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 ↓
On Roasting Meat
Ingredients
Directions
Allow 15 minutes of cooking time per pound in warm weather, and 20 minutes in winter.
Flour the meat well and place it in a roasting pan with 1½ cups of water.
Start with the bony side facing the fire, keeping it at a distance to avoid scorching.
Turn the meat often; once slightly cooked, move it closer to the fire.
When half done, flour it again and baste frequently.
Salt the meat 30 minutes before serving to retain juices.
If using a cooking stove, monitor the fire to prevent burning.
Turn the pan often for even roasting; add hot water if it gets too dry.
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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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
- Is the main item being roasted, so its size sets the cooking time.
- Flour
- Coats the meat to help form a browned crust and hold in juices.
The step that matters
Turn the meat often and watch the fire. Uneven heat scorches the side nearest the fire while the rest stays underdone. Turning and moving the meat spreads heat evenly, and adding hot water when the pan dries keeps the surface from burning.
“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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