The Bessemer indicator., 1893-09-30
BAKED MEATS.
Tho Close Range Is Not All That It Is
Cracked Up to lie.


The very general adoption OF the
close range" or kitchen in place OF
the open CRATE has necessarily caused
an abandonment OF the method OF
roasting our meat before the open
fire, and the substitution of the pro-
cess of baking in close ch1mbor or
oven. No doubt that the latter
method is the most convenient and
the most economical, but IL may be
questioned whether 1t is the most
wholesome. In baking. the meat is,
as it were, cooked /" its own Juices;
the vapors cxhaled from the warm
heat are confined in the close oven,
and do not escape into the atmos-
phere. adding, no doubt, to the flavor
and also to the richness of the food.
At the same time, the joint sur
rounded by this dense vapor does not
yield its juices so freely as when
roasted in IN open atmosphere, as
eau be seen by comparing the yield
OF dripping obtained in the dish in
which leg of mutton has been
baked with the amount which a
smaller joint gives 10 the dripping
pan when roasted. That very large
quantity of the more oily portion OF
the fatty matters, especially of the
fat distributed between the muscular
fbers. does not leave the meat when
baked can be shown by examining Il
slice of baked meat and comparing il
with similar slice OF roast meat.
when it will be seen that in the for
mer minute oily globules are abun,
| dantly distributed among the fbers.
| while in meat that has been well and
thoroughly roasted they are compar
atively unnoticeable.
Moreover, the gravy from baked
meat when cut always yields more
grease than docs that from roast
meat. though, as above stated, the
yield of the dripping pan is less will
the former than the latter 1t is
this retention of the volatile aroma
and unctuous juices that render,
baked meat so popular and no doub
with persons of strong stomachs ii IL
not harmful; but when digestion il
feeble we are convinced it is highl,
I Injurious, and that its contint.eC
use not only aggravate5 but also in
! duces indigestion, and that in manl
| instances very considera bic bcnefi
has resulted from the advice of The
medical man to the patient to ordci
his meat to be roasted instead o
baked.
Our knowledge at present regard
ing the respective digestibility of diff
ferent fats is very imperfect, sav'
the Scientific American, still, the
general and popular opinion is thai
the more oily fats are less digestiblt
and more "bilious" than tho solid
and it is these fluid fats which form
the grease of cooked meats. Muct
the same may be said regarding the
mode of cooking bacon. Thus in the
North of England thick slices o
bacon are placed in shallow tins and
cooked in the oven, while rashers are
usually fried in pan over the fire
In both cases, however, the bacon i,
cooked in its own dip" or mos
oily portion of its fatty matter.
1t has long been pointed out tha
bacon cooked by either of the abov.
methods is q "bilious article of diet
whereas when bacon is toasted it i
not apt to disagree even with decid
edly "bilious" people, the reason
being that tho oily portion of the fa
or dip" is removed and only th,
more solid fat left. We have no wisl
to raise a panic with regard to tn,
useful and economical "kitchener,
but would merely suggest that bak
| ing may in some instances be the un
suspected cause of Indigestion, i,
which case Il return to the use of the
roasting jack and the open fire woult
| seem desirable.