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 ↓
Pot Roast of Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and sear
Wipe the beef with a clean, wet cloth.
Sear the beef in a hot frying pan, turning until all surfaces are browned.
Braise
Place the beef in a kettle with 1 cup of water and keep it just below boiling.
Add water as needed to prevent burning, but do not let it boil away.
Cover the kettle closely to retain steam and cook until the beef is very tender.
Serve
Serve hot or cold.
When cold, slice into ¼ inch slices and sauté in hot butter.
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 + 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
- Slow cooking in steam and water turns tough connective tissue into tender, moist meat.
- Water
- Creates steam and moisture in the kettle so the beef braises gently without drying out.
- Butter
- Adds richness and browning when the cold slices are sautéed.
The step that matters
Keeping the liquid just below boiling. A rolling boil toughens meat and can evaporate the liquid, which may scorch the bottom. A gentle simmer lets collagen break down slowly into tender meat.
“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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