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 ↓
Roast Turkey
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the turkey
Wash the turkey with cold water and wipe inside and out with a cloth.
Rub salt and pepper inside the turkey.
Fill the turkey with dressing, but do not overfill.
Sew up the turkey with coarse thread.
Wrap the legs in white paper and tie with cord.
Tie the legs together and secure the wings close to the body with strong cord.
Roast
Heat butter and lard in a meat roaster or dripping pan until hot.
Place the turkey in the pan and set in a hot oven (400°F / 200°C).
Cover the pan and baste the turkey several times while baking.
Ensure the oven maintains an even heat to cook the turkey through and brown it without burning.
Bake for 1.5 hours for a 7 to 10 pound turkey, 2.5 hours for a 12 to 15 pound turkey, and 3 hours for larger turkeys.
Make the giblet gravy
Chop the giblets.
Cook the giblets in 1 quart of hot water in a stew pan.
After 30 minutes, pour the giblet mixture into the roasting pan and add 1 tablespoon of salt.
When done, remove the turkey and giblets.
Add flour to the pan and stir until smooth.
Add hot water to achieve the desired gravy thickness.
Optionally chop giblets finely and add to the gravy.
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 + peppertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,636 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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
- Provides the main body of the dish, and its fat and juices baste the meat as it roasts.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness to the pan, helping the skin brown and flavour the drippings.
- Lard
- Adds fat to the pan that conducts heat well, helping the skin brown evenly.
- Flour
- Thickens the pan juices into gravy as it cooks with the drippings.
The step that matters
Keep the oven heat even while roasting. Uneven or excessive heat can dry the lean meat or burn the skin before the thick parts of the bird reach a safe, fully cooked temperature. Regular basting and steady heat help the skin brown evenly while the interior cooks through.
“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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