Why it works: Turkey and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,592 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓
To Boil a Turkey
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the turkey
Truss the turkey by cutting off the legs at the first joint and drawing the upper leg into the body.
Break the breastbone and fill the crop with forcemeat, then tie it up tightly.
Boil and serve
In a large pot, warm water and add salt and butter.
Carefully place the turkey in the warm water and let it simmer slowly for about 2 hours, skimming off any scum that rises.
Serve the turkey with a good white sauce and accompany it with boiled ham, tongue, or bacon.
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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Turkey + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,592 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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; slow simmering keeps its meat tender and moist.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, mellow flavour to the poaching liquid.
The step that matters
Simmering the turkey slowly. Water held at a gentle simmer cooks the meat evenly without toughening the proteins. A rolling boil makes the meat tough and dry, and skimming the scum keeps the liquid clear.
“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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