Evening star., 1936-06-24

Conducts Experiments
In Cooking Four Roasts
By Different Methods
Prolonged High Temperature Is Wasteful of
Both Food and Fuel.

drippings, which weighed only "a
pound, were almost pure fat, very
pale and would not give much flavor
to gravy. This roast was in the oven
5 hours and the amount of gas con-
sumed was So cubic feet.
Roast No. 3, Drowned at high
temperature but finished slowly, was
plump and had crisp brown crust.
Most Of it was rare, and the drip
pings, in color and flavor, were Just
right for good gravy. The cooking
time was hours, gas consumption
"a cubic feet. This roast was con-
sidered happy medium between the
other two.
Roast No. was cooked at moder-
ate temperature the entire time 1850
degrees Fahrenheit), with results and
gas consumption much the same as in
the third case, although the outside
fat Of this roast was not as crisp as
In roast 3, which was Drowned at
the start. But here, too, was a happy
medium product. And the gas con-
sumed was II cubic feet.
y Il Il y
"OBVIOUSLY the choice of meth
DDS here, based on amount of
shrinkage as well as palatability of
the meat, lies between roast No. 3.
which was first Drowned, then cooked
at moderate temperature, and roast
No. 4, which was cooked at constant
moderate temperature without initial
browning. But that choice may de-
pend upon the kind of stove in which
the meat is to be roasted. With a
modern gas oven, with thermometer
and mechanical heat control, the
method used for roast No. 3 is easy
because the high temperature needed
for browning can be lowered quickly
to the moderate temperature required
for finishing the roast. With other
fuel. the quick lowering of tempera-
ture is harder. though it can be done
by opening the oven door for a few
minutes to reduce the heat. Unless
the heat can be quickly reduced after
browning the meat, a constant nod
crate temperature is best.
so far, however, we have consid-
cred only the roast that is cooked rare.
Some of the family doubtless prefer
their roast beef medium, some would
have it well done. To provide more
medium or well done servings, the
roast must stay in the oven a longer
time than if rare meat only is desired.
So there we have the shrinkage prob
lem again, and the only thing to do is
to minimize 1t by controlling the tenn
perature. Flavor and texture suffer
too, with overlooking. The Bureau of
Home Economics sums up its recon-
mendations thus:
"PLACE the roast fat side up in the
pan-so it will baste itself Leave
the pan uncovered and do not add
water-or else the result is a pot
roast.
If the roast is to be Drowned at
the start, count on 20 to 80 minutes
in a hot oven $500 degrees Fahren-
heiD for this purpose, then reduce the
oven temperature at once to moderate
heat 900 degrees FahrenheiD, and
continue cooking until the desired
stage of "doneness" is reached. The
cooking time, including the time for
initial browning, is about Is minutes
per pound to cook the meat rare, %
minutes per pound to cook it to me-
dium and about 80 minutes to the
pound to cook it well done. The meat
thermometer registers, at the center
Of the meat, a temperature of 140 de-
grees for rare, 100 degrees for medium
and 180 degrees for a well-done roast.
If the roast is not Drowned first
the oven should be moderate all the
time, though little hotter than re-
quired to finish a roast that has been
Drowned. That is to say. tempera-
ture of about $50 degrees from start
to finish by this method.
mot only roasts, but steaks and
chops and all other cuts of meat of
any kind, shrink some in cooking The
fat melts and with it come the juices
squeezed out by the shrinkage Of the
meat proteins. Slow cooking mini
mizes this. Even the browning part of
the process is no exception to the rule
Of slow cooking for meat, because it is
only quick browning Of the surface
to give flavor"