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Beef Loaf

A loaf made from ground round steak, stale bread, onion, egg, milk, ground pork, butter, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Beef Loaf

Why it works: Pepper and sage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,388 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Beef Loaf

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the mixture

  1. Grind the round steak, stale bread, and onion very fine.

  2. In a bowl, combine the ground mixture with the beaten egg, milk, ground pork, butter, salt, pepper, and sage. Mix well and shape into a loaf.

Bake

  1. Place in a baking dish and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour.

  2. Baste frequently during baking.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Pepper + sagetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,388 recipes

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

  2. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Onion + porktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,214 recipes

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

  5. Bread + milktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Round steak
Forms the main body of the loaf and gives it a meaty, firm texture.
Stale bread
Absorbs liquid and helps the loaf hold its shape and stay tender.
Egg
Binds the mixture so it holds together when sliced.
Milk
Adds moisture so the loaf stays juicy rather than dry.
Ground pork
Adds fat and richness, keeping the loaf moist and flavorful.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a softer, more tender crumb.

The step that matters

Baste frequently during baking. Basting adds moisture to the surface so the loaf does not dry out or harden during the long oven time, keeping the exterior tender.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, egg, milk, pork, butter, pepper, sage):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Asparagusfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, egg, milk, pork, butter, pepper, sage. 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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