Name: Oven BBQ Chicken Drumsticks
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 1 h
Yield: 3 servings
Ingredients: 6 chicken drumsticks; 1/2 cup water; 1/3 cup ketchup; 1/3 cup white vinegar; 1/4 cup brown sugar; 4 teaspoons butter; 2 teaspoons salt; 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce, or to taste; 2 teaspoons dry mustard; 2 teaspoons chili powder, or to taste

Why it works: Ketchup and sauce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,099 recipes mention both. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

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.

Ketchup + saucetop 1% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together1,099 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together14,067 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ketchup + sugartop 8% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together260 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Chicken + mustardtop 13% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together2,192 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
Sauce + mustardtop 13% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together2,120 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, ketchup, vinegar, sugar, butter, sauce):

Capsicumabout as good a flavor fit
Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, ketchup, vinegar, sugar, butter, sauce. 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).

Oven BBQ Chicken Drumsticks