Mutton fat

“ The temperature at which a fat becomes hard is a fair guide to its digestibility. Thus we know that beef, and still more, mutton fat, would become solid, under conditions in which bacon dripping is still soft. Where digestion is weak, there may be an instinctive loathing of fat meat; for such persons, especially for children, some other fat should always be substituted. Thus the addition of butter to the potatoes makes up the deficiency.
Butter forms 31⁄2 to 41⁄2 per cent. of cow’s milk. ”

“ But then, as I told you, besides keeping it clean we must keep it dry; and one reason why good cooks prefer mutton fat to any other is that it can be more easily kept dry than other fats. Fat should be thoroughly strained also each time it is used, as well as after being rendered the first time, and this will help to keep it pure."
"I think the water has all boiled away from our fat now, ma'am," said Mary, who had been looking very earnestly into the pan, and stirring the pieces very vigorously. ”

“ The fat derived in the killing of sheep is often used to good advantage in making mutton oleo oil. There are times when there is a ready sale for this oil, in which event it is run in the oil house by precisely the same rules as those laid down for the melting of beef tallow. The yields on mutton fat are considerably less, however, than on beef fat. ”

“ When one has a large family it brings all kinds of meat considerably cheaper to buy large pieces untrimmed, as the trimmings can be used for soups, stews, etc.; but for a small family, it is much better to purchase only the part you want for immediate use. Although mutton costs less per pound than beef, it is no cheaper in the end, because to be good it must be fat, and mutton fat, unlike beef fat, cannot be employed for cooking purposes, as it gives a strong flavor to any article with which it is used. ”

“ Having a low melting point they are far more digestible than most animal fats. Hippocrates noted that the stearin of eels was difficult of digestion. The indigestibility of beef and mutton fat has long been recognized. The fat of nuts much more closely resembles human fat than do fats of the sort mentioned. The importance of this will be appreciated when attention is called to the fact that fats entering the body do not undergo the transformation changes which take place in other foodstuffs; for example, protein in the process of digestion is broken into its ultimate molecular units. ”

“ One man may consume large amounts of hard mutton fat with its relatively large content of stearin, while another individual may take his fat mainly in the form of the soft butter fats, with their relatively large content of olein and palmitin. In both cases, the fat of the man’s tissues will be essentially the same. To be sure, the changes that take place in the tissue cells, reinforced by the construction of fat from other sources, may be partly responsible for this constancy of composition, but the transformations incidental to absorption are quite possibly, in some measure, helpful thereto. ”

“ The thought that fat is fuel wherever we find it in food will stiffen our resolution to take a little pains with the fats which we have been wont to discard. Anyone can get from the Department of Agriculture suggestions for the practical use of chicken, mutton, beef, and other kinds of meat fats. The main points are to free them from flavor, by melting them with milk or water, possibly using some special absorbent like potato or charcoal too, and then mixing hard and soft together, just as the oleomargarine-makers do, to get such a degree of hardness as suits one’s purpose. ”

“ The amount of fat in meats, however, is more important; and depends largely upon how well the animal has been fed. There is usually the least amount of fat in mutton, more in {29}beef, and by far the greatest amount in pork. This fat adds to the fuel value of meat, but makes it a little slower of digestion; and its presence in large amounts in pork, together with the fact that it lies, not only in layers and streaks, but also mixed in between the fibres of the lean as well has caused this meat to be regarded as richer and more difficult of digestion than either beef or mutton. ”

“ Breast of mutton is the cheapest of all mutton, and being very fat, is considered unprofitable, but by care it can be made both palatable and economical. Buy about three pounds of breast; place it in a pan over a slow fire until a good deal of the fat has melted, but avoid letting it brown; pour away the fat as it melts, and when fairly free of it place the meat in a stew-pan with an onion cut up, and enough water to cover it, and a little thyme. Let it cook very slowly, only simmering for two hours; then lay on a hot dish, and pour caper sauce over it. ”

“ Beef and mutton suet can be rendered and made available. Fats which have been saved after meals are cooked should be clarified—that is, freed from all objectionable odors, tastes or color—so as to be made available as shortening and frying fats.
The following recipes and suggestions make possible the use of all fats, and as fat shortage is one of the most serious of the world's food problems, it is essential that every housekeeper have a larger knowledge of the utilization and economy of this essential food. ”

“ The fat in the bread itself, estimated at one per cent, which is probably above the average, was reckoned in its equivalent of starch, and the ratio of nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous constituents was then found to be 1 to 6·8. Of the animals fattened for the butcher's use, the fat calf, only, gives a smaller proportion of non-nitrogenous constituents than the bread; the fat ox has nearly the same, and the other animals very much more. The averages also show that beef, mutton, and pork, on the whole, are not deficient in carbo-hydrates or non-nitrogenous nutritive constituents. ”

“ Fats supply a large part of the heat and energy required, an ounce giving two and one-half times as much heat and energy as an ounce of carbohydrates. Butter, oleomargarine, nut margarines, pure leaf lard, bacon, salt pork, the fats of beef, mutton, pork and fowl, vegetable fats and oils and peanut butter are our principal sources of fat. A certain percentage is found in all nuts, cereals and vegetables. For the average healthy person fats are not difficult to digest if not taken in too large quantities and if the fat is properly used in the food. ”

“ A pound of beef yields a smaller number of calories by 25 per cent than a pound of mutton. At the same price per pound more nutrients can be purchased as mutton than as beef. The differences in composition between lamb and mutton are similar to those between veal and beef; viz. a larger amount of water and protein and a smaller amount of fat in the same weight of the young animals. Differences in composition between the various cuts of lamb are noticeable. The leg contains the least fat and the most protein, while the chuck is richest in fat and poorest in protein. ”

“ This care pursued for two or three months is sufficient to make them fleshy and fat; but this fat, which originates from the great quantities of water drank by the animal, is only a kind of pursy swelling, and would soon occasion the rot; it is therefore necessary to kill them immediately when they acquire this false fat: even their flesh, instead of having become firm and juicy, is frequently the more flat and insipid. If we would have good mutton, besides feeding them in the dew and giving them plenty of water, it is necessary they should have more succulent food than grass. ”

“ By most butchers the shank-bone of a leg of mutton is weighed with the joint, the result being an increase of weight without value, but it is nevertheless an economical joint, as there is no waste in its carving, whereas against a loin must be reckoned the loss of meat left upon the bones, and that so often caused by an undue preponderance of fat. ”

“ Great care should be taken to preserve by paper the fat of what is roasted. Mutton for boiling will not look of a good colour, if it has hung long.—In purchasing this meat, choose it by the fineness of the grain, the goodness of its colour, and see that the fat be firm and white. It is not the better for being young: if it be wether mutton, of a good breed and well fed, it is best for age. The flesh of ewe mutton is paler, and the texture finer. Ram mutton is very strong flavoured, the flesh is of a deep red, and the fat is spongy: wether mutton is the best. ”

“ Mutton.—Prime mutton is bright red, with plenty of hard, white fat. The flesh of the second quality is dark red and close grained, with very few threads of fat running through it; the fat is rather soft, and is laid thin on the back and kidneys, closely adhering to them. The poorest healthy quality has very pale flesh, and thin white fat, and the meat parts easily from the bone. ”

“ The best quality will have clear, hard, white fat, and a good deal of it; the lean part will be juicy, firm and of a rather dark red color. When there is but little fat, and that is soft and yellow and the meat is coarse and stringy, you may be sure that the quality is poor. Mutton is much improved by being hung in a cool place for a week or more. At the North a leg will keep quite well for two or three weeks in winter, if hung in a cold, dry shed or cellar. Mutton, like beef, is first split through the back, and then the sides are divided, giving two fore and two hind quarters. ”

“ Mix 1⁄2 teaspoonful flour in a little water until smooth, and stir into the boiling water. Let it boil a minute, and when all the fat is skimmed off the gravy pour the gravy into the saucepan, letting it simmer a second, and pour it over the meat or into a gravy tureen, and send to table.
Breast.— (a) With the poor, to whom fat is a necessity, this dish is much in vogue, but to be economical, even from their point of view, it must be bought at a low price. Persons accustomed to the prime parts of mutton are wont to despise the breast ”

“ Indeed, it is this slowness of digestion which gives them their well-known staying-power as a food.
Their Place in our Diet. The wholesomeness of fats is well shown by our appetite for them, which is very keen for small amounts of them—witness, for instance, how quickly we notice and how keenly we object to the absence of butter on our bread or potatoes. To have our "bread well-buttered" is a well known expression for comfort and good fortune; yet a very little excess will turn our enjoyment into disgust. Fat, and particularly the cold fat of meat, "gags" us if we try to eat too much of it. ”

“ All fats do not contain vitamines. The latter are found in butter, but are not present in vegetable oils and fats and in pork fat.
Butter is one of the most expensive foods of a household. Its use, therefore, must be carefully considered. Because of its pleasing flavor, for some purposes no fat is as desirable as butter. If, however, fat is to be combined with foods of pronounced flavor, i.e. foods whose flavor is strong enough to cover up other food flavors, other fats may be substituted with satisfactory results. ”

“ When any one has been sick he is thin, because, to produce heat and power while he was sick, he has had to use the fat stored up in his body. To have such a supply of fat is like having a bank account to draw on when out of work. We might call the deposits of fat in our bodies our health banks.
Fat meat is not the only form in which we eat fats; we eat them in a great many other ways. Certain vegetables, [16] such as beans, contain an oil that forms fat. Ripe olives contain a great deal of fatty oil. Butter is a very important form of fat, and cream contains a large amount of it. ”

“ Young animals fed on a diet of highly purified food materials in which lard is the only kind of fat may seem fairly well but do not grow normally, while those fed the same diet in every respect except that the lard is replaced by butter grow as young animals should and are more resistant to disease. Study of other food fats shows that they may be divided into two groups, one with this growth promoting property and one without it. In general, the vegetable oils do not have it, while butter and beef oil do ”

“ Hence we see that some people are wrong when they believe butter to be a mere luxury; on the contrary, butter is a very important article of food, more especially so to children.
The reason of this is, that the fat performs a conspicuous part in the human body; it serves to keep up the process of respiration. The oxygen which is inhaled, decomposes the fat in our body and from it forms water and carbonic acid. The water evaporates through perspiration; the carbonic acid is exhaled again. Now, if there is fat in us, this perspiration and exhalation will diminish it ”

“ Food fats are of both animal and vegetable origin. Fats separated from milk (butter) , meat fats (suet, lard) are animal fats while those separated from seeds (cottonseed and peanut) , cereal (corn) , fruit (olive) , nuts (coconuts) are vegetable fats. A discussion of various food fats follows:
(a) Butter is made by churning ripened cream so as to separate the fat from the other ingredients contained in milk. It is salted and usually colored before putting it on the market.
The popularity of butter is dependent upon its flavor, for its fuel value is not greater than any other fat. ”

“ Our chief sources of fat supply are cream and butter, vegetable oils, nuts and the flesh of animals. Most meats, especially when mature, contain considerable fat. When the fat is mixed in with the meat, it is more difficult to digest than the lean flesh. Fresh fish, most of which contains very little fat, is digested very easily, while the fattest of all flesh, pork, is tedious of digestion.
There is an instinctive craving for fat with foods that contain little or none of it. That is why we use butter with cereals and lean fish, and oil dressings on vegetables. ”