BOUILLON CUBES: THEIR CONTENTS AND FOOD VALUE. 
COMPARISON OF THE FOOD VALUE AND COST OF A HOMEMADE 
BEEF BROTH AND A HOMEMADE MEAT AND VEGETABLE SOUP WITH 
BOUILLON CUBES, SEMISOLID MEAT EXTRACTS, AND SIMILAR 
PREPARATIONS. 
To determine how the cost of meat extract obtained in bouillon 
cubes, semisolid meat extracts, and other meat preparations compares 
with homemade beef broth, and meat and vegetable soup, the in- 
vestigator prepared 
two kinds of home- 
made soup, keeping 
careful account of the 
actual cost. 
BEEF BROTH. 
\/v4T /.72°/o 
C/A/0£~T£7?A7/A/£V O.S7$/o 
SALT /.07y<> 
K A?£XT<&M£XT£?(77?AC77V£S/.2/ % 
Fro. 7. — Cup of homemade beef broth ready to serve ; 
prepared especially for children and invalids ; more 
nutritious than the commercial preparations (41 
cents a cup). 
Two half - pound 
portions of ground 
beef were bought for 
13 cents each, or at the 
rate of 25 cents per 
pound, a high price for this meat. One pint of cold water was 
added to each lot. The mixtures were stirred and allowed to stand 
in the cold for 15 minutes. They were then placed on the stove and 
brought to a boil. A pinch of salt was added. The broth, which 
contained some of the smaller particles of the meat, amounted to 1 
pint or 3 cups. The price, therefore, using expensive meat of this 
kind, would be about 4-J cents per cup. This cost, of course, could be 
greatly reduced by 
purchasing the meat 
at a lower - priced 
market, or using a 
less expensive cut. 
Analyses of the broth 
are given in Table II. 
In Table III it is 
seen that the amount 
of meat and extrac- 
tives thus obtained, one-sixth of an ounce, for 10 cents, was as 
cheap as the meat extract in many of the commercial preparations. 
In addition, this broth contained all the fat of the meat which is 
a valuable food and which is eliminated from ordinary commercial 
meat extracts. The meat, after the soup is made, is available for the 
preparation of hash or other food and thus still further reduces the 
actual cost of the meat broth. 
(FAT 3.27°/o 
\WAT£f?<&S>.'4/<yo 
&ALT/.04<&> 
l/£G£-7ABLE ' T7BE& S.#7<&> 
VFGE7XBLE £XT/&CT/\/£S 0. 73^0 
V^£AT<Sr/^£ATSXT/?ACT/\/£:S /.02<&> 
Fig. 8. — Cup of homemade meet and vegetable soup ready 
to serve ; a cheap and nutritious food (1| cents a cup). 
