The combined effect of heat and moisture swells and bursts starch grains, hardens albumen, and softens fiber.
Albumen is a substance like the white of an egg. It exists in the juices of meat and contains much nourishment. If allowed to escape, the nourishment is lost and the meat is hard. Therefore we have the first general rule for the cooking of meat, namely:
To retain the albumen, the outside of each piece of meat should be seared or sealed at once before the cooking is continued.
Albumen is coagulated and hardened by intense heat. Therefrom comes the second general rule, namely:
Intense heat hardens and toughens meat, while a soft moist heat softens the fiber.
From these general rules we pass to the specific methods of cooking meat, which are nine in number—broiling, roasting, baking, frying, sauteing, steaming, boiling, stewing, or fricasseeing.
Broiling and roasting are practically the same, the chief difference being in the time employed. Both mean to expose one side of the meat to the fire while the other is exposed to the air. By this method the meat is quickly seared and the nutritive juices retained. Meat cooked in this way is richer and finer in flavor.
Baking means cooking in a pan in the oven of a stove, and in these days of hurry has largely superseded roasting.
Frying is the cooking by immersion in hot fat at a temperature of 350 degrees Fahrenheit. There must be sufficient fat to wholly cover each article. This method is employed for croquettes, oysters, etc., and is less injurious to digestion than sauteing.
Sauteing is cooking in a small quantity of fat, as an omelet or hashed browned potatoes are cooked. This is the least wholesome of all methods of cooking meat, and is often held directly responsible for indigestion.