370 Our Surroundings 



isms that produce disease in the human system if they once gain 

 entrance. Among these are tapeworms, trichinae, or pork worms, 

 and harmful forms of bacteria. These are destroyed in food that 

 is adequately cooked. Then, too, properly cooked meat has a more 

 desirable flavor and is more pleasing to the eye. 



Different Methods of Cooking Meat. There are several 

 methods of cooking meat. Roasting and broiling are commonly 

 considered the best, since they cause less loss of nutritive material 

 than other ways of cooking. By these methods the juices are 

 retained in the meat, except for a small portion that escapes into 

 the pan. A good cook frequently pours over the surface of the 

 roast the juices that escape, thus forming a better crust to protect 

 the meat beneath from drying. This is called basting. In prepar- 

 ing a small roast, a high temperature may be used until the meat 

 is cooked, but in cooking a large roast high temperature dries the 

 portions near the surface too much before the inside is cooked. 

 Consequently the high temperature is used only at first to coagu- 

 late, or thicken, the protein juices near the surface, and so to pre- 

 vent the escape of the juices within. In roasting a whole ox, as at 

 fairs or barbecues, the body is rotated on a horizontal spit over a 

 fire. The constant pouring of melted fat over the slowly turning 

 animal forms a crust which prevents the too great drying of the 

 meat near the surface. 



Other methods of cooking meat are boiling, stewing, and fry- 

 ing. The results sought in boiling meat are best accomplished by 

 thrusting it at once into boiling water and allowing it to remain 

 for a short time. This forms a crust by the coagulation of the 

 protein in the outer surface and aids in retaining the juices of 

 the meat. After this is done the water should simmer until the 

 meat becomes tender, and the fibers can easily be separated. If 

 carefully prepared in this way, meat becomes a very palatable food. 



The results sought in stewing meat are quite different from 

 those sought in boiling. In boiling, the main object is to retain 

 all the juices as nearly as possible, but in stewing the purpose is 

 to extract the juices from the meat as completely as possible. 

 In stewing, the meat is allowed to simmer over a slow fire for a 

 number of hours. In boiling the hot water acts as a carrier of the 



