Broiling is the rapid cooking of a small piece of meat, as a chop or a steak, by exposing it to the heat of a fire; in large kitchens the gridiron on which the meat is cooked is usually placed over a large, clear fire, but in smaller houses it is generally hung up before the fire. Broiling has very nearly the same effect on meat as roasting. The albumen of the outer portions is hardened, and forms a kind of skin retaining the juices.
In order that this may be done most perfectly, the meat should be rapidly turned so as to prevent the juices escaping on the side furthest from the fire. A fork should not be thrust into the flesh, as it makes holes through which the juices escape.
In large chop-houses, the chops are turned over very quickly with broiling-tongs.
Broiling is a good mode of cooking thick fleshy chops and steaks, but is a wasteful method of preparing thin pieces such as are often purchased when cheap meat is required.
Success in broiling depends on having a thick, fleshy piece of tender meat, a clear fire, a clean gridiron, and on the meat being turned repeatedly. Broiled meat should not be sprinkled with salt until after it is cooked, and it should never be cut into in order to ascertain whether it is done; as if again put down to the fire the juice escapes from the cut, and the meat becomes dry and much less nutritious.