566 MISCELLANEOUS FARM SUBJECTS 



ences do not exist in any appreciable degree, and that meat of all 

 kinds and cuts is to be classed with the very digestible foods. 



Meat is undeniably one of the more expensive items in the 

 food bill of the ordinary family, and it is important that it be 

 bought and used to the best possible advantage. In rural com- 

 munities cooperative slaughterhouses and storage houses are often 

 useful not only in reducing the cost of meat, but in making fresh 

 meat available in summer. If the size of her family or her storage 

 facilities warrant, the housekeeper may find it advantageous to buy 

 the whole carcass of a small animal, such as a pig or a lamb, or a 

 large section of beef, thus securing better prices. 



It is also important to reduce waste by using as much as possible 

 of the bone, fat, and trimmings, not usually served with the meat 

 itself. The bones and trimmings can almost always be profitably 

 used in the soup kettle and the fat can be saved for cooking, thus 

 saving the more expensive butter and lard. The bits of meat not 

 served with the main dish or remaining after the first serving can be 

 seasoned and recooked in many palatable ways, as in croquettes, 

 salads, or can be combined with vegetables, rice, hominy, dumplings, 

 toast, biscuits, macaroni, pie crust, etc., and thus the meat flavor may 

 be extended over a large quantity of less expensive food with such 

 combinations. 



Different kinds and cuts of meat vary considerably in price. 

 Sometimes the cheaper cuts contain a larger proportion of refuse than 

 the more expensive, and the apparent cost is less than the actual 

 cost of the edible portion. Aside from this the advantage of the 

 more expensive cuts lies in tenderness and flavor rather than in 

 nutritive value. Tenderness depends on the character of the muscle 

 fibers and connective tissues of which the meat is composed. Flavor 

 depends partly on the fat present in the tissues, but mainly on nitrog- 

 enous bodies known as extractives, which are usually more abun- 

 dant or of more agreeable flavor in the more tender parts of the 

 animal. The heat of cooking dissolves the connective tissues of 

 tough meat and in a measure makes it more tender, but heat above 

 the boiling point or even a little lower tends to change the texture 

 of muscle fibers. Hence tough meats must be carefully cooked in 

 low heat, long applied in order to soften the connective tissue with- 

 out unduly changing the fibers. For this slow cooking a casserole, 

 Aladdin oven, fireless cooker, or the simmering burner of the gas 

 stove may be used. Cooking, especially in water, presents a further 

 danger, namely, the escape into the water of the nutritious material 

 in the meat. In cases where the liquid in which the meat is cooked 

 is to be used, as in soups and some stews, this is of less importance 

 or it may even be an advantage, but where the meat only is to be 

 used the fact must always be taken into consideration. Not only is 

 the amount of nutritive material in the meat lessened, but the ex- 

 tractives are lost and with them more or less of the flavor the meat 

 originally possessed. To lessen the chances of loss, cooks frequently 

 sear the exterior of the meat either in hot fat or in boiling water 



