ROASTING is that culinary process by which meat is brought from a raw to a cooked state more directly by the action of fire than by any other means except that of limiling. By the latter the heat is applied immediately and suddenly to the surface. by which it is hardened, so that the juices of the meat are greatly retained, evaporation being thereby prevented; while, by the former, the heat is applied gradually, the watery portion is evaporated, as well as the fat melted out to a considerable extent, till the progressive browning and hardening of the surface prevent the further escape of the juices. But the loss resulting from the evaporation of the watery portion, and to a certain degree, the melting of the fat, may be lessened by imitating in the first stages the process of broiling, namely, by applying the meat at the beginning quite close to the fire, so as to harden the outside, and then removing it to a great distance, and conducting the subsequent stages very slowly. About fifteen minutes is generally sufficient to effect this encrusting for a moderately sized joint, if the fire be brisk and clear, as it always ought to be for roasting—or if gas be used. " Every house should have a moveable piece of iron or steel, with a joint permitting it to be turned out of the way when not in use, *crewel on the mantel-piece, with teeth fixed in it, so as to be able to hang the joint any distance from the fire." (Soyer's ' Shilling Cookery for the People.) The evaporation may be further restrained by beginning to dredge the meat with flour earlier than moat cooks do. The above eminent authority recommends that " all dark meats, such as beef and mutton, should be put down to a sharp fire for at least fifteen minutes, then remove it back, and let it do gently. Lamb veal, and pork (if young and tender), should be done at a moderate fire. Veal even should bo covered with paper. Fowls, &c., should he
placed close to the fire, to set the akin." For young meats the process should be carried farther than for older meats. The loss of weight in roasting meat is much greater than by; boiling : "By boiling, mutton loses one-fifth, and beef one-fourth ; but by roasting, theme meats lose about one-third of their weight. In roasting, the lona arises from the melting out of the fat and the evaporation of the water, but the nutritious matter remains condensed in the cooked solid ; whereas, iu boiling, the gelatine is partly abstracted. Roasted are therefore more nutritive than boiled meats." (Paris,' On Diet.') The digestibility is also Increased, especially in young meats, which are deficient in came some, to which the sapklity is mainly owing, and which during boiling passes into the water employed, while in roasting it is powerfully developed and almost entirely retained. " Young and viscid food, therefore, such as veal, chickens, &c., is more wholesome when roasted than when boiled, and are more easily digested." The best and most tender meat may, however, be rendered hard and indigestible by a carders or ignorant cook. Everybody knows the advantage of slow boiiise—dow roasting is equally important. See Dr. Kitchener's • Cook's Oracle,' in which the most sensible and racy instructions on this head are given ; also in bliss Acton's ' Cookery,' as well as the different works of Alexia Soyer.
The digestibility is increased by the meat being well done, rather than underdone; "for though in this latter state it may contain moat nutriment, yet it will be less digestible on account of the density of its texture." This is of importance to remember when it is Intended for the diet of convalescents, for whom broiled and roast meats are preferable to boiled.