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To Broil Beef Steaks

A method for broiling beef steaks using mutton suet and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

To Broil Beef Steaks

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Trim the steaks neatly and divide if very large.

  2. Prepare a strong, clear fire.

  3. Heat the gridiron until hot but not burning.

  4. Wipe the gridiron with fresh mutton suet.

  5. Lightly pepper the steaks; do not add salt yet.

Cook

  1. Place the steaks on the gridiron and cook one side until done.

  2. Turn the steaks to cook the other side.

  3. Catch any gravy in a dish.

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

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

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

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

  3. Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,442 recipes

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

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, which browns on the hot surface and stays juicy inside when cooked briefly.
Fresh mutton suet
Greases the gridiron so the steaks release cleanly and gain a little fat flavour.

The step that matters

Heat the gridiron until hot but not burning. A very hot, clean surface sears the steak quickly, browning it and sealing in juices. If the gridiron is too cool the meat steams and sticks, and if it burns the outside turns bitter before the inside cooks.

“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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