Roast beef, fillet of beef, mutton, game and small birds require comparatively little time for roasting, but a uniformly hot oven.
Veal, lamb, turkey and goose roasts require a longer time but only a moderate heat. For roasting use only meats from full-grown, but not old, animals. The cellular walls of the muscle tissues must be still tender and filled with juice. In older animals the tissues become harder and less juicy and such meat is better suited for stewing than for roasting. Meats for roasting should be 2 to 3 days old and ought to be slightly pounded.
FLOUR.
Good nutritive flour has a yellowish tinge on account of the nutritive gluten contained therein; flour must not be gray, for this color denotes impurities. The whiter the flour the larger is the proportion of starch and smaller the proportion of albuminous substances. To test flour, put some of it on a bluish white sheet of paper, where color, finish and grain can be distinguished.
The finest brands of flour have less albumen than others, because this is distributed near the outer shell, which is removed. Good flour possesses a certain degree of cohesiveness which can be observed when pressing some of it in the hand; poor flour acts like dust.
Flour made of grain not thoroughly seasoned is not well adapted for gravies and baking. Adulterations and mixtures of good and poor flour are easily detected in cooking and baking as the gravies are thinner and cakes are liable to fall.
To keep large quantities of flour, the same must be placed high in a covered wooden box in an airy place, so that the moisture of the floor and air which is deleterious, may not affect it. Flour must turned and sifted often.
YEAST.
Compressed yeast is the best to use; it must be fresh and to obtain the best results in baking, the same must have an odor of fine brandy or fruit and not smell cheesy or sour. Yeast must have a yellowish white color, must be moist and break up in lumps, not like dust. To retain activity, yeast must not be subjected to heat or great cold.
To obtain the best results in baking, the yeast needs careful attention, drafts must be avoided and the baking room must be warm.