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 gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Wash the chicken well in two or three waters, adding baking soda to the last rinse if freshness is in doubt.
Dry the chicken with a clean cloth.
Fill the cavity with stuffing.
Place the chicken in a roasting pan.
Roast
Add hot water and 1 tablespoon of butter to the pan.
Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper.
Baste the chicken frequently while roasting at 400°F (200°C).
When nearly done, add the remaining butter to the pan, and once the butter has melted, baste the chicken again.
Dredge the chicken with flour.
Continue roasting for about 30 minutes until fully cooked.
Make the gravy and serve
Stew the neck, gizzards, livers, and hearts in a little water, then strain the stew.
Mix the strained liquid with the drippings.
Thicken the gravy with browned flour.
Add chopped giblets to the gravy.
Serve the chicken with the gravy and cranberry sauce or tart 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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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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Pepper + flourtop 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
- Whole chicken
- Provides the main protein; roasting cooks it through while its skin browns.
- Butter
- Adds fat that carries flavor and helps the skin brown and crisp.
- Flour
- Dredged on the chicken and browned for the gravy, where it thickens the liquid.
- Baking soda
- Raises the water's pH slightly, which can help the skin and meat feel cleaner and more tender.
The step that matters
Basting while roasting at 400°F. Basting spreads melted fat and pan juices over the skin, helping it brown evenly and stay moist. Skipping it can leave the skin pale and dry.
“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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