Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1925-09-03
Rare or Well Done Meat
Has Same Nutritive Value
CHEAPER CUTS OF MEAT JUST AS
NUTRITIOUS AS HIGHER
PRICED PIECES


to we'll done beef; some people prefer
tan shoes to black; some people pre-
fer well done beef to rare And there |
is just about the same reason or logic |
in either choice. It's a matter of per I
sonal taste. From a standpoint of nu
triton and digestion there virtually
is no difference between roast beet
Well done, medium, or rare It's mat
ter of habit and palatability more than
anything else in the world
Once in while~the question is pu
up to the officials of Armour and Com
pany as to the relative values of beef
cooked in the three ways In order td
help settle occasional arguments that
arise among epicureans or advocates
of one kind of cooking rather than
another, the Department of Food Econ
omics recently has completed an ex
haustive survey of the question and
also obtained the opinions of noted
food experts on the subject. AS re-
suit of the letters and the study, i
may be rather definitely stated that
there is little or no difference in the
digestibility, the palatability, or the
nutritive value of beef cooked to the
various degrees.
Some people, without really know
ing, have the impression that well
done meat is more healthful and more
easily digested. Advocates of rare
meat have argued that it is more diff
ficult to digest we'll done meat be
cause that meat must be more thor
oughly masticated. In that process
there is mixed more than the usual
amount of saliva, which they claim
produces an over-alkalinity of the dig,
estive fluids.
The rare beef devotee will assert
that meat which is rare may be dig
ested without chewing. Rather ex-
haustive tests is to certain degree
injurious, and the more it is cooked
the more it is injured. This is due
to the fact that over cooked meat
has lot Of its nutritive properties
destroyed by being burned
There is another factor, however,
in heating which must not be forgot,
ten, and that is taste. There are many
foods which appeal more strongly to
the taste when well cooked than when
, rare. For instance, no one would fan
cy eating raw meat, yet gourmet
often wants the inside of his roast
about as near raw as can be- 1t seems
to me that in the Improvement of flaw
or and taste by scientific cookery we
should endeavor to restrict that cook
cry to minimum. / confess, person.
ally, to liking for beef which is
scorched considerably Oh the outside
but which is still like wine (red) on
the inside. Fortunately, However, my
digestive apparatus seems to take care
of overlooked as well as under cook
ed foods, and | am fond of many dish
es as raw as possible or withoutbeing
cooked at all"
Before summing UP the result, it
might be- well to take a few other
points into consideration. First is the
principal of protein cookery which
states that protein should be cooked
for long time at low temperature
in order to have it more palatable.
However, another food element must
be taken into consideration, and that
is the vitamins. Vitamins A, b, and c.,
appear in lean meat, and when meat
is cooked, as DIR. Wiley stated above
for long time, or using very high
temperature the vitamins are destroy
ed.
In the final analysis, however, the
matter of palatability has very little
to do with the digestive functions,
since the moment the meat reaches
the stomach, whether rare, medium or
well done, the gastric juice is formed
Unnecessary quantity Immediately It
has been found through many tests
that the degree of cooking of the meat
makes no difference; the stomach
acts the same.
The superabundance of the pre-
sence of hydrochleric acid, which is
most important in the digestion of
protein, is brought about as extrac-
tives found in meat, the more easily
it will be digested. This is because the
gastric juice is formed more quickly,
and, of course, the food is digested
more completely.
In view of those facts, it may be
asserted that the tougher and the less
expensive cuts of meat should be more
and more deserving of popularity. In
ne tests made by DR.. Hawk, lit was
determined that if two pieces of meat
are equal in fat value, no matter what
grade of beef they may be, the body
will derive the same benefits from the
tougher cut as it will from very ten
der piece of meat So as far as diges,
tibility is concerned, and nuuritiye
value, it does not make any difference
whether the meat is from No.2 COW
or prime corn fed steer, except that
the steer WILL in all probability, have
little more fat content than the
other, but not so much as to make the
difference material