ake it up directly, as every moment beyond doing it enough
does it an injury. If it cannot be sent to table immediately, which is
most desirable, it should be kept hot, but so as to suffer the fumes to
escape. With respect to the time required for roasting, the general rule
of a quarter of an hour to a pound of meat, is a pretty fair one, but it
will not do for all kinds of joints. The use of a meat screen must also
be considered, as it tends materially to assist the operation, by
concentrating the heat, and excluding the cold drafts of air. Attention
must be paid to the nature of the joint, whether thick or thin, the
strength of the fire, the nearness of the meat to it, and the frequency
with which it is basted. 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 upon it with greater force. Much will depend on the time the meat
has been kept, and on the temperature of the weather. The same weight
will be twenty minutes or half an hour longer in cold weather, than it
will be in warm weather; and when the meat is fresh slain, than when it
has been kept till it is tender. If meat get frozen, it should be thawed
by lying some time in cold water; and then be well dried in a clean
cloth, before it is laid down to the fire. A sirloin of BEEF, weighing
from twenty-five to thirty pounds, will generally take four hours; a
part of it, from twelve to fifteen pounds, two hours and three quarters,
or three hours. A piece of ribs of the same weight, much the same time,
and a rump four hours. A sheet of paper should be tied over the thin
part, or it will burn before the thick part is done enough. A leg of
MUTTON, weighing eight or nine pounds, will require two hours and a
quarter; a shoulder of seven pounds, an hour and three quarters; a chine
of ten or eleven pounds, two hours and a half; a loin, rather more than
an hour and a half; a neck, the same; a breast, an hour. A haunch of
mutton should be dressed like venison, only in proportion as it may be
less, it must not roast quite so long. A fillet of VEAL, from twelve to
fourteen pounds weight, requires three hours and twenty minutes. This is
usually stuffed, either in the place of the bone, when that is taken
out, or under the flap. A loin takes two hours and a half, a shoulder
two hours and twenty minutes, a neck nearly two hours, and a breast an
hour and a half. These directions suppose the joints to be of a common