"Not to know at large of things remote

From use, obscure and subtle, but to know

That which before us lies in daily life

Is the prime wisdom."

Milton.

The knowledge of how to properly cook meat is not possessed by half the housewives in this country. The finest cuts of meat are often provided and then utterly ruined by the one preparing them for the table. This is not due to a lack of interest on the part of the mother of the family, but to the fact that she does not understand the first principles of cooking; and the result is ruin to the meat and often to the health of the family as well. A few principles cover the entire ground and can be briefly explained without going into the chemistry of meat at all ; and when these are once understood, the housewife can readily apply them, much to her enlightenment and to the advantage of those looking to her for nutritious and well prepared food.

Meat, when properly cooked, should be juicy, well flavored and as tender as possible. It is largely made up of albumen and fibrine, and when these are exposed to a degree of heat higher than the boiling point, the meat becomes hard and indigestible. With the following facts well in mind, the young housekeeper need make no error in the preparation and cooking of meat: First, heat higher than the boiling point hardens and shrinks meat, but when kept at the boiling point for a long time, it will make the meat tender, provided there is plenty of moisture. Second, meat to be roasted or boiled should be exposed for the first fifteen minutes to a greater degree of heat than the boiling point, so that the surface of the meat may be crusted and hardened to keep in the juices. Third, the heat must not be allowed to fall below the boiling point while the meat is cooking, that temperature being necessary for the development of the flavor. Thus we see that the meat must first be treated to a high degree of heat, to close the pores of the surface, after which it must be maintained uniformly at boiling point (212°) until the cooking is done.