Entire-wheat Bread

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. Wheat + flourtop 12% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together4,373 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

2. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together124,287 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

3. Wheat + buttertop 14% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together2,002 recipes

   Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

4. Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together92,116 recipes

   Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

5. Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together98,233 recipes

   Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

Entire wheat flour

Provides the structure of the loaf, and its bran and germ add a nutty, denser crumb.

Yeast

Produces carbon dioxide as it ferments, which makes the dough rise.

Water

Hydrates the flour so gluten can form and dissolves the yeast.

Butter or lard

Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and softens the texture.

Sugar

Feeds the yeast and adds a little sweetness and browning.

The step that matters