Without necessarily exaggerating, the quantity should invariably be rather in excess of the requirements, and for this reason, viz., the greater the amount of fat, the higher will be the temperature reached, and the less need one fear a sudden cooling of the fat when the objects to be treated are immersed. This sudden cooling is often the cause of great trouble, unless one be working over a fire of such fierceness that the fat can return in a few seconds to the temperature it was at before the objects were immersed.
[267—THE CARE OF THE FRYING MEDIUM]
Every time a frying fat is used it should, after having been melted, be strained through a towel, for the majority of objects which it has served to cook must have left some particles behind them which might prove prejudicial to the objects that are to follow.
Objects that are “panés” always leave some raspings, for instance, which in time assume the form of black powder, while those that have been treated with flour likewise drop some of their coating, which, in accumulating, produces a muddy precipitate on the bottom of the utensil.
Not only do these foreign substances disturb the clearness of the fat and render it liable to burn, but they are exceedingly detrimental to the objects that are treated later.
Therefore, always strain the fat whenever it is used—in the first place because the proper treatment of the objects demands it, and, secondly, because its very existence as a serviceable medium depends upon this measure.
[268—GRATINS]
This culinary operation plays a sufficiently important part in the work to warrant my detailing at least its leading points.
The various kinds of the order “Gratins” are (1) the Complete Gratin; (2) the Rapid Gratin; (3) the Light Gratin; (4) Glazing, which is a form of Rapid Gratin.