Using foil when cooking roasts

Laura said:

Is it best to wrap joints of meat in foil when roasting in
the oven? I've heard that this ruins the roast. Any
helpful hints or advice?

Thanks

Of course it ruins good *roasts*.. it then turns them into
"steamed meat" instead of a dry roasted joint of meat. Sure
you can use it for those cheaper cuts that aren't really
roasted anyway but I'd never ruin a good roast that way. To
*roast* means a hot dry heat, not a steam tent. Goomba

"Laura" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Is it best to wrap joints of meat in foil when roasting in
the oven? I've heard that this ruins the roast. Any
helpful hints or advice?

Thanks

Certainly don't wrap your roast with foil. However, I line
the roasting pan with it - it saves a lot of cleanup later.
Plus, if I remove the foil carefully, I can use it to pour
off the juices easily into a cup or whatever.

Dora

Laura said:

Is it best to wrap joints of meat in foil when roasting in
the oven? I've heard that this ruins the roast. Any
helpful hints or advice?

Thanks

You've heard correctly. Depending upon the roast - a really
*good* roast should not be tented with foil. Foil is helpful
when preventing over-browning, such as with turkeys and
other fowl, or for when you wish to have the meat/fish/fowl
steamed in liquid. Otherwise just make a pot roast.

Jill

"Laura" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

Is it best to wrap joints of meat in foil when roasting in
the oven? I've heard that this ruins the roast. Any
helpful hints or advice?

Thanks

Roasting is supposed to be with dry heat so the outside of
the meat browns. If you wrap it in foil it will steam, not
roast, and the result will not be very appealing.

--
Peter Aitken

Remove the [censored] from my email address before using.

at Thu, 29 Apr 2004 13:39:55 GMT in <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] (limey) wrote :

Quoted message said:

"Laura" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Is it best to wrap joints of meat in foil when roasting
in the oven? I've heard that this ruins the roast. Any
helpful hints or advice?

Thanks

Certainly don't wrap your roast with foil. However, I line
the roasting pan with it - it saves a lot of cleanup later.

But you lose the caramelised pan drippings that you can
deglaze to make gravy. Making gravy actually solves 2
problems in 1 - it fixes the cleanup problem that you talked
about, and it makes for a delicious sauce for the meat. The
procedure is very simple: Skim off excess fat (the part of
the roasting juices left in the pan that's clear), add flour
to the remainder of the liquid still in the pan to make a
pasty substance (called a roux), cook for a little bit (on
the stovetop) until the roux browns slightly, then add some
*hot* stock or water, stirring all the time, until you get
the viscosity you want (gravy can be either thick or thin).
When you add the stock, a stirring/scraping motion on the
bottom of the pan will lift up all the stuck bits. Then when
you pour off the gravy from the pan, you'll be left with a
clean bottom - a quick wipe with a soapy sponge should be
all you need to clean the pan.

Some people find making gravy to be too much effort, and if
you're one of those, then, indeed, the foil is OK, but I
think the gravy always merits the effort.

--
Alex Rast [email hidden] (remove d., .7,
not, and .NOSPAM to reply)