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Beef Loaf

A baked loaf made from ground beef, ham, eggs, soda crackers, sweet milk, 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Shape and bake

  1. In a large bowl, combine ground beef, ham, beaten eggs, crushed soda crackers, sweet milk, butter, salt, pepper, and sage. Mix well until all ingredients are combined.

  2. Shape the mixture into a loaf and place it in a baking dish.

  3. Brush the top of the loaf with a little beaten egg.

  4. Bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour or until cooked through.

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

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

  3. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

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

  4. Beef + milktop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,759 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).

  5. Beef + hamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,729 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

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

What each ingredient does

Ground beef
Forms the main body of the loaf and provides most of its savory flavor and structure.
Eggs
Bind the mixture so the loaf holds its shape as it sets during baking.
Soda crackers
Absorb liquid and help keep the loaf tender and moist rather than dense.
Sweet milk
Adds moisture, keeping the loaf juicy as it cooks.
Ham
Adds salty, savory flavor that complements the beef.

The step that matters

Bake until cooked through. Ground meat must reach a safe internal temperature throughout the loaf. Starting with a loaf that is too thick or baking at too low a heat can leave the centre undercooked while the outside over-browns, so check the middle with a thermometer rather than relying on time alone.

Swap the sage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, ham, egg, milk, butter, pepper):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Sagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, ham, egg, milk, butter, pepper. 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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