Why it works: Beef and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,759 recipes. Both carry 1-hexanal, which smells fruit. The science ↓
Economical Pie Crust
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the fat
Skim the grease from boiled beef and let it cool.
Scrape off the underside of the cooled fat.
Mix and roll out
In a bowl, mix melted beef fat, sour milk, and baking soda quickly.
Flour your work surface well and roll out the dough.
Bake
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) until lightly browned.
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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Beef + milktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,759 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Beef + flourtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,677 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Beef fat
- Adds richness and flavour, and keeps the crust tender by coating the flour.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity reacts with the baking soda and adds a tangy flavour.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in sour milk to release gas that helps the crust rise.
The step that matters
Mix the fat, sour milk and baking soda quickly. Baking soda starts reacting with the acid in sour milk as soon as they meet, releasing carbon dioxide that gives lift. If the mixture sits, the gas escapes before baking, so the crust comes out flatter.
“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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