"_Boiling_ cannot be carried on without a very great expense of fuel; but any boiling-hot liquid (by using proper means for confining the heat) may be kept _boiling-hot_ for any length of time almost without any expense of fuel at all.
"_The waste of fuel_ in culinary processes, which arises from making liquids boil _unnecessarily_, or when nothing more would be necessary than to keep them _boiling-hot_, is enormous; I have not a doubt but that much more than half the fuel used in all the kitchens, public and private, in the whole world, is wasted precisely in this manner.
"But the evil does not stop here. This unscientific and slovenly manner of cooking renders the process much more laborious and troublesome than otherwise it would be; and, (what by many will be considered of more importance than either the waste of fuel or the increase of labour to the cook) the food is rendered less savoury, and very probably less nourishing and less wholesome.
"It is natural to suppose that many of the finer and more volatile parts of food (those which are best calculated to act on the organs of taste), must be carried off with the steam when the boiling is violent."--_Count_ RUMFORD'S 10th Essay, pp. 3, 6.
[67-*] If, unfortunately, this should happen, the cook must carefully take it off when she dishes up, either with a clean sponge or a paste-brush.
[67-+] Cooks, however, as well as doctors, disagree; for some say, that "all sorts of fresh meat should be put in when the water boils." I prefer the above method for the reason given; gentle stewing renders meat, &c. tender, and still leaves it sapid and nutritive.
[71-*] The diminution of weight by boiling and roasting is not all lost, the FAT SKIMMINGS and the DRIPPINGS, nicely clarified, will well supply the place of lard and for frying. See No. 83, and the receipt for CHEAP SOUP (No. 229).
In all studies, it is the best practice to begin with the plainest and easiest parts; and so on, by degrees, to such as are more difficult: we, therefore, treated of plain boiling, and we now proceed to roasting: we shall then gradually unravel to our culinary students the art (and _mystery_, until developed in this work) of making, with the least trouble and expense, the most highly finished soups, sauces, and made-dishes.