general rule of first hardening the surface is not to be followed. The
salting of meat withdraws a large proportion of its juices, while at
the same time the salt hardens the fibres, and this hardness would
be intensified by extreme heat. Very salt meat sometimes is soaked in
cold water to extract some of the salt, but whether this is done or
not, the rule for boiling salt meat is to immerse it in cold or tepid
water and bring slowly to boiling point; boil for five minutes to seal
the pores and prevent any further loss of juice, then reduce to 180°
F., and maintain a uniform temperature till the meat is cooked. Salt
meat takes longer to cook than fresh meat, and the saltness may be
qualified by boiling vegetables with the meat, turnips especially
being useful for this purpose.


Baking

The actual differences between roasting and baking are not great, the
terms being frequently interchanged. Meat loses rather less weight
when baked than when roasted, but the flavor of meat is inferior
and less developed. The heat of an oven being steadier, baking takes
somewhat less time than roasting. In a gas oven having an open
floor the current of air is not impeded, and such baking very nearly
approaches roasting, and the flavor generally is acknowledged to be
the same.


Stewing

Stewing is cooking slowly with a small quantity of liquid in a covered
vessel. The method is specially suitable for the coarser and cheaper