Fig. 60.—The fore quarter of beef, hanging.

KEYUSES
1.1st and 2d ribs PrimeRoasts
2.3d and 4th ribs Prime”
3.5th and 6th ribs”
4.7th rib”
5.8th rib”
6.9th rib”
7.Chuck steaks, or roasts, 10th to 13th ribs”
8.Chuck pot roast”
9.NeckBeef tea, etc.
10.Yoke”
11.NavelStew and corning
12.Plate”
13.BrisketCorning
14.Cross RibPot Roast
15.Shoulder”
16.ShinSoup

Courtesy of the Bureau of Publications, Teachers College.

Composition and nutritive value.—Figure 64 shows you the composition of several common meats. Meat is valuable chiefly for its protein, fat, and mineral salts. The juices of the meat in the muscle cells contain nitrogenous extractive materials which give flavor, and are possibly stimulating, but they have no food value. From the bone and also from the connective tissue, gelatin is dissolved in cooking. Gelatin is a protein, but differs in certain chemical properties from other proteins, and cannot be used as the only source of nitrogen. It is a very useful protein, however, and as it can be substituted in part for more expensive proteins, it used to be called a “protein saver.”

In spite of the fact that meat is a common article of diet it should not be used in excess. Other forms of protein, as those in eggs and milk, are usually digested as easily, and most people can digest vegetable proteins if the vegetables are carefully prepared. Very little children should not have

meat, for it has stimulating properties which are undesirable for them, and it takes away the taste for foods more important for growth (see Food for Growth, Chapter XVIII). When used largely in the diet, meat tends to cause intestinal putrefaction and to form excess of acid in the body. It is less likely to be harmful if taken with plenty of fruits and green vegetables and liberal drinking of clear water.

Fig. 61a.—Left: Chuck rib roast, 9th and 10th ribs. Right: Blade rib, 7th and 8th ribs.

Fig. 61b.—Left: 1st cut prime rib roast. Right: 2d cut prime rib roast. Courtesy of Bureau of Publications, Teachers College.