MAIN OVEN COOKERY NOTES
c)Place meat/poultry in the main oven meat pan supplied with your cooker. Small joints weighing less than 1.75kg (31/2 lbs) should be roasted in a smaller meat pan/tin – or they may be ‘pot roasted’ – a small joint in a large meat pan causes unnecessary oven splashing and evaporation of meat juices.
d)Additional fat should not be added, except for veal, very lean meat or poultry which can either be 'larded' with fat bacon or brushed very sparingly with cooking oil or melted fat.
e)Beef, lamb, mutton and poultry may be dusted lightly with seasoned flour to give a crisp outer surface. The skin of duck and goose should be pricked to release excess fat during cooking, and the rind of pork should be scored, brushed lightly with oil, and rubbed with salt, to give crisp crackling.
f)Meat and poultry wrapped in, or covered with a tent of aluminium foil will be juicy and tender. Roasting bags offer the same advantages. Always follow the manufacturer’s pack instructions, and remember to reduce the temperatures given for conventional ovens by approximately 25˚C and the time by approximately 10 minutes per hour.
g)Potatoes for roasting only require to be brushed with cooking oil or melted fat.
h)It is not necessary to baste when roasting in an electric oven and stock or liquid should not be added to the meat pan since this only causes unnecessary soiling, steam and condensation.
FROZEN MEAT AND POULTRY
Joints of meat and whole birds should be defrosted slowly, preferably in a domestic refrigerator (allowing
It is essential to wash both joints and cooking utensils immediately after defrosting and before cooking.
It is vitally important to strictly adhere to the basic principles of food handling and hygiene to prevent the possibility of bacterial growth.
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