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Grillhaxe

"Succulent pork shanks with irresistible crackling, spiced and oven-roasted for three hours and served with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. Mmmmm."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Marjoram and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,225 recipes mention both. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

The recipe

12 servings
Prep10 min
Cook3 hr

Ingredients

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Whisk the olive oil, dried marjoram, dried basil, chopped thyme, chopped rosemary, sea salt, paprika, ground black pepper and vegetable bouillon powder into a marinade.

  2. Pierce the pork shanks all over with a fork and rub them well with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

  3. Preheat a grill to medium-low, about 325°F (163°C), and set it up for indirect heat with a cool side.

  4. Place the pork shanks on the cool side of the grill, close the lid and cook for about 170 minutes, turning every 30 minutes and adding a splash of water to the drip pan if it looks dry.

  5. Check the thickest part of the shanks with a meat thermometer. They are done when they reach at least 145°F (63°C) and the meat is very tender and pulls away from the bone.

  6. Rest the shanks for 3 minutes before carving and serving.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Marjoram + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Thyme + rosemarytop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,340 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Marjoram + rosemarytop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together178 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Marjoram + basiltop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together688 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  5. Basil + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,768 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the basil

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, pepper, pork):

  1. Sagebetter flavor fit
  2. Oreganoabout as good a flavor fit
  3. Basilthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, pepper, pork. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).