Roastbeef Im Ofen

"Due to the previously poor design of cooking appliances, spit-roasting used to be favored over all other preparation methods, and even today, we sometimes find it more juicy and tender, since it requires less attention; however, an oven roast can be made just as well. The same cut of meat and setup as mentioned in no. 2 are needed. Furthermore, for a large roast, soak 1 pound of thick, firm kidney fat overnight in cold water, then cut it into small cubes (you can also use half kidney fat and half bacon), render it in a very clean roasting pan over heat, sprinkle the roast beef (with the tender side up) with a little fine salt, put it into the pan, pour half of the fat over it, place it uncovered in a strongly heated oven so that it browns quickly, and frequently baste it—which is very important, as it prevents the loss of meat juices and keeps the roast much juicier. Then continue roasting a bit more slowly, without turning or stabbing it. The fat must remain light in color, and before preparing the sauce, pour off most of the fat, leaving only a little in the pan, and finish the sauce as noted in the preface. The mushrooms that are very popular for roast beef sauce should either be cooked in butter beforehand or steamed soft in beef broth, which can then be used instead of water to finish the sauce. According to the English style, roast beef is roasted in the same way, with much basting, for only 35–40 minutes, but with twice as much chopped, browned kidney fat, so that the roast is cooked swimming in fat. In England, no sauce is served with it; instead, the defatted meat juices are mixed at the table with one of many ready-made English sauces as each person wishes. There, the roast is surrounded with slices of lemon, fried potato spirals are heaped on one side, evenly sized boiled potatoes on the other, and grated horseradish and mixed pickles are served alongside. An excellent side dish for roast beef is potato pancakes."

The recipe uses a direct, practical style typical of 19th-century instruction—assuming certain basic kitchen knowledge while providing plentiful detail on methods and reasoning ('damit es rasch zuröste', 'unter fleißigem Begießen'). Fractional and odd spelling (like 'laffe' for 'lasse') reflect period orthography, some of which appears antiquated today. Davidis often explains 'why,' not just 'how'—highlighting, for instance, that frequent basting retains meat juices and makes for a juicier roast. Clarity was her aim; she sought to create reliable results even as technology changed.