Ten pounds of beef require from two hours to two hours and a-half roasting, eighteen inches from a good clear fire.

Six pounds require one hour and a-quarter to one hour and a-half, fourteen inches from a good clear fire.

Three ribs of beef, boned and rolled, tied round with paper, will require two hours and a-half, eighteen inches from the fire; baste once only.

The first three ribs of fifteen or twenty pounds,will take three hours or three and a half;the fourth and fifth ribs will take as long, managed in the same way as the sirloin. Paper the fat and the thin part, or it will be done too much, before the thick part is done enough.

When beef is very fat, it does not require basting; if very lean, tie it up in greasy paper, and baste frequently and well.

Common cooks are generally fond of too fierce a fire, and of putting things too near to it.

Slow roasting is as advantageous to the tenderness and Savour of meat as slow boiling.

The warmer the weather, and the staler killed the meat is, the less time it will require to roast it.

Meat that is very fat requires more time than other meat.

"In the hands of an expert cook," gays Majendie, "alimentary substances are made almost entirely to change their nature, their form, consistence, odour, savour, colour, chemical composition, etc.;everything is so modified, that it is often impossible for the most exquisite sense of taste to recognize the substance which makes up the basis of certain dishes. The greatest utility of the kitchen consists in making the food agreeable to the senses, and rendering it easy of digestion."

Boiling extracts a portion of the juice of meat, which mixes with the water, and also dissolves some of its solids;the more fusible parts of the fat melt out, combine with the water, and form soup or broth. The meat loses its red colour, becomes more savoury in taste and smell, and more firm and digestible. If the process is continued too long, the meat becomes indigestible, less succulent, and tough.

To boil meat to perfection, it should be done slowly, in plenty of water, replaced by other hot water as evaporation takes place; for, if boiled too quickly, the outside becomes tough; and not allowing the ready transmission of heat, the interior remains rare.

The loss by boiling varies, according to Professor Donovan, from 6 1/4 to 16 per cent. The average loss on boiling butcher's meat, pork, hams, and bacon, is 12; and on domestic poultry, is 14 3/4.

The loss per cent, on boiling salt beef is 15;on legs of mutton, 10;hams, 121/2; salt pork, 131/3;knuckles of veal, 81/3;bacon,64;turkeys,16; chickens, 13 1/4.

The established rule as regards time, is to allow a quarter of an hour for each pound of meat if the boiling is rapid, and twenty minutes if slow. There are exceptions to this; for instance, ham and pork, which require from twenty to twenty-five minutes per pound, and bacon nearly half an hour. For solid joints allow fifteen minutes for every bound, and from ten to twenty minutes over;though, of course, the length of time will depend much on the strength of the fire, regularity in the boiling, and size of the joint. The following table will be useful as an average of the time required to boil the various articles: -

Roasting, by causing the contraction of the cellular substance which contains the fat, expels more fat than boiling. The free escape of watery particles in the form of vapour, so necessary to produce flavour, must be regulated by frequent basting with the fat which has exuded from the meat, combined with a little salt and water-otherwise the meat would burn, and become hard and tasteless. A brisk fire at first will, by charring the outside, prevent the heat from penetrating, and therefore should only be employed when the meat is half roasted.