The Probert Encyclopaedia of Food & Drink

ROASTING

Roasting is a method of cooking in which the fumes caused by the operation are carried off. Traditionally roasting occurs in the open air, perhaps upon a spit over a fire. This differs from baking which occurs within an oven by virtue of when baking the fumes are not carried off. In the mid-19th century the Leamington stove was produced which included a ventilated oven which could be thus used for roasting, and the ventilation shut off for baking.

Normally when roasting traditionally, upon a spit, the meat bastes itself by the fat melting and running through the meat. Baked meat does not enjoy this advantage, but an imitation of roasting can be achieved by hand basting the meat, pouring the fats and oils over the meat while it is cooking. By the 21st century the term 'roast' was widely used to describe baked meat, with most joints of meat being baked in an oven, rather than actually roasted.

During the 19th century joints of meat were roasted using a bottle-jack. The bottle-jack consisted of a hand-wound spring enclosed within a brass cylinder. The joint to be roasted was fixed to an iron hook, which was suspended by a chain connected with a wheel which was itself connected to the bottle-jack. Beneath the joint was placed a tray to catch the drips of fat, and the whole stood beside a fire. The spring turned the wheel and rotated the meat allowing an even cooking, fat from the dripping-pan below was then poured by hand back over the cooking joint so as to baste it.
Research Roasting