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 Chicken
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
Wash the chicken well in two or three waters.
Add a little baking soda to the last rinse if freshness is in doubt.
Dry the chicken with a clean cloth.
Stuff the chicken with your preferred dressing.
Place the chicken in a roasting pan.
Roast
Add hot water to the pan.
Add 1 tablespoon of butter, coarse sea salt, and black pepper to the pan.
Baste frequently and roast at 400°F (200°C) without scorching.
When nearly done, add the remaining butter to the pan. Once melted, baste the chicken again.
Dredge a little flour over the chicken.
Finish roasting for about 30 minutes, depending on the heat of the fire.
Make the gravy
Meanwhile, simmer the giblets in a small amount of water.
Strain the giblets.
Mix the strained giblets with the drippings from the chicken after skimming.
Thicken the gravy with a little browned flour.
Add chopped giblets to the gravy.
Serve the chicken with the gravy and a side of cranberry sauce or tart sauce.
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.
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Chicken + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,902 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
-
Chicken + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,958 recipes
Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).
-
Chicken + livertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together383 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds fat and flavour and helps the skin brown as it melts into the drippings.
- Flour
- Dredged over the chicken and browned flour thickens the drippings into gravy.
- Giblets
- Simmered and chopped into the gravy, adding savoury depth to the drippings.
The step that matters
Baste frequently without scorching. Basting spreads melted fat and drippings over the skin, keeping it moist and promoting even browning. At 400°F the butter and sugars in the drippings can burn quickly, so heat must be watched closely.
“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 chicken recipes
You might also like
Chicken Broth257 recipes
Chicken Soup156 recipes
Creamed Chicken89 recipes
Chicken Panada75 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.