Skip to main content
Main

Grilled Turkey

A grilled turkey drumstick seasoned with vinegar, catsup, mustard, cayenne, and oil or butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Vinegar and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Grilled Turkey

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Score the meat deeply.

  2. In a bowl, mix vinegar, catsup, mustard, cayenne, and salad oil or melted butter until well combined.

  3. Dip the meat into the dressing, ensuring a good coating.

  4. Preheat the gridiron and rub it with a piece of suet.

Grill and serve

  1. Place the meat on the gridiron and broil over a clear fire, turning often, until nicely browned.

  2. Transfer to a hot platter, add bits of maître d'hôtel butter, and briefly place in the oven before serving.

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. Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Turkey + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,592 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  3. Turkey + mustardtop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together157 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Mustard + buttertop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,003 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Vinegar + buttertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,513 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

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

What each ingredient does

Drumsticks of cold turkey
The main protein, which is browned and heated through on the gridiron.
Sharp vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and helps flavor the meat's surface.
Catsup
Adds sweetness and tomato flavor to the coating.
Mustard
Adds sharp, pungent flavor that complements the meat.
Salad oil or melted butter
Adds fat that carries the dressing and promotes browning on the grill.

The step that matters

Turning the meat often over the fire. Because the meat is already cooked and cold, frequent turning spreads heat evenly and prevents the coating from scorching before the surface browns.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turkey, vinegar, butter):

  1. Mustardthe original
  2. Capsicumfits about as well
  3. Shallotfits about as well
  4. Onionfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against turkey, vinegar, butter. 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.

You might also like

Turkey SoupTurkey Soup71 recipesTurkey StuffingTurkey Stuffing26 recipesTurkey DressingTurkey Dressing24 recipesTurkey PattiesTurkey Patties12 recipes