Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Eoast Turkey
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
Prepare and stuff the turkey as in the preceding recipe.
Lard the turkey as described in general directions.
Roast
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Place the turkey in the oven and add bits of butter on the breast.
Baste the turkey every 10 minutes, turning it occasionally for even cooking.
Cook for 20 minutes per pound plus an additional 20 minutes.
Finish and brown
In the last third of cooking, season with salt and dredge the breast and sides with flour.
Return the turkey to the oven until the flour is browned, basting frequently.
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Turkey + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,592 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Turkey + flourtop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together963 recipes
Shared aroma: eugenol (clove, spicy).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Turkey
- The main protein, which firms and sets as it cooks and provides the body of the dish.
- Butter
- Adds fat that enriches the meat, keeps the breast moist, and helps the skin brown.
- Flour
- Forms a thin coating on the breast and sides that dries and browns into a crisp, golden surface.
The step that matters
Dredging the breast with flour. Flour browns through the Maillard reaction, but only a thin, even dusting browns evenly. A thick or clumped layer stays pasty or scorches before the surface colours, so basting while it browns matters.
“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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