Grilling

“ The smaller the joint, the greater the risk of such desiccation.”
Grilling.—“This principle brings us at once to grilling, which is another kind of roasting, i.e. of cooking by radiation. A beef steak or mutton chop is not roasted by turning it round and round in front of the fire, because so large a surface is exposed in proportion to the mass, and such treatment would evaporate from that large surface too much of the juices. Rapidity is the primary condition of success in grilling. ”

“ We have to secure an ancient roasting-jack and a large clear fire in our own kitchen, and to instruct our cook—since no woman has taught her what she ought to know—in the art of roasting and grilling, in the preparation of Yorkshire pudding, in the mystery of the marrow-bone and the proper and distinct use of garlic, onions, shalots, chives, chervil, tarragon, marjoram, basil, other herbs, and divers peppers, and finally to train her in the supreme accomplishment of the seasoning of a salad. ”

“ Not only do we, in roasting and grilling our meat, keep the juices within it, but we concentrate them considerably by evaporating away some of the water by which they are naturally diluted. This is my explanation of the rationale of the chief difference between boiled meat and roasted or grilled meat. A further difference—that due to browning—is discussed in the chapter on Frying. ”

“ Frying.—“Frying ranks with boiling and stewing, rather than with grilling. When properly conducted, it is one of the processes in which the heat is communicated by convection, the medium being hot fat instead of the hot water used in the so-called, and mis-called ‘boiling’ of meat. I say ‘when properly conducted,’ because it is too often very improperly conducted in domestic kitchens. This is the case whenever fish, cutlets, &c., are fried on a merely greased plate of metal, such as a common frying-pan. Pancakes or omelettes may be thus fried, but no kind of fish or meat. ”

“ The result will be an ordinary domestic chop or steak. I apply this adjective, because in this particular effort of cookery, the grilling of chops and steaks, domestic cookery is commonly at fault. The majority of our City men find that while the joint cooked at home is better than that they usually get at restaurants and hotels, the chops and steaks are inferior. ”

“ Broiling, sometimes called grilling, is cooking by the direct action of fire brought almost into contact with the meat. The outer surface is burned or seared, the albumen hardened and the juices, which have a tendency to escape on the side turned from the heat, are retained in the meat by frequent turning. The fire for broiling must be very clear, intensely hot and high in the grate. The utensil required for broiling is a gridiron, the bars of which are greased and heated to prevent sticking and subsequent tearing of the meat. ”

“ When the laws which govern the application of heat are once grasped, the fundamental difficulties of roasting, boiling, grilling and frying are overcome, but this by no means comprises the whole art of cookery. ”

“ The bones most used for grilling and devilling are from the sirloin of beef, or the shoulder or leg of mutton. Of course, when we speak of “bones,” we do not mean that they are “bare bones”; they must of necessity have a certain amount of meat left upon them—that is to say, enough to be scored with a sharp knife, if to be devilled as well as grilled. If to be grilled only, and you be fortunate enough to have a gridiron, they need nothing but a little pepper and salt, and sometimes not even that. ”

“ The principal methods commonly employed are roasting, broiling, baking, boiling, stewing, simmering, steaming, and frying.
Roasting is cooking food in its own juices before an open fire. A clear fire with intense heat is necessary.
Broiling, or grilling, is cooking by radiant heat over glowing coals. This method is only adapted to thin pieces of food with a considerable amount of surface. Larger and more compact foods should be roasted or baked. Roasting and broiling are allied in principle. ”

“ Corned beef or pork should also be placed in cold water and heated gradually, so that some of the salt is drawn out. The frying-pan should be discarded from the kitchen, at least as far as steaks and chops are concerned; grilling or broiling is by far the best method of cooking them. Meat unless it is very carefully fried is tough and greasy, yet the same piece of meat if grilled or stewed would be tender and nutritious. ”

“ Roasting and grilling of meat is done to so heat the outside that the juices are kept in. The meat has to be frequently turned to prevent it burning, but allow plenty of salt to melt into the meat with the dripping, or it will taste just as good as a sole of a boot. ”

“ Place a drip pan beneath the bird; the pan should be slightly larger than the bird. Fill the pan halfway with water, and surround it with a double layer of coals to provide longer, slower, oven-like cooking. Add extra coals to the outer edge of the fire as needed to extend grilling. ”

“ We found the kettle that they made the boiled dinner in, an enormous three-legged witch-pot, also a number of big iron crane hangers, for swinging vessels above the open fire. And there were three gridirons of different [Pg 77] patterns, for grilling meat over the coals—one of them round with a revolving top, another square, sloping, with a little trough at the bottom to catch the juice of a broiling steak. Elizabeth agreed that we might use those sometimes and I set them over by the stair. ”

“ They are then cooked slowly over a clear fire, and a small wire gridiron, like those sold at a penny or twopence each, is better adapted for the purpose than the ordinary gridiron used for grilling steak. ”

“ And as all devils must be grilled or fried quickly, without burning them in a hot oven, it is well to understand exactly what is meant. To my mind a frying-pan is better than an oven, because you can watch the process and see that the gravy does not waste. And the very first thing you have to guard against with an inexperienced or poor cook is her either wasting all the mixture for the gravy, or else her drying it up and burning the meat, or scorching the bones, and making them uneatable. The operation of grilling must be performed quickly, and needs the best attention of the operator. ”

“ Methods of Cooking Meat.—Roasting, baking, boiling, stewing, braising, frying and grilling are the usual methods of cooking animal food. To explain the philosophy of these simple operations, we must notice the effects that are produced by heat on the principal constitutents of flesh. When finely chopped, mutton or beef is soaked for some time in a small quantity of water, and then subjected to slight pressure, the juice of the meat is extracted, and there is left a white, tasteless residue, consisting chiefly of muscular fibre. ”

“ If the gridiron is not a double one, use a pair of sugar-tongs with which to turn the fish over; beware of sticking a fork into it. There can be no doubt that « 19 » grilling brings out a flavour which nothing else will.
What can surpass a fresh mackerel, grilled after being split open and boned?
An important point to bear in mind in this method of cookery is, to keep in the flavour. A slice of grilled salmon will taste far nicer if the slice has been wrapped in buttered paper ”

“ The grill must always be placed over the glowing fuel in advance, and it should be very hot when the objects to be grilled are placed upon it, otherwise they would stick to the bars, and would probably be spoiled when turned.
Grills Classified.
Grills may be divided into four classes, of which each demands particular care. They are: (1) Red-meat grills (beef and mutton) ; (2) White-meat grills (veal, lamb, poultry) ; (3) Fish; (4) Grills coated with butter and bread-crumbs. ”

“ Two slices of bacon fried. Place on them a fried egg and on the top a cooked tomato which has been fried in a little butter.
[28]
GRILLED STEAK
See that the fire is clear and red, without flames. Trim off most of the fat from the steak, and rub the wires of the grill with it and heat it over the coals. Then put in the meat and turn over and over as it cooks, and be careful not to let it get burnt. ”

“ There were wreaths to-night in the club windows, and when Sands opened the doors there was a mass of poinsettia against the hall mirror.
How warm it looked with all that gold and red!
In the basement was the grill. It was a night when one might order something heavy and hot. A planked steak—with deviled oysters at the start and a salad at the end. ”

“ In the 1950s, when backyard grills became widely available, and outdoor cooking really began to take off. The combination of outdoor grills and the charcoal briquets made barbecuing so easy and reliable, that today, according to a Barbecue Industry Association survey, seven out of ten American households own a barbecue grill, and we use them about 1.5 billion times a year total. ”

“ That is supposed to be the great abomination of American cooking, so that we are going now to see whether it can not be nearly as nicely fried as broiled. It seems a heresy, but it is true, and there are very many occasions where it is not possible to broil in an ordinary kitchen; the fire may not be good, or uncovering it may cool the oven. There is a very important secret in frying beefsteak, or chops, and that is to have the pan hot before you put the meat into it. ”

“ A barbecue had added its attractions, unrivalled in the estimation of the rustic epicure, but even while the shoats, with the delectable flavor imparted by underground roasting and browned to a turn, were under discussion by the elder men and the sun-bonneted matrons on a shady slope near the mill, where tablecloths had been spread beside a crystal spring, the dance went ceaselessly on, as if the flying figures were insensible of fatigue, impervious to hunger, immune from heat. ”

“ Use a moderate fire with these, and only grill after having copiously sprinkled them with clarified butter or oil. Sprinkle them similarly while cooking.
A grilled fish is cooked when the bones are easily separated from the meat. Except for the fatty kind, such as mackerel, red mullet, or herrings, always roll fish to be grilled in flour before sprinkling them with melted butter. The object of so doing is to give them a golden external crust, which, besides making them more sightly, keeps them from drying. ”

“ When the grill is hot, turn the gas down and watch the toast very carefully, as it cooks very quickly. Always keep a large pan or kettle of water over the griller, as it helps to throw down the heat. Do not boil the kettle on a boiling tap and use the griller for toast, but cook over the griller as well as under it ”

“ The lights in the electroliers burn here day and night, but the atmosphere is never stuffy. A glass screen keeps the heat of the grill from the room, and in front of this screen are piles of crimson tomatoes, and chops and steaks of deeper red, and mushrooms yellow, grey and warm brown, a harmony in reds and greys. Its carte du jour is all-embracing, and some of the dishes are always ready. ”

“ There is no cooking comparable with that which the camp-fire affords. To whatever is boiled, stewed, roasted, broiled or baked over its blaze, in the glow of its embers or in its ashes, it imparts a distinctive woodsy flavor that it distills out of itself or draws from the spiced air that fans it; and the aroma of every dish invites an appetite that is never disappointed if the supply be large enough. ”

“ Grilled Legs.—Take the legs of cold fowl, score them well, and rub in plentifully some made mustard, salt, and cayenne; broil over a clear fire and serve with: grill sauce. Take 1 gill good gravy, add to it 1 tablespoonful mushroom ketchup, 1 teaspoonful French mustard, a few chopped capers, and a little grated lemon peel; add a little butter rolled in flour, a few drops of chili vinegar, simmer until quite hot, pour over the legs, and serve. ”

“ We have met with many well educated and well raised men and women whose gastronomic knowledge was so limited as to be appalling. All they knew of meats was confined to ordinary poultry, i. e., chickens and turkeys, and to beef, veal, pork, and mutton. Of these there were but three modes of cooking—frying, stewing and baking, sometimes boiling. Their chops were always fried as they knew nothing of the delicate flavor imparted by broiling. In fact their knowledge was confined to the least healthful and least nutritious modes of preparation and cooking. ”

“ The pincers and tongs of the rose-makers, and the pressing-molds of the leaf-workers, were taken off the fires, and in their place appeared stew-pans and spiders, and pots and kettles. Bacon and chops sputtered, steak sizzled; potatoes, beans, and corn stewed merrily. What had been but lately a flower-garden, by magic had become a mammoth kitchen filled with appetizing sounds and delicious odors. White-aproned cooks scurried madly. It was like a school-girls' picnic. As they moved about I noticed how well dressed and neat were my shop-mates in their white shirt-waists and dark skirts. ”

“ So through a large passage we pass, and he ushers us into the lodging-house kitchen. As the door opens a babel of many voices greets us, a rush of warm air comes at us, and the evidence of our noses proclaims that bloaters and bacon, liver and onions, sausages and fresh fish are being cooked. We look and see, we see and taste! Strange eyes are turned upon us just for a moment, but we are not "'tecs," so the eyes are turned back to the different frying-pans or roasting-forks, as the case may be. ”