Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Roast Chicken
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the chicken
Clean the chicken.
Singe the chicken.
Stuff the chicken with plain stuffing.
Sew the stuffing up.
Cross the legs under the skin.
Secure the legs with a small skewer.
Turn the wings back.
Skewer the wings to the body.
Tie the wings with twine.
Place the chicken on its back in a dripping pan.
Rub the chicken with butter.
Cover the bottom of the pan with hot water.
Roast and make the gravy
Bake the chicken in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 15 minutes per pound, basting every 10 minutes.
Let the chicken brown before removing it from the oven.
Simmer the giblets in cold water while the chicken bakes.
Chop the giblets finely.
Stir 1 tablespoon flour into the gravy in the dripping pan until smooth and brown.
Add 1 cup of giblet cooking water and the chopped giblets; season to taste.
Serve
Remove the strings and skewers.
Serve the chicken on a hot dish with giblet gravy.
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.
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Chicken + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,902 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Chicken + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,958 recipes
Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).
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Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Chicken
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooking through to tender meat while the skin browns.
- Plain stuffing
- Fills the cavity, absorbing juices from the bird as it roasts.
- Butter
- Adds fat that helps the skin brown and crisp and carries flavour.
- Flour
- Thickens the pan drippings into a smooth gravy when browned in the fat.
- Giblets
- Provide rich meaty flavour to the gravy once simmered and chopped.
The step that matters
Let the chicken brown before removing it from the oven. Browning comes from dry heat acting on the skin's proteins and sugars, giving colour and flavour. Removing the bird too early leaves pale, soft skin and an underdone surface.
“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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