Why it works: Pepper and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 50,459 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
How to Roast Meat in the Oven
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Examine the meat and trim off any tainted areas with a sharp knife.
Wipe the meat with a wet towel and season with salt and pepper.
Dredge the meat lightly with flour while it rests on a rack over a dripping pan.
Dredge flour over the bottom of the pan until the surface is white.
Roast
Place the meat in the hot oven and watch closely.
When the flour in the pan turns dark brown, pour in enough boiling water to cover the bottom.
Baste the meat when it is brown on one side, then turn it over to brown the other side.
After about 30 minutes, close the draughts to reduce the oven heat.
Baste the meat every 15 minutes with the liquid from the pan.
When nearly all the liquid is absorbed, dredge the meat lightly with salt, pepper, and flour.
Pour enough hot water into the pan to cover the bottom.
For the last basting, omit adding water to the pan.
After 15 minutes, remove the meat and place it on a hot platter.
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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Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Meat + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,777 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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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
- Forms the main body of the roast, and its surface browns and crisps in the hot oven.
- Flour
- Dusted on the meat and pan, it browns and thickens the drippings into a gravy base.
The step that matters
Watching the flour browning in the pan. Flour that turns dark brown adds flavour, but it can burn quickly in a hot oven. Adding boiling water at the right moment stops the browning and begins the pan liquid used for basting.
“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.
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