In roasting or rather in baking, as is the general practice of small households (either in gas stove or coal), attention should be paid that the oven is not too fierce as it reduces the joint greatly and of course spoils the taste and appearance.
On the other hand, an oven not sufficiently hot spoils the meat by making it hard.
The proper degree of heat is best learned by experience but as a guide it may be said that a joint should begin to splutter and sizzle within fifteen minutes after the oven door is shut.
If the meat does not appear to be cooking satisfactorily at the end of fifteen minutes the baking tin should be stood on the stove over the fire (top off) after putting a little beef dripping into the tin.
While on the fire turn the joint over several times with the fork. At the end of ten to fifteen minutes the meat may be put back into the oven.
The dripping should be preserved as follows:—
After the meat is cooked, place the joint on the dish. Turn the fat out of the baking tin into a basin and dash into it at once a tablespoonful of cold water. This will separate the meat juice from the fat.
In this way you obtain perfectly clear fat and the meat juice under it will be found useful for colouring sauces or improving soups. This applies to all roast meat—beef, veal, and mutton—providing the joint is not stuffed.
As to obtaining gravy for the joint itself, proceed as follows:—
After pouring off the fat into the basin as directed, put half a teacupful of cold water into the baking tin and let it stand on top of the fire till it boils, which will happen almost at once. Turn over the joint in the dish.