Why it works: Flour and butter 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 ↓
Rich Melted Butter
Ingredients
Directions
In a clean saucepan, mix the flour, salt, and cold water until smooth.
Add the butter cut into small pieces.
Shake the saucepan continuously until the mixture is well blended and nearly boiling.
Let it simmer for 2 to 3 minutes without allowing it to boil.
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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter 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
- Flour
- Thickens the water and butter into a smooth, lightly bodied sauce as its starch swells with heat.
- Butter
- Supplies fat and rich flavor, giving the sauce body and a glossy mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Keep it from boiling. Butter and water form an emulsion that can separate or turn greasy if it boils hard. The flour needs gentle heat to thicken smoothly, so the mixture should stay just below boiling.
“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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