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 ↓
Roast Beef
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the meat
Wipe the meat with a damp cloth and rub it with salt and flour.
Place the meat on a rack in a dripping pan and put it in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C).
Roast
Cook for 12 minutes per pound plus an additional 12 minutes for heating through if you like it rare.
Baste often with the melting fat; add hot water if the fat begins to burn.
Once the flour has browned, reduce the heat.
Make the gravy
When done, transfer the meat to a hot platter.
Add hot water to the browned juices in the pan, thicken with flour mixed with cold water, and cook thoroughly while stirring.
Season with salt and pepper, then strain for 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.
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 + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Beef + flourtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,677 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Beef and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,677 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
- Top sirloin, cross ribs, or top round beef
- Provides the meat that is roasted and carved, with its fat rendering to baste it.
- Flour
- Rubbed on the meat to brown during roasting, and thickens the pan juices into gravy.
- Salt
- Rubbed on the meat to season it and help the surface brown.
The step that matters
Thickening the gravy with flour and cold water. Flour must be mixed with cold water before adding it to hot liquid, or it clumps. Cooking it thoroughly while stirring cooks out the raw flour taste and thickens the gravy evenly.
“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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