Why it works: Rye and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,320 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Brown Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the dough
In a large bowl, mix the cornmeal, rye flour, graham flour, all-purpose flour, and salt.
In a separate bowl, combine the molasses with warm water and dissolve the yeast or baking powder.
Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
Knead the dough for a few minutes until smooth.
Shape, rise and bake
Shape the dough into a loaf and place it in a greased pan.
Cover and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Bake for several hours until the bread is cooked through and sounds hollow when tapped.
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 + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,320 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Rye + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together804 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cornmeal
- Adds coarse texture and a grainy crumb to the loaf.
- Rye flour
- Adds flavour and body, with some structure from its gluten-forming proteins.
- Graham flour
- Adds bran and whole-grain texture and a nutty, earthy flavour.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides gluten structure so the loaf holds its shape and rises.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark colour and moisture, and helps the crust brown.
- Yeast
- Produces gas that makes the dough rise and gives a light crumb.
The step that matters
Letting the dough rise until doubled. Yeast needs time and warmth to produce enough gas to lift the dense whole-grain dough. Under-proofed dough bakes up heavy and dense, while the dough must not be left so long that its structure collapses.
“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.