Why it works: Ham and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,526 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Ham Oh Bacon and Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Cover a wire or tin drainer with thin slices of ham or bacon.
Bake and serve
Place the drainer in the oven and cook for 15 to 20 minutes.
Break the eggs on top of the meat.
Return to the oven and cook for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, depending on your taste.
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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Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,526 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ham or bacon
- Its fat renders in the heat and flavours the eggs while the slices crisp at the edges.
- Eggs
- They set as the whites and yolks cook, forming the soft or firm body of the dish.
The step that matters
Returning the eggs to the oven. Egg whites set at moderate heat while yolks stay runny or firm depending on time. Checking early keeps the yolks at the texture you want, since overcooking turns them chalky and dry.
“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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