Reckon the time from the water first coming to a boil. The old rule,
of fifteen minutes to a pound of meat, is, perhaps, rather too little;
the slower the meat boils, the tenderer, the plumper, and whiter it
will be. For those who choose their food thoroughly cooked (which all
will who have any regard for their stomachs), twenty minutes to a
pound will not be found too much for gentle simmering by the side of
the fire; allowing more or less time, according to the thickness of
the joint and the coldness of the weather; always remembering, the
slower it boils the better. Without some practice it is difficult to
teach any art; and cooks seem to suppose they must be right, if they
put meat into a pot, and set it over the fire for a certain
time--making no allowance, whether it simmers without a bubble, or
boils at a gallop.
[A LETTER-BOX SAVES MANY KNOCKS.]