Why it works: Meat and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 28% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,529 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Roast Meats
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Add 1 pint of water and 1 teaspoon of coarse sea salt to a roasting pan.
Wash and trim the meat, rubbing it evenly with fine salt.
Roast
Place the meat in the oven and let it heat gradually, without dredging it with flour first.
Baste the meat with the water and drippings for two-thirds of the cooking time.
If the meat roasts faster on one side, turn the pan or the meat to ensure even cooking.
When one-third of the cooking time remains, remove the pan and dredge the meat thickly with flour.
Return the pan to the oven and cook until the flour is well browned, then baste with gravy.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Meat + flourtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,529 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Meat
- The main protein, which firms and browns as it roasts, giving the dish its body.
- Flour
- Forms a dry coating that browns in the oven's heat, adding colour and a crisp surface.
The step that matters
Dredging the meat with flour. Flour is added only when one-third of the cooking time remains. Added earlier, it can burn or turn pasty before the meat is done. Added late, the dry oven heat browns it without scorching.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
More roast meat recipes
You might also like
Meat Croquettes52 recipes
Meatballs37 recipes
Mince Meat37 recipes
Meat Cakes35 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.