Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Roast Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the beef
Cut the beef into can-sized pieces, allowing for 30% shrinkage.
Wrap the pieces with string and place them upright in a roasting pan.
Sprinkle the beef with 1 oz of ground black pepper.
Dissolve ½ lb of coarse sea salt in 2 quarts of water and pour it into the pan.
Roast
Place the pan in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) and cook for 30 minutes for 2 lb pieces or 40 minutes for 3 lb pieces.
Turn the meat halfway through cooking and baste to prevent burning.
Make the gravy
Once done, remove the meat and make gravy using 1 quart of pan grease and 1 pint of flour, mixing smoothly.
Add 2 gallons of boiling water to the gravy and stir continually until it boils.
Season the gravy with ½ lb of coarse sea salt and 1 oz of ground black pepper, adding caramel for color.
Can and process
Place the roasted meat in cans, fill with gravy, solder on the lid, and process at 250°F for 40 minutes for 1 lb cans, 50 minutes for 2 lb cans, and 60 minutes for 3 lb cans.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Beef + flourtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,677 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Beef and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,677 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
- Beef
- Provides the meat that is roasted, then canned in its gravy.
- Flour
- Thickens the pan drippings into a smooth gravy as it cooks.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the meat and gravy, drawing out flavor throughout the dish.
- Ground black pepper
- Adds sharp aromatic heat that seasons the meat and gravy.
The step that matters
Stirring the gravy as the boiling water is added. Adding liquid to flour can form lumps if not stirred constantly. Keeping the mixture moving lets the starch disperse evenly so it thickens into a smooth gravy.
“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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