Good meat should be firm to the touch, adhere closely to the bones, be streaked with fat, and should have a slight but not unpleasant odour. Meat becomes much more tender if it can be hung a day or two before it is cooked. To Bake Meat. Baking closely resembles roasting. It is more economical, as the joint loses less weight, and if carefully attended to cannot be distinguished from roast meat. A double tin which holds hot water should be used, so that the steam from the water may prevent the dripping from burning. Place the meat on a trivet in the tin, flour the meat, sprinkle it with salt, put it in the hottest part of the oven for the first few minutes, then remove it to a cooler part, baste well, and turn it over occasionally. (For time and gravy see Roast Meat.) To Boil Meat. Weigh the meat, allow twenty minutes to each pound, and twenty minutes extra for dishing up. Put the meat into boiling water, boil five minutes, then draw the saucepan to the side of the fire, and simmer; keep the meat well covered with water; serve with a teacupful of its own liquor. Never throw away the liquor in which meat has been boiled; it makes excellent soup. To Roast Meat. Have a bright and clear fire; weigh the meat, allow twenty minutes to each pound, and twenty minutes extra for dishing up; flour the joint well, and sprinkle it with salt; let it roast quickly the first ten minutes, then put it farther from the fire, and let it cook more slowly, basting often; flour occasionally. When dishing up, pour the dripping out of the pan, and set it aside. Add one pint or more of boiling water to the brown lumps under the dripping, and put it in the hottest part of the oven. Pour this gravy over the meat and serve. Beef à la Mode. Time—5 hours. 3 lbs. lean brisket, 1 quart water, ½ gill vinegar, 4 Spanish onions, 2 oz. mustard seed, 1 oz. long pepper, ½ teaspoonful ground ginger; salt to taste; a thickening of flour, sugar, and browning. Put the beef on in cold water, bring it to the boil, then simmer for three hours, reducing the water to one pint. Add the vinegar, onions, and other ingredients. Stew in the oven (if possible) for two hours, but if the saucepan is too large for the oven, let the meat continue to simmer on the stove. Half an hour before serving, thicken the gravy with flour, sugar, and browning (see page x.). Smoked Beef. Soak over-night in cold water; next morning place it in cold water, and simmer till quite tender, reckoning ½ hour to the pound. Beef Steak. Time—20 minutes. Heat the gridiron, put in the steak, turn the gridiron four times at intervals of 2 minutes, then eight times at intervals of 1 minute. Sprinkle with pepper and salt, and serve on a hot plate.