The cook's oracle, containing receipts for plain cookery, on the most economical plan for private families; containing also a complete system of cookery for Catholic families / Being the result of actual experiments instituted in the kitchen of William Kitchiner, M. D.

  • Kitchiner, William, 1775?-1827.
Date:
1845
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The cook's oracle, containing receipts for plain cookery, on the most economical plan for private families; containing also a complete system of cookery for Catholic families / Being the result of actual experiments instituted in the kitchen of William Kitchiner, M. D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    half wide, and with shelves in it, about one foot deep—it will then answer all the purposes of a large Dutch Oven, Plate- Warmer, Hot Hearth, &c. Some are made with a door behind ; this is con- venient, but the great heat they are exposed to soon shrinks the materials, and the currents of air through the cracks cannot be pre- vented, so they are better without the Door. We saw one at Mr. Lioyn’s, furnishing Jronmonger, near Norfolk Street, Strand, which had on the top of it a very convenient Hot Closet—whick is a great acquisition in Kitchens where the Dinner waits after it is dressed. Every body knows the advantage of Slow Boiling—Stow Roast- ING is equally important. It is difficult to give any specific Rurz ror Trimz—but if your Fire is made as above directed,—your Meat Screen sufficiently large to guard what you are dressing from currents of Air, and the meat is not Frosrep,—you cannot do better than follow the old general rule of allowing rather more than a Quarter of an hour to the Pound’; __a little more or less, according to the temperature of the weather, in proportion as the piece is thick or thin, the strength of 'the Fire, the nearness of the Meat to it, and the frequency with which you paste it; the more it is basted the less time it will take, as it keeps the Meat soft and mellow on the outside, and the Fire acts with more force upon it. Reckon the time, not to the hour when Dinner is ordered, but to the moment the Roasts will be wanted—supposing there are a do- zen people to Sip Soup and eat Fish first; you may allow them ten. or fifteen minutes for the former, and about as long for the latter, more or less, according to the temptations the “ Bon Gout” of these preceding courses has to attract their attention. When the Joint is half done,—remove the Spit and Drirpinc-Pan back, and stir up your fire thoroughly, that it may burn clear and bright for the browning; when the steam from the meat draws to- wards the fire,* it is a sign of its being done enough; but you will be the best judge of that, from the time it has been down, the strength of the Fire you have used, and the distance your Spit has been from it. Half an hour before your Meat is done, make some Gravy (see Receipt, 284); and just before you take it up, put it nearer the fire TO BROWN it.—If you wish to Frou it, baste it, and dredge it with flour carefully ; you cannot do this delicately nice without a very good light ; the common fault seems to be using too much Flour ;—the Meat should have a fine light varnish of Froth, not the appearance of being covered with a paste ;—those who are particular about the * When the steam begins to arise it is a proof that the whole joint is thoroughly saturated with heat ; any unnecessary evaporation is a waste of the best nourish- mont of the meat.