When poultry is the main course you cut larger pieces than if it were served in ragout, or with vegetables or as a side dish.
Small birds, like quail or larks are served whole on toast and are not carved.
Partridges, hazelhens, spring chickens and pigeons are cut in half when they are the main course. With a poultry shears they are cut lengthwise and the two halves placed together again and covered with a hot gravy. When they are a side dish, they are quartered and the backbones cut out. When they are fried, the breast is carved into 3 parts.
Turkeys, ducks, geese, chickens, pheasants and woodcocks when fried are carved in the same way. The drumsticks or legs are cut around the hip joint and then the joint separated. The wings with some breast meat are cut off. The meat on the breast is carved from either side of the breastbone and cut into desirable pieces. When serving, place them together again to make the breast appear whole. The legs are also cut into two or three pieces and replaced before serving.
TIME REQUIRED FOR BROILING, OR FOR FRYING IN A PAN WITH BUTTER, FAT OR BOTH, SMALL CUTS OF MEAT.
| Time minutes. | Turn times. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 loin beef steak, ½ lb. | 6 | 4 |
| 1 chopped beef steak, ¼ lb. | 6 | 5 |
| 1 round steak, ¼ inch slices | 2 | 2 |
| 1 round steak, 1 inch slices | 7 | 6 |
| 1 veal steak from leg, 1 lb. in ¾ inch slices | 12 | 6 |
| 1 Vienna schnitzel, ¼ lb., breaded | 6 | 2 |
| 1 breaded veal cutlet, ¼ lb. | 6 | 2 |
| 1 lamb chop, ⅕ lb. | 2 | 2 |
| 1 breaded pork chop, ¼ lb. | 8 | 4 |
| 1 cutlet from leg of venison, ⅛ lb. | 4 | 4 |
| 1 breaded oyster | 1 | 1 |
| 1 meat ball, ⅛ lb., 1 inch thick | 6 | 4 |
TIME REQUIRED FOR MEATS ON THE STOVE OR IN THE OVEN.
| Pounds. | Hours. | |
|---|---|---|
| Beef rib roast | 4 | 1¼ |
| Roast beef, rolled | 4 | 1½ |
| Pot roast | 5 | 2½ |
| Sour roast (Sauerbraten) | 5 | 2½–3 |
| Leg of veal | 5 | 2 |
| Filled breast of veal | 4 | 1½–2 |
| Saddle of veal | 4 | 1 |
| Leg of lamb | 3½ | 1¾ |
| Saddle of lamb | 4 | 1 |
| Young chicken | 2 | ½ |
| Young chicken | 3–4 | ¾ |
| Older chicken | 4 | 1½ |
| Young turkey | 10 | 2 |
| Older turkey | 10 | 3 |
| Young capon | 5½ | 1½ |
| Older capon | 5½ | 2 |
| Ham | 10 | 4 |
| Roast pork | 5 | 3 |
| Pork tenderloin | 1 | ⅔ |
| 1 squab filled | .. | 1 |
| 1 duck | 5 | 2 |
| 1 fat goose filled | 10 | 2¼–2½ |
| 1 young goose | 8 | 1½ |
ROASTING.
Roasting means the rapid confining of the meat’s juices by coagulating the albumen in the surface tissues, the slow changing of the outer layers into a brown palatable crust, dissolving of the natural fats of the meat, changing the albumen gradually to a semi-fluid form and loosening and breaking up the fibers by steam generated in the mass of the meat. Roasting may be done on a stove in a pan, or over the open fire on a spit, or in an oven.