258—Red Meat Grills

I submit as a principle that the golden rule in grills is to strictly observe the correct degree of heat which is proper to each treated object, never forgetting that the larger and richer in nutrition the piece of meat, the quicker and more thorough must be its initial setting.

I have already explained, under braisings, the part played by, and the use of, rissoling or setting; but it is necessary to revert to this question and its bearing upon grills.

If large pieces of meat (beef or mutton) are in question, the better their quality and the richer they are in juices, the more resisting must be the rissoled coating they receive. The pressure of the contained juices upon the rissoled coating of this meat will be proportionately great or small according to whether the latter be rich or poor, and this pressure will gradually increase with the waxing heat.

If the grill fire be so regulated as to ensure the progressive penetration of heat into the cooking object, this is what happens:—

The heat, striking that surface of the meat which is in direct communication with the fire, penetrates the tissues, and spreads stratiformly through the body, driving the latter’s juices in front of it. When these reach the opposite, rissoled, or set side of the meat, they are checked, and thereupon, absorbing the incoming heat, effect the cooking of the inner parts.

Of course, if the piece of meat under treatment is very thick, the fierceness of the fire should be proportionately abated the moment the initial process of rissoling or setting of the meat’s surface has been effected, the object being to allow the heat to penetrate the cooking body more regularly. If the fierceness of the fire were maintained, the rissoled coating on the meat would probably char, and the resulting thickness of carbon would so successfully resist the passage of any heat into the interior that, in the end, while the meat would probably be found to be completely burnt on the outside, the inside would be quite raw.

If somewhat thinner pieces are in question, a quick rissoling of their surfaces over a fierce fire, and a few minutes of subsequent cooking, will be all they need. No alteration in the intensity of the fire need be sought in this case.

Examples.—A rumpsteak or Châteaubriand, in order to be properly cooked, should first have its outsides rissoled on a very fierce fire with a view to preserving its juices, after which cooking may proceed over a moderate fire so as to allow of the gradual penetration of the heat into the centre of the body.

Small pieces such as tournedos, small fillets, noisettes, chops, may, after the preliminary process of outside rissoling, be cooked over the same degree of heat as effected the latter, because the thickness of meat to be penetrated is less.

The Care of Grills while Cooking.—Before placing the meats on the grill, baste them slightly with clarified butter, and repeat this operation frequently during the cooking process, so as to avoid the possible drying of the rissoled surfaces.

Grilled red meat should always be turned by means of special tongs, and great care should be observed that its surface be not torn or pierced, lest the object of the preliminary precautions be defeated, and the contained juices escape.

Time of Cooking.—This, in the case of red meats, is arrived at by the following test: if, on touching the meat with one’s finger, the former resist any pressure, it is sufficiently cooked: if it give, it is clear that in the centre, at least, the reverse is the case. The most certain sign, however, that cooking has been completed is the appearance of little beads of blood upon the rissoled surface of the meat.