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To Broil Beef Steaks

A method for broiling beef steaks with optional seasoning and accompaniments.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,232 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

To Broil Beef Steaks

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Select steaks from the middle of a well-kept, finely grained, tender rump of beef.

  2. Trim the steaks and divide them if they are very large.

  3. Preheat the grill until it is strong and clear, then wipe it with fresh mutton suet.

  4. Lightly pepper the steaks, but do not season with salt yet.

Broil and serve

  1. Place the steaks on the grill and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, turning them halfway through.

  2. Catch any juices that drain from the steaks in a dish.

  3. Serve immediately on hot plates, optionally with warmed mushroom catsup or a slice of fresh butter.

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. Beef + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  2. Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

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

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

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

  4. Beef + muttontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,373 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Pepper + mushroomtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,580 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef steaks
Provide the main meat, whose fine grain and tenderness set the texture of the finished dish.
Fresh mutton suet
Greases the hot grill so the steaks release easily and gain a little fat for surface cooking.

The step that matters

Preheating the grill until strong and clear. A very hot grill sears the outside of the steaks quickly, browning the surface and sealing in juices. If the grill is not hot enough, the steaks steam and cook grey and dry before a crust forms.

“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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