management of the fire. In roasting, this is particularly the case,
as a clear, brisk and yet steady fire is needed. To roast a joint it
should be placed before great heat for the first ten minutes and then
allowed to cook more slowly. The great heat hardens the outside of the
meat and keeps in the juices. If allowed to cook quickly all the time
the meat is likely to be tough. The fire should be bright and clear.
The joint should be basted about every ten minutes, as this helps to
cook it, keeps it juicy and improves the flavor. The time allowed
is fifteen minutes for every pound, twenty minutes over for beef and
mutton; for veal and pork twenty minutes for every pound and thirty
minutes over.


Oven Roasting

Roasting in the oven of ordinary coal stoves or ranges is not
considered so good as roasting before an open fire; nevertheless it
may be said safely that the greatest part of meat roasting is done in
close ovens. It appears, from various experiments that meat roasted or
baked in a close oven loses rather less of its weight than if roasted
by an open fire.

The excellence of a roast depends to a great extent upon the amount of
basting it receives.

Some cooks season a joint before it is cooked, while others season it
with salt and pepper just before it is served. There is a difference
of opinion as to which is the more correct way of the two. Meat of
newly killed animals requires longer cooking than meat which has been
hung for a time.