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Broiled Oysters

Broiled oysters coated in butter, pepper, and crumbs, served hot.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Broiled Oysters

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Dry the oysters with a cloth.

  2. Dip each oyster in melted butter mixed with pepper.

  3. If desired, dip in beaten egg.

  4. Coat with bread or cracker crumbs mixed with pepper.

Broil and serve

  1. Broil on a wire broiler over hot coals for 3 to 5 minutes.

  2. Drizzle a little melted butter over each oyster before serving.

  3. Serve hot.

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.

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. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,184 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  3. Oyster + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,545 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  5. Oyster + eggtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,103 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Oysters
The main ingredient, cooked briefly so the flesh stays tender and juicy.
Melted butter
Adds richness and helps the crumbs stick and brown during broiling.
Bread or cracker crumbs
Forms a crisp, golden coating that protects the oysters from drying out.
Beaten egg
Helps the crumbs adhere to the oysters as an optional binding layer.

The step that matters

Broil on a wire broiler over hot coals for 3 to 5 minutes. Oysters cook quickly, and overcooking toughens their flesh and dries them out. Hot coals brown the crumbs fast, so watch closely for the short window in which the oysters are just firm and the coating is golden.

“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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