Why it works: Wheat and barley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 185 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, fruity. The science ↓
Barley and Wheat 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the dough
In a large bowl, combine the wheat flour, barley flour, and salt.
In a separate bowl, mix the liquid (water or milk) with the yeast and syrup until dissolved. Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture and stir until a dough forms.
Knead the dough on a floured surface until smooth, about 10 minutes.
Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let it rise overnight.
Shape and bake
The next day, punch down the dough, shape it into loaves, and place in greased pans.
Let the loaves rise again until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and bake for 30-40 minutes until golden brown.
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.
-
Wheat + barleytop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together185 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
-
Wheat + milktop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,418 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
-
Wheat + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + barleytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together582 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Barley + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together598 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Wheat flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the loaves their structure and chew.
- Barley flour
- Adds flavour and a denser crumb, since it contains little gluten.
- Yeast
- Produces carbon dioxide during fermentation, making the dough rise.
- Syrup
- Feeds the yeast and adds sweetness and browning to the crust.
- Fat
- Tenderises the crumb and softens the texture of the bread.
The step that matters
Letting the loaves rise until doubled. Under-proofed loaves stay dense and may burst in the oven, while over-proofed loaves collapse. Yeast needs time and warmth to build enough gas to lighten the structure.
“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.
You might also like
Wheat Bread65 recipes
Whole Wheat Bread55 recipes
Cornbread345 recipes
Bread Pudding336 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.