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Bread

Brown Bread

A collection of old brown bread recipes made with graham flour or cornmeal, molasses, sour milk and soda, baked or steamed.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Ithaca (N.Y.) First Baptist Church. Ladies Union · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 50 ingredients
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Brown Bread

Why it works: Milk and wheat are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,418 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓

Brown Bread

Ingredients

Directions

Mix the batter

  1. Mix together the meal, flour, soda and salt.

  2. Add molasses and milk.

  3. Stir thoroughly.

  4. Stir in the melted butter last.

  5. Pour into well-buttered molds.

Steam and bake

  1. Steam in a covered can or pail.

  2. Steam 4 or 5 hours.

  3. Steam 3 hours and bake a few minutes.

  4. Steam 2 1/2 hours, bake half hour.

  5. Steam 1 1/2 hours.

  6. Bake 1 hour.

  7. Bake in moderate oven.

  8. Bake one hour.

  9. Bake from 35 to 40 minutes.

  10. Warm the molasses, add the soda and the butter.

  11. Stir well, put in greased tin and let stand half hour.

Finish in cans

  1. Fill three 1-lb. baking powder cans half full.

  2. Put on covers.

  3. Bake from 1 hour to 1 and 30 minutes, according to heat of oven.

  4. Set on asbestos mat when baking.

  5. Let cool in cans with covers off.

  6. All water can be used if milk is not at hand, but less water should be used, or it will be too thin.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1040Calories
35 gProtein
34 gFat
147 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Sour Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Molasses1 tbsp (20g)58
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Wheatnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Ithaca (N.Y.) First Baptist Church. Ladies Union. 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. See the original page.

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.

  1. Milk + wheattop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,418 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  3. Milk + teatop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together738 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  4. Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Flour + wheattop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,373 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

Molasses
Adds sweetness, dark colour and moisture to the dense crumb.
Soda
Reacts with the sour milk to produce gas, lifting the bread.
Sour milk
Its acidity activates the soda and tenderises the crumb.
Graham flour
Provides the coarse bran-rich structure and nutty flavour of the loaf.
Meal
Gives body and a grainy texture to the crumb.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a softer, more tender crumb.

The step that matters

Steam for the full time without lifting the cover. Steaming bread in a sealed container keeps moisture in and heat even, so the soda-leavened batter sets gradually. Lifting the lid lets steam escape and can cause a sunken, gummy loaf.

“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

Boston 349Steamed 107Pudding 51New England 20Ice Cream 14Biscuits 11 See all 420 →

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