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Flank Steak: Gelatine

Water 75.90% Protein (myosin, albumin, fibrin) 18.36% Gelatine Extractives Fat Minerals 1.64% 1.90% 1.30% MEAT Meat contains a large amount of water but, unlike the carbohydrates, it does not take up more water in cooking. Even when cooked in water it tends to lose rather than gain in weight.

Gelatine is obtained from the connective tissues of the meat and the cartilage of the bone by long boiling. It is the gelatine that has been drawn from the meat and bone that often causes the broth from veal to stiffen like jelly when cold. Gelatine has somewhat the same chemical composition as protein but it will not build new tissue. It will furnish heat and energy.

The extractives give flavor to the meat and act as stimulants. Beef extracts and cleared soups contain only the extractives and a little gelatine. They do not contain any appreciable amount of nourishment.

Even lean meat contains a small amount of fat, though it may be invisible to the naked eye. Very fat meat is not as digestible as lean meat, probably because the fat forms a coating around the protein and prevents the action of the digestive juices.

The muscle tubes are filled with the "juice" of the meat which is made up of protein, extractives, minerals and water. As the juice contains a large per cent of the nutriment and almost all of the flavor it is important to know how to retain the greater part of it in the meat during the preparation of the meat for the table. A few experiments will give some rules to follow.