Name: Raisin Bread with Mixed Flours
Ingredients: 75 pounds bread flour; 15 pounds graham flour; 10 pounds oatmeal; 6 pounds raisins; 6 quarts molasses; 1 pound yeast; 2 pounds coarse sea salt; 10 quarts boiling water; 24 quarts water

Why it works: Flour and raisin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Raisin Bread with Mixed Flours

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dough

Scald the rolled oats with 10 quarts of boiling water.
Add 24 quarts of water, then mix in molasses, coarse sea salt, graham flour, raisins, and yeast.
Ensure the dough temperature is 80°F (27°C) and let it rest for 6 hours.

Shape and bake

Work the dough over and shape it into loaves.
Proof the loaves and bake.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

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.

Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Raisin + molassestop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,577 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,429 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Bread + raisintop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,111 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Bread + flourtop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together10,383 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Bread and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,383 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

Bread flour: Provides the gluten network that gives the loaves their structure.
Graham flour: Adds a coarser texture and nutty flavor while the bran absorbs water.
Oatmeal: Adds moisture and a tender crumb after being scalded in boiling water.
Raisins: Add sweetness and pockets of moisture throughout the loaf.
Molasses: Adds sweetness, dark color, and moisture, and feeds the yeast.
Yeast: Ferments the sugars and produces gas that makes the dough rise.

The step that matters

Ensure the dough temperature is 80°F (27°C) and let it rest for 6 hours.. Dough temperature controls how fast yeast ferments. Too warm, and the dough over-ferments and turns sour or slack. Too cool, and it rises slowly and unevenly.

“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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Raisin Bread with Mixed Flours