BAKING.
Baking is cooking in confined heat. Meat properly cooked in an oven is considered by many authorities as quite equal in delicacy of flavor to that roasted before a fire, and is equally digestible.
STEAMING.
Steaming is cooking food over condensed steam, and is an excellent method for preparing food which requires long, slow cooking. Puddings, cereals, and other glutinous mixtures are often cooked in this way. It is an economical method, and has the advantage of developing flavor without loss of substance.
Food Preservation.
Food is preserved by the following processes: (1) drying, (2) smoking, (3) salting, (4) freezing, (5) refrigerating, (6) sealing, (7) addition of antiseptic and preservative substances.
DRYING.
Drying in the sun and before a fire is the usual method employed by housekeepers. Fruits and vegetables, meat and fish may be preserved by drying, the latter with the addition of salt.
SMOKING.
Smoking is chiefly applied to beef, tongue, bacon, ham, and fish, which are hung in a confined chamber, saturated with wood smoke for a long time until they absorb a certain percentage of antiseptic material, which prevents the fat from becoming rancid, and the albumen from putrefying. Well smoked bacon cut thin and properly cooked is a digestible form of fatty food, especially for tubercular patients. Smoking improves the digestibility of ham.