing coagulates the surface
proteins and prevents, to some extent, the loss of flavor that would
occur in the subsequent stewing if the surface were not hardened. To
produce a tender, tasty dish, fricasseeing should be a long, slow
process. This method is seldom applied to tender, expensive cuts of meat
and to young chickens, but is used for fowl and for pieces of meat that
would not make appetizing dishes if prepared by a quicker method.