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German Sauerbraten

A pot roast marinated in vinegar, wine, and spices, cooked in a pressure cooker with vegetables and gingersnap cookies.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

German Sauerbraten

Time80 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the roast

  1. Trim excess fat from roast and pat dry with paper towel.

  2. Rub with salt and pepper to taste.

  3. Place oil in pressure cooker and brown the roast on all sides using the brown function or using an old-fashioned cooker without the lid.

Pressure cook

  1. When roast is browned, place the chopped vegetables and gingersnaps around the meat and pour the vinegar mixture over all.

  2. Cover cooker, raise pressure to high and cook for 80 minutes.

  3. Release pressure using natural pressure release (just let the pressure cooker cool down) – about 30 minutes.

  4. When the pressure drops, remove the cover, remove the meat to a platter and cover with foil.

  5. Remove bay leaves.

Make the sauce and serve

  1. Pour sauce and cooked vegetables into a blender or food processor and process until smooth.

  2. Serve with sliced beef.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

540Calories
29 gProtein
29 gFat
35 gCarbs

Counts 13 of 14 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 13 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Cloves1 tsp ground (2g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

  1. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Clove + carrottop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Chuck roast
Provides the beef that becomes tender through long, moist cooking.
Red wine vinegar
Adds acidity that gives the marinade its tangy, sharp flavour.
Gingersnap cookies
Crushed cookies thicken the sauce and add sweetness and spice.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the acidity of the vinegar and wine.
Onions
Break down during cooking to add body and savoury depth to the sauce.
Carrots
Soften and sweeten as they cook, adding body to the blended sauce.

The step that matters

Browning the roast. Searing the meat on all sides creates browned, savoury flavour through the Maillard reaction, which the long braise alone will not produce.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, red wine, vinegar, sugar, clove, carrot, celery):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Mustardfits better
  3. Parsnipfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, red wine, vinegar, sugar, clove, carrot, celery. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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