240 BOILING MEAT. 



many of wlilch, without such preparation, \YOuld be 

 wholly indigestible and useless. The chief agents 

 employed are heat and moisture. The real object of 

 the cook should be to render wholesome food digest- 

 ible and palatable, and not, as is too often the 

 case, to render unwholesome things agreeable to the 

 palate. 



619. In boiling meat two things are effected. It 

 is exposed to a heat of 212°, and, as far as it is in 

 contact with the water, the soluble substances which 

 it contains are extracted. These are, in fact, very 

 different operations, though they are commonly con- 

 founded together. 



620. The albumen of flesh, which is to a consider- 

 able extent in a fluid state, is coagulated and brought 

 into the solid form by exposure to a heat of boiling 

 water; albumen begins to coagulate at a temperature 

 of 168°. Now, when meat is plunged into boiling 

 water, the albumen in the outer parts is immediately 

 rendered hard and insoluble, and the passage of heat 

 to the inner parts of the meat proceeds very slowly. 

 If, therefore, the joint is of any size, the inside will 

 not be thoroughly boiled, until the whole has been 

 boiled so long that the outside is quite overdone. 



621. In order to boil meat well, it should be put 

 into cold water, and then gradually heated up to the 

 boiling point; a slow and gradual application of heat 

 is that best fitted to render meat tender and digest- 

 ible. The time of boiling must, however, of course 

 depend on the size of the joint to be cooked. Meat 



