Why it works: Beef and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 25% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,677 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Roast Beef
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
Roast
Dash 1 cup of hot water over the meat to retain juices.
Baste frequently with salt, water, and drippings.
Roast for 12 minutes per pound for rare beef; adjust time for well done.
Finish
Thicken the gravy with browned flour before serving.
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.
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Beef + flourtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,677 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Beef and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,677 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
- Sirloin or rib piece of beef
- Is the main cut that is roasted, providing the flavor and texture of the dish.
- Drippings from the roast
- Add concentrated meaty flavor to the basting liquid and the gravy.
- Browned flour
- Thickens the gravy, giving it body and a toasty flavor.
The step that matters
Roast for 12 minutes per pound for rare beef; adjust time for well done.. Meat continues to cook after leaving the oven, and the internal temperature determines doneness, so timing by weight alone can easily overcook or undercook the roast.
“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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