Roasted Meat

To prepare meat for roasting, flour should be sprinkled or rubbed over its lean surface before it is put in the pan. This forms a paste that cooks into a crust and prevents the loss of juices from the meat. In roasting, the heat is applied longer and more slowly than in grilling or frying, so that there is more possibility for the connective tissue beneath the surface to soften. The surface is, however, as indigestible as that of grilled meat.

The process of roasting, either in the oven or in a pot on top of the stove, to be properly done, requires that the piece of meat to be roasted must first be seared over the entire surface by the application of severe heat. In the case of a pot roast, the searing can be done conveniently in the pot before the pot-roasting process begins. If the meat is to be roasted in the oven, it may be seared first in a pan on top of the stove. However, it may be seared to some extent by placing it in a very hot oven and turning it over so that all the surface is exposed. Then, to continue the roasting process, the temperature must be lowered just a little.

The roasting pan may be of any desirable size and shape that is convenient and sufficiently large to accommodate the meat to be prepared. It is provided with a cover that fits tight. In this cover is an opening that may be closed or opened so as to regulate the amount of moisture inside the pan. In the bottom of the pan is a rack upon which the meat may rest.

An important point for every housewife to remember in this connection is that the larger the roast the lower should be the heat. This is due to the fact that long before the heat could penetrate to the centre, the outside would be burned. A small roast, however, will be more delicious if it is prepared with very high heat, for then the juices will not have a chance to evaporate and the tissues will be more moist and tasty.