Why it works: Bread and butter 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 ↓
Turkey Boiled
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the turkey
Wash the turkey thoroughly and wipe it dry.
Rub coarse sea salt inside and outside the turkey.
Fill the turkey with a dressing made of bread, butter, milk, oyster juice, salt, pepper, and oysters.
Tie the legs and wings close to the body.
Cook and serve
Place the turkey in salted boiling water, breast side down.
Skim the surface often and boil slowly for 20 minutes per pound.
Serve with oyster 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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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Bread + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Turkey + breadtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together822 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + oystertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,184 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Bread
- Absorbs the butter, milk and oyster juice to form a moist stuffing.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness to the dressing, keeping it moist and flavorful.
- Milk
- Moistens the bread so the dressing holds together and stays tender.
- Oyster juice
- Adds briny flavor and moisture to the dressing.
- Raw oysters
- Contribute a briny, savory flavor and soft texture to the dressing.
The step that matters
Skim the surface often while boiling. Foam and impurities rise to the surface during boiling. Skimming them regularly keeps the cooking liquid clear and prevents the turkey from taking on a scummy, off taste.
“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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