Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Roast Turkey
Ingredients
Directions
Wash the turkey thoroughly and rinse it with water mixed with baking soda, then rub it with salt.
In a small saucepan, cover the giblets with water and boil them.
For roasting, add 2 tablespoons of butter for every pint of water used.
Baste the turkey carefully as it begins to brown, ensuring it stays moist and evenly turned.
In the last third of the cooking time, flour the turkey and baste it again.
Use muffin rings or small cake tins to support the turkey while browning all sides.
Once done, the turkey should have a rich brown crust. Carve and serve with the giblet gravy.
Chop the giblets and strain the gravy over them before serving.
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.
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Turkey + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,592 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Turkey + livertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together190 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Butter + livertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,065 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Turkey + flourtop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together963 recipes
Shared aroma: eugenol (clove, spicy).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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