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Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20058, 3 October 1939, Page 12

Home Science Service

= hi \ MARC, A RET lAMB RIDGE

A LESSON IN BOILING

ECONOMICAL PROCESS Of all cooking processes boiling is surely the simplest and also the most economical, for once, the contents ot' the pan have been brought to the boil the very minimum of heat is requiied to maintain a boiling temperature. Moreover, little skill is needed on the part oi: the cook to achieve satisfactory results beyond seeing that the saucepan does not boil dry or that the. food is not ruined by over-cooking.

Boiling is cooking food • in. water o other liquid at boiling point, that is, at a temperature of 212 deg. E\ Water is most commonly used, but stock and milk, as well as thin gravies and sauces, sometimes replace it.

For success in boiling it is important to remember that certain foo,ds, particularly puddings and t similar mixtures, are spoilt if they "go off the boil” during cooking.

Two Distinct Objects

There are two distinct objects when boiling food: First, to keep in the goodness of food being cooked, such as*when boiling meat or fish; second, to draw out. the goodness and flavour such as when making stock and soup. It is important to know which of these two objects you have in mind before setting out to produce a boiled meal. If you wish to keep in as much of the goodness as possible the meat, fish or vegetable should be put into boiling water and allowed to boil for the first 10 minutes, and then simmer. This hardens the albumen on the outside of fish, meat or poultry and forms a firm outside through which meat essences and flavours do not escape.

The making of stock or soup is probably the best example of the expediency of putting food in cold water, for bo doing so the goodness is slowly drawn out before the albumen hardens to form a firm skin. When boiling salted meats, pickled pork, ham and salt fish, the same procedure should be followed, although for another reason, the aim in this case being to draw out some of the surplus salt before the outside hardens and encloses it, thereby rendering the finished dish unpalatable to those people who have no love for unduly salt foods.

Bailing Point

Boiling is one of the simplest of all cooking processes. It is difficult to understand why so many beginners cannot be persuaded that when boiling point has been reached no useful purpose is served by having the heat unnecessarily high and so allowing the liquid to “gallop.”

The frequency with which needless steam is produced in some kitchens indicates that many would-be cooks do not realise the simple physical fact That whqn once boiling point has been reached any surplus heat applied beyond that required to maintain boiling point is utilised in changing some cf the liquid into steam., In their I anxiety to hurry up a meal which shows serious signs of being late, many amateur cooks forget this simple fact.

With a few exceptions, such as with the boiling of greens and cooking of jams, pans should be provided with a tight-fitting lid, a simple expedient which does much to obviate a steamy kitchen.

Times Required fop Boiling As foods vary in texture and composition so does the time required for cooking, but very little experience is needed to discover the lengths of time which gives the best results. No foods should be cooked a minute longer than essential to render them palatable and digestible. In fact, it is better to undeikcopic tlfem.

The use of unnecessary liquid is deprecated, for the nfore liefiyd there, is the greater the opportunity for’ dissolving tfip mineral salts, which generally results' i,n watery and flavourless foods. Only’ sufficient ‘ 'water should be used to cover the food being cooked. It is advisable to seleyij vegetables of similar size for cooking or if they are not similar size they should be cut to make them so.