564 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



Fireless Cooker for Meats. — All meats cooked in this general 

 way need long, slow heat, both to prevent the over-coagulation 

 of the protein and the excessive evaporation of water, which 

 means that it will be necessary to use more water. They are 

 especially well adapted to cooking in the fireless cooker. There 

 the heat is slow and uniform and can be continued for several 

 hours without any danger, while at the' same time the moisture 

 is held in by the tight cover. Such meats are quite as nutri- 

 tious as the more expensive cuts, and if well prepared have a 

 good flavor, only we must keep in mind the fact that it is usually 

 necessary to add some outside flavor. 



Meat Soups. — The last group is represented by soups. For 

 these we use the cuts of meat that are well-flavored, but either 

 are so tough that it seems impossible to try to make them 

 tender, or those in which the muscle portion is so much divided 

 as to make it worthless for the usual uses to which we put meat. 

 Here our aim is to extract the flavors as completely as possible 

 and along with it to get as much of the soluble gelatine as pos- 

 sible. Since heat hardens the protein and helps to hold in 

 the juices we put this on in cold water, the meat having been 

 cut up as much as possible in order to have the water come in 

 contact with every part of it. The easiest way to chop it is by 

 means of the meat grinder. Before doing this one must de- 

 termine the use to which the meat is to be put. The mixture 

 is then heated up gradually and kept for several hours at a tem- 

 perature just below the boiling point. This dissolves out all 

 the flavoring constituents and much of the gelatine. Any 

 protein, other than the gelatine and a few simple forms which 

 may have dissolved out, is coagulated as the liquid becomes 

 hot and floats on the top as scum. It is removed when the 

 soup is strained. 



While we have in the clear soup all the flavoring portion of 

 the meat, very little of the nutritive portion is left. It has the 

 same food value as would be obtained if some beef extract 

 should be mixed with a very dilute solution of gelatine. For 

 this reason it is so dangerous to rely upon broths and beef 

 extract in cases of severe illness. 



The following plate, taken from article by Dr. P. F. Trow- 

 bridge and which has been referred to elsewhere, gives the two 

 views of a side of prime beef, and shows the relative position 

 in the animal of the different wholesale cuts. The carcass 

 shown in this plate yielded the following percentages of the 

 different wholesale cuts: 



