Van Arsdale and Monroe have reported their results on "The cost of meat as purchased and eaten." The following table is compiled from their results.

Table 31 Cost of Meat as Purchased and Eaten (Van Arsdale and Monroe)

Kind of meat

Number of chops, etc.

Per cent edible

Purchase price per pound

Cost per pound cooked edible portion eaten

Rib lamb chop

(Frenched)

6

21.00

$0.28

$1,360

Rib lamb chop

6

26.39

0.28

1.110

Loin lamb chop

6

44.20

0.28

0.646

Loin pork chops

6

48.00

0.23

0.483

Ham

1

43.80

0.19

0.433

Round beef steak

6

59.61

0.25

0.421

Porterhouse steak

2

56.27

0.30

0.522

Pot roast

1

54.85

0.26

0.485

Fowl

1

23.00

0.25

1.080

From the figures of Van Arsdale and Monroe it will be seen that the loin lamb chops have higher percentage edible portion that the rib lamb chops. Determinations of the weight of the cooked edible portion of rib and loin pork chops made in the author's laboratory give similar results, i.e., the loin pork chops have less waste than the rib pork chops. The percentage of edible round beef steak given by Van Arsdale and Monroe's results is much lower than the total edible portion for this cut of beef, on account of the large percentage of the portion served which was not eaten. Monroe and Van Arsdale have published results of experiments with roasts of beef, veal, lamb, and pork.

The most extensive work on determining the weight and amount of edible and servable meat with which the author is familiar is that of Mc-Elhinney. This work was done in the Institutional Laboratory at Iowa State College. The figures in the following tables are compiled from Mc-Elhinney's results.

The searing temperature for all the meats with the exception of the ham was 250° to 275°C. for 20 minutes, and they were then cooked at 125°C. for the remainder of the cooking period. The baked hams were cooked at 150°C. for 30 minutes and then at 125°C. for the remainder of the time. For the boiled hams a pint of water was allowed for each pound, and they were cooked at a temperature of 82° to 83°C. The degree of doneness was determined by the use of a chemical thermometer inserted into the roast as previously described.