Why it works: Beef and ham are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,729 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓
To Make Stock
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Bone the beef and saw the bone into three pieces, removing the marrow.
Place the bone in a saucepan with 6 quarts of water and bring to a boil.
In another saucepan, combine the marrow, cut-up meat, and ham or bacon.
Fry the meat mixture until browned, then add the liquid from the bones.
Simmer the stock
Cover and simmer for 4 to 5 hours.
Strain and finish
Strain through a fine sieve and let cool.
Remove the fat from the top before using.
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.
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Beef + hamtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,729 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef
- Provides the main meat flavor and gelatin that gives the stock body.
- Marrow
- Adds richness and fat that carries flavor into the stock.
- Lean ham or bacon
- Adds savory, salty depth to the stock.
The step that matters
Browning the meat mixture. Frying until browned triggers the Maillard reaction, which creates deeper, roasted flavors. Adding liquid too early leaves the stock tasting flat and pale.
“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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