There are two modes of roasting : one is to use a tin
kitchen before an open fire, and the other and more common
way is to use a very hot oven. The former gives the more
delicious favor, but the second is not by any means a poor way,
if the meat is put on a rack, and basted constantly when in
the oven. A large piece is best for roasting, this being
especially true of beef. When meat is cooked in a tin
Kitchen it requires more time, because the heat is not
equally distributed, as it is in the oven.
To prepare for roasting : Wipe the meat with a wet
towel. Dredge on all sides with salt, pepper and flour ; and
if the kitchen is used, dredge the flour into that. Run the
spit through the centre of the meat, and place very near the
fire at first, turning as it browns. When the flour in the
kitchen is browned, add a pint of hot water, and baste fre-
quently with it, dredging with salt and flour after each
basting. Roast a piece of beef weighing eight pounds
fifty minutes, if to be rare, but if to be medium, roast one
hour and a quarter, and ten minutes for each additional
pound.
Roasting in the Oven.
Prepare the meat as before. Have a rack that will fit
loosely into the baking-pan. Cover the bottom of the pan
rather lightly with flour, put in rack, and then meat.
Place in a very hot oven for a few minutes, to brown the
flour in the pan, and then add hot water enough to cover the
bottom of the pan. Close the oven ; and in about ten minutes,,
open, and baste the meat with the gravy. Dredge with salt,
pepper and flour. Do this every fifteen minutes ; and as
soon as one side of the meat is brown, turn, and brown the
other. Make gravy as before. Allow a quarter of ap hour
less in the oven than in the tin kitchen. The heat for roast-
MEATS. 133
ing must be very great at first, to harden the albumen, and
thus keep in the juices. After the meat is crusted over it is
not necessary to keep up so great a heat, but for rare meats
the heat must, of course, be greater than for those that are
to be well done. The kitchen can be drawn back a little dis-
tance from the fire and the drafts closed. Putting salt on
fresh meat draws out the juices, but by using flour a paste is
formed, which keeps in all the juices and also enriches and
browns the piece. Never roast meat without having a rack in
the pan. If meat is put into the water in the pan it becomes
soggy and looses its flavor. A meat-rack costs not more
than thirty or forty cents, and the improvement in the looks
and flavor of a piece of meat is enough to pay for it in one
roasting.
The time given for roasting a piece of beef is for rib
roasts and sirloin. The same weight in the face or the back
of the rump will require twenty minutes longer, as the meat
on these cuts is in a very compact form.
Page 57
Presented as published in 1880. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
There are two modes of roasting : one is to use a tin kitchen before an open fire, and the other and more common way is to use a very hot oven. The former gives the more delicious favor, but the second is not by any means a poor way, if the meat is put on a rack, and basted constantly when in the oven. A large piece is best for roasting, this being especially true of beef. When meat is cooked in a tin Kitchen it requires more time, because the heat is not equally distributed, as it is in the oven.
To prepare for roasting : Wipe the meat with a wet towel. Dredge on all sides with salt, pepper and flour ; and if the kitchen is used, dredge the flour into that. Run the spit through the centre of the meat, and place very near the fire at first, turning as it browns. When the flour in the kitchen is browned, add a pint of hot water, and baste frequently with it, dredging with salt and flour after each basting. Roast a piece of beef weighing eight pounds fifty minutes, if to be rare, but if to be medium, roast one hour and a quarter, and ten minutes for each additional pound.
Roasting in the Oven.
Prepare the meat as before. Have a rack that will fit loosely into the baking-pan. Cover the bottom of the pan rather lightly with flour, put in rack, and then meat. Place in a very hot oven for a few minutes, to brown the flour in the pan, and then add hot water enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Close the oven ; and in about ten minutes, open, and baste the meat with the gravy. Dredge with salt, pepper and flour. Do this every fifteen minutes ; and as soon as one side of the meat is brown, turn, and brown the other. Make gravy as before. Allow a quarter of ap hour less in the oven than in the tin kitchen. The heat for roast-
ing must be very great at first, to harden the albumen, and thus keep in the juices. After the meat is crusted over it is not necessary to keep up so great a heat, but for rare meats the heat must, of course, be greater than for those that are to be well done. The kitchen can be drawn back a little distance from the fire and the drafts closed. Putting salt on fresh meat draws out the juices, but by using flour a paste is formed, which keeps in all the juices and also enriches and browns the piece. Never roast meat without having a rack in the pan. If meat is put into the water in the pan it becomes soggy and loses its flavor. A meat-rack costs not more than thirty or forty cents, and the improvement in the looks and flavor of a piece of meat is enough to pay for it in one roasting.
The time given for roasting a piece of beef is for rib roasts and sirloin. The same weight in the face or the back of the rump will require twenty minutes longer, as the meat on these cuts is in a very compact form.