Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Melted Butter
Ingredients
Directions
Make the roux
In a saucepan, melt half of the butter over medium heat.
Once melted, add the flour and mix until smooth.
Thicken and finish
Gradually stir in the cold water and bring to a boil.
Let it boil for 3 minutes.
Remove from heat and add the remaining butter in small pieces.
Stir until the butter is fully melted 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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Butter
- Supplies fat and rich, buttery flavor, and gives the sauce a smooth body as it melts in.
- Flour
- Thickens the sauce as its starch swells in the fat and liquid when boiled.
The step that matters
Gradually stir in the cold water. Adding cold liquid slowly to the hot butter and flour mixture lets the starch disperse evenly, which prevents lumps. The starch then thickens the sauce as it comes to a boil.
“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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