Why it works: Rye and corn work together. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 182 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓
Brown Bread
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the batter
Mix and sift the dry ingredients together.
Add the molasses and sour milk, then stir in the baking soda until well mixed.
Turn the mixture into a well-buttered mold.
Steam
Steam for 3 hours.
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.
-
Rye + corntop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together182 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
-
Rye + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,320 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
-
Rye + milktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together918 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
-
Corn + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sour milk
- Its acidity reacts with the baking soda and adds moisture and a slight tang.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the sour milk to release gas that lifts the batter.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture, and a dark color with deep flavor.
- Graham flour
- Provides body and a coarse, nutty flavor to the crumb.
- Rye meal
- Adds earthy flavor and helps give the bread its dense, hearty structure.
- Granulated corn meal
- Adds a slightly grainy texture and helps set the crumb's structure.
The step that matters
Stir in the baking soda and get the batter into the mold promptly. Baking soda starts reacting with the acid in the sour milk as soon as it is mixed in. Gas bubbles form quickly, so delaying the move to the mold and steamer can cost the lift the batter needs.
“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.
More brown bread recipes
You might also like
Cornbread345 recipes
Bread Pudding336 recipes
Milk Bread Rolls242 recipes
Potato Bread124 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.