Spit (grilling)

“ If not fat enough to allow for basting, a little good dripping answers as well as butter.
The cook should be careful to spit meat so as not to run the spit through the best parts; and she should observe that her spit be well cleaned before, and when she is going to serve, or a black stain appears on the meat. In many joints the spit will pass into the bones, and run along them for some distance, so as not to injure the prime of the meat; and she should have leaden skewers to enable her to balance it; for want of which, ignorant servants often are foiled in the time of serving. ”

“ When the joint is larger it would be advisable to use a cradle-spit, which, however like the other spit, has its inconveniences, one making a hole through the meat, and the other pressing upon the fat, making it heavy; but in any kind of joint, if not over-roasted, you will never perceive the mark of the spit, as the cavity closes immediately upon the spit leaving it; always choose a spit corresponding to the size of the joint. In a large kitchen, where you require many joints roasting at one time, a cradle-spit is a nuisance, and must be used only where it cannot be avoided. ”

“ In this day of ranges and cooking-stoves, I think I am speaking within bounds when I assume that not one housekeeper in fifty uses a spit, or even a tin kitchen, for such purposes. It is in vain that the writers of receipt-books inform us with refreshing naïveté that all our meats are baked, not roasted, and expatiate upon the superior flavor of those prepared upon the English spits and in old fashioned kitchens, where enormous wood-fires blazed from morning until night. ”

“ The spit was turned from time to time as the cooking required. Gravy was caught in the hollow below, and some of it was now and then taken up in a spoon and poured on the meat. This was “basting.” The task of turning the spit by the crank on one end of it was often given to a boy. In the homes of the wealthy and in taverns the one who thus minded the roast was often called a turn-spit. By means of simple tread-mill devices a dog was often used to turn the crank, and he then became a turn-spit dog.
56 FIGURE 6
A plate-warmer. This was a box of tin or sheet iron on legs, with a door in one side. ”

“ A clean gridiron and a clear fire are indispensable factors, and the former may be easily secured by heating the gridiron, and afterwards rubbing it repeatedly with soft paper until perfectly clean. No matter how clear and bright the fire may appear, more or less smoke will arise from it, but this may be checked to some extent by throwing on a good handful of salt. Fish intended for grilling should be thoroughly dried, then brushed over with oil or oiled butter, and seasoned with salt and pepper. ”

“ Flour them well, lay them rather near to a very clear and brisk fire, that they may be quickly browned, and yet retain their juices. Baste them plentifully and constantly with butter, and, if it can be so regulated, let the spit turn with them rapidly. From fifteen to twenty minutes will roast them sufficiently for the generality of eaters; but for those who object to them much underdressed, a few additional minutes must be allowed. Something less of time will suffice when they are prepared for persons who like them scarcely more than heated through. ”

“ A cradle spit, which is so constructed that it contains the meat in a sort of framework, instead of passing through it, may be often very advantageously used instead of an ordinary one, as the perforation of the meat by this last must always occasion some escape of the juices ”

“ When meat is very lean, a slice of butter, or a small quantity of clarified dripping, should be melted in the pan to baste it with at first; though the use of the latter should be scrupulously avoided for poultry, or any delicate meats, as the flavour it imparts is to many persons peculiarly objectionable. Let the spit be kept bright and clean, and wipe it before the meat is put on; balance the joint well upon it, that it may turn steadily, and if needful secure it with screw-skewers. ”

“ The roasts appear to have been usually carried into the hall on the spits, which, among people of great rank, were sometimes made of silver; and the guests at table seem to have torn, or cut, from the spit what they wanted. Several early illuminations represent this practice of people helping themselves from the spits, and it is alluded to, not very unfrequently, in the mediæval writers. In the romance of “Parise la Duchesse,” when the servants enter the hall with the meats for the table, one is described as carrying a roasted peacock on a spit ”

“ Baking, at best in a half-ventilated oven, has long usurped the function of the spit in most houses, thanks to the ingenuity of economical range-makers. And the joint, which formerly turned in a current of fresh air before a well-made fire, is now half stifled in a close atmosphere of its own vapors, very much to the destruction of the characteristic flavor of a roast. ”

“ When the joint to be roasted is thicker at one end than the other, place the spit slanting, with the thickest part nearest the fire.
Do not put meat too near the fire at first; the larger the joint, the farther it must be kept from the fire: if once it gets scorched, the outside will become hard, and acquire a disagreeable, empyreumatic taste; and the fire being prevented from penetrating into it, the meat will appear done before it is little more than half-done, besides losing the pale brown colour, which it is the beauty of roasted meat to have. ”

“ No meat can be well roasted except on a spit turned by a jack, and before a steady clear fire—other methods are no better than baking. Many cooks are in the habit of half boiling the meats to plump them as they term it, before they are spitted, but it destroys their fine flavour. Whatever is to be boiled, must be put into cold water with a little salt, which will cook them regularly. When they are put in boiling water, the outer side is done too much, before the inside gets heated. ”

“ N.B.—Large roast joints of beef are always accompanied by Yorkshire pudding, grated Horse-radish or Horse-radish sauce (No. 119 or 138) .
1951—RÔTIS DE VEAU (Veal Roasts)
In my opinion, the spit does not suit veal, whatever be the quality of the latter. Poëling (No. 250) is preferable and suits it better.
The quality of meat can but be enhanced under the treatment I suggest, more particularly as the poëling-liquor constitutes a much richer gravy than that which generally accompanies veal roasted on the spit. ”

“ Good cooks cannot abide what they justly call fiddling work, where abundance of time is spent and little done: such for instance, is the dressing small birds, requiring a world of cookery and clutter, and a second or third spit, which by the way is absolutely needless; for it will be a very ridiculous thing indeed, if a spit, which is strong enough to turn a sirloin of beef, should not be able to turn a lark ”

“ If it is possible to broil under the fire it is very much nicer. Sometimes the front of the stove is so arranged that you can let it down and run the gridiron under it; before you begin to broil over the fire you can get the top of the fire very red and clear by throwing a little salt upon it; that will help to destroy the odor. If the meat is frozen you should put it in cold water to thaw before cooking it; you can not avoid in that case washing the meat. To return to the matter of pounding steak: If you pound or break the fibre of meat in any way you let the juice escape ”

“ But, seasoned and thickened—adding sweet herbs and a dash of catsup to the flavoring—it will be useful as gravy in many ways; always remembering that it must be skimmed before it is used. It is also well worth your while to see for yourself, when the meat comes home from market, that it has been properly trimmed for the table. Much goes into the oven or upon the spit to be roasted, or upon the gridiron to be broiled, that is unfit to be eaten after it has been baked or grilled. ”

“ 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. ”

“ A single rim of fat on the chop or steak will tend to keep the edge moist and baste the meat, but too much will cause flame to rise in continuous jet, making the surface smoky. If there is absolutely no fat on the piece to be broiled, morsels of finely chopped suet may be occasionally thrown into the fire, so the sudden spurt of flame from this source leaves a deposit of fat on the meat which improves the flavor, and, without softening the albumen, prevents its becoming uneatably hard and dry. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ If washed before it is put upon the spit, it should be wiped as dry as possible afterwards, and well floured soon after it is laid to the fire. When the excellence of the joint is more regarded than the expense of fuel, it should be roasted by what we have denominated the slow method ”

“ Have the spider very hot, use just enough fat to grease the spider. Lay in the steak, turning very often to keep in the juice, season with salt and pepper. Serve on a hot platter.
BRUNSWICK STEW Cook one pound of brisket of beef and three pounds of young chicken with one pint of soup stock or water, one pint of Lima beans, four ears of cut corn (cut from cob) , three potatoes diced, two tomatoes quartered; one small onion, one teaspoon of paprika and one teaspoon of salt. Let all these simmer until tender, and before serving remove the meat and any visible chicken bones. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Meat cooked by broiling is exposed to a greater heat than in any other manner of cooking, and to prevent its burning, requires constant watching. Meats for broiling are cut thin, and much surface is exposed, therefore they must be at once exposed to intense heat to sear the surface and retain the juices. Frequent turning not only prevents burning, but gives slower cooking and also prevents the grease dripping into the fire, making a smoke which destroys the flavor of the meat. ”

“ I may now venture to state my own view of a somewhat obscure subject, viz., the difference between the roasting or grilling and the stewing of meat. It appears to me that, with the exception of the superficial "browning," it consists simply in the difference between the cooking media; that a grilled steak or chop or a roasted joint is meat that has been stewed in its own juices instead of stewed in water; that in both cases the changes taking place in the solid parts of the meat are the same in kind, provided always that the roasting or grilling is properly performed. ”

“ Grilling.—Grilling, or broiling, as it is sometimes termed, is the most perfect way of cooking chops and steaks. A sharp clear fire is necessary in order that the outside may be quickly hardened, and thus prevent the escape of the juices of the meat. Grilling may be done either over the fire or before it on a gridiron contrived for the purpose. Any ordinary gridiron may be used for cooking over the fire; before being used it should be heated, and its bars well rubbed with paper, and afterwards with a little fat or suet. ”