17 



conipliratod processes l»y which tlie complete rt>sults were obtained 

 ami parti V l)ecause of the special importance of the liroths so produced. 



There is considerable variation in the way in which th(» terms 

 "boilinj;," " stewing," and "simmering" are used. In th.- ])resent 

 investiii'ation, as was the case in earlier work, the term " l)oiling" 

 has been used to cover cooking in hot water at any temperature; how- 

 ever, in every case the temperature of the water during cooking 

 has been recorded, so it will not l)e diliic-ult, should it at any time be 

 desirable, to decide whether the meat was cooked by stewing, sinnuer- 

 ing, or true boiling. 



The steps which were taken in developing the experimental methods 

 for determining the losses of nutrients and the chemical and nutritive 

 changes which result in the cooking of meats by boiling have been 

 given in full in previous publications from this OlHce." It is, how- 

 ever, necessary to say in this connection that in cooking meat in hot 

 or in boiling water it was found that there was no appreciable loss of 

 nutritive material by volatilization, ])ut that practically all the nutrients . 

 removed from meat l)y this method of cooking passed into the result- 

 ing })roth. In reporting the results of these investigations all material 

 separated from the meat during the cooking, whether mechanically or 

 by solution, has therefore been designated '" loss" by cooking. The 

 material thus removed, however, is not necessarily an actual loss from 

 the standpoint of household economy if the broth is used as soup or is 

 otherwise consumed as food. 



In each cooking experiment one sample of meat was reserved 

 uncooked for direct analysis. The portions cooked were weighed 

 before and after cooking, and the ditierence in each case was taken 

 as representing the total loss in w^eight resulting from the process of 

 cooking. The material lost consisted partly of water and partly of 

 nutritive ingredients contained in the broth. The broth was analyzed 

 by the methods given above (see pages 15, 16), the proteid, fat, ash, 

 and organic extractives, both nitrogenous and nonnitrogenous, being 

 determined. The total loss in weight minus the weight of these 

 ingredients in the broth was assumed to represent the quantity of 

 water removed from the meat in cooking. The cooked meat was then 

 analyzed and the amount of each nutrient in it was added to that in 

 the broth and the sum taken as the amount of the nutrients in the raw 

 meat. This was found in every case to correspond so closely to the 

 figures obtained by the direct analysis of the uncooked samples that 

 it seemed fair to include the results of the two methods in one table, 

 as has been done in the report of the experiments. From these 

 amounts and the amounts in the broth the percentage loss of each 

 ingredient was calculated. 



aU. S. Dept. Agr., Office of Experiment Stations Buls. 102 and 141. 

 11480— No. 162—06 2 



