Why it works: Beef and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,847 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓
Roast Beef
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a rather moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the beef
Trim the beef by sawing off the tips of the chine-bones and about 3 inches from the tips of the ribs.
Fold the flap of meat under and secure it with wooden skewers without pulling too tight.
Season the beef evenly with coarse sea salt and tie it round.
Roast
Place the beef lengthwise in a roasting pan and add 1 tablespoon of water to prevent burning.
Distribute small bits of butter on top of the beef.
Roast in a 350 °F (175 °C) oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes, basting frequently with the gravy.
Serve
Remove from the oven, untie, and serve on a hot dish.
Skim the fat from the gravy, add 2 tablespoons of broth, heat, strain into a sauceboat, and serve.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Beef + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,847 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef
- Forms the main body of the dish, providing the meat that is roasted and served.
- Butter
- Adds fat that enriches the surface and helps it brown and taste rich as it roasts.
- Broth
- Adds liquid and savory flavor to the gravy used for basting and serving.
The step that matters
Basting frequently with the gravy. Regular basting moistens the surface as it cooks, helping keep the outside from drying out while the meat browns gradually in the oven.
“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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