Why it works: Beef and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,847 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓
Beef Steak
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Trim the steak slightly and beat it to flatten.
Preheat the broiler until very hot.
Broil and serve
Broil the steak for 10 minutes, turning it often.
Avoid piercing the steak with a fork while broiling.
Once cooked, place the steak on a hot platter and top with butter or maitre d'hotel sauce.
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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Beef + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,847 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef steak
- Provides the main protein, which firms and browns as its surface caramelises under the high heat.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, savoury finish as it melts over the hot steak.
The step that matters
Avoid piercing the steak with a fork while broiling. Piercing lets the juices escape, which dries the meat. Turning with tongs keeps the juices inside so the steak stays moister.
“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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