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General Rules for Cooking Meats

All salt meat should be put on in cold water, that the salt may be extracted while cooking. Fresh meat, which is boiled to be served with sauces at the table, should be put to cook in boiling water; when the outer fibres contract, the inner juices are preserved. For making soup, put the meat over in cold water, to extract the juices for the broth.

In boiling meats, if more water is needed, add that which is hot, and be careful to keep the water on the meat constantly boiling.

Remove the scum when it first begins to boil. The more gently meat boils, the more tender it will become. Allow twenty minutes for boiling each pound of fresh meat.

Roast meats require a brisk fire. Baste often. Twenty minutes is required for roasting each pound of fresh meat. The variation in roasted meats consists simply in the method of preparing them to cook, before putting them in the oven. Some are to be larded, some stuffed with bread dressing, and others plain, only seasoning with pepper and salt.

A piece of red pepper, cooked in a boiled dinner, is very nice.