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Delicious Meat Loaf

A loaf of ground beef, veal, pork, boiled eggs, milk, spices, and bacon baked until cooked.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Veal and pork are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,930 recipes. Both carry 4-heptenal, which smells creamy, biscuit. The science ↓

Delicious Meat Loaf

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Assemble the loaf

  1. In a large bowl, mix the ground round steak, ground veal steak, ground pork steak, boiled eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper until well combined.

  2. Press half of the meat mixture into a loaf pan.

  3. Place the boiled eggs in the center of the meat mixture.

  4. Cover the eggs with the remaining meat mixture.

  5. Lay the strips of bacon on top of the meat loaf.

Bake

  1. Bake for 1½ hours.

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. Veal + porktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,930 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  2. Pork + milktop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,386 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  3. Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,121 recipes

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

  4. Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

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

  5. Veal + peppertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,049 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

Ground round steak
Forms the main body of the loaf and gives it its meaty texture.
Ground veal steak
Adds tenderness and a softer texture to the mixture.
Ground pork steak
Adds fat, which keeps the loaf moist as it bakes.
Boiled eggs
Bind the meat and set firm in the center, holding the loaf together when sliced.
Milk
Adds moisture that keeps the meat loaf from drying out.

The step that matters

Assembling the eggs in the center. The eggs must be fully enclosed by meat so the loaf holds its shape and the eggs do not dry or show gaps when sliced. Packing the meat firmly around them prevents air pockets that can cause the loaf to crumble.

“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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