Skip to main content
Main

Beef Loaf

A baked loaf made from lean beef, eggs, crackers, cream, butter, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓
Beef Loaf

Why it works: Clove and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. 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.

Prepare

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

Mix and bake

  1. In a large bowl, mix the beef, eggs, rolled crackers, salt, pepper, cream, melted butter, cloves, and nutmeg until well combined.

  2. Transfer the mixture into a loaf pan.

  3. Bake for 1 hour or until cooked through.

Rest

  1. Let cool before slicing.

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. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Lean beef
Provides the main body and protein structure of the loaf.
Eggs
Bind the mixture and set as it cooks, holding the loaf together.
Boston crackers
Absorb moisture and add binding so the loaf stays tender rather than dense.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, keeping the loaf from drying out as it bakes.
Melted butter
Adds fat for richness and a softer, moister texture.

The step that matters

Let cool before slicing. The proteins in the eggs and meat are still setting as the loaf comes out of the oven. Cutting it hot can cause it to crumble and release juices, so resting lets the structure firm up and the slices hold together.

Swap the clove

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

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, egg, pepper, cream, butter, nutmeg. 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.

More beef loaf recipes

Spiced 9 See all 201 →

You might also like

Roast BeefRoast Beef211 recipesCorned BeefCorned Beef87 recipesBeef BrothBeef Broth67 recipesBeef CroquettesBeef Croquettes58 recipes