Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 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
Mix the cornmeal, all-purpose flour, graham flour, molasses, sour milk (or buttermilk), baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until well combined.
Transfer the mixture to a covered pail.
Steam and bake
Place the pail in a kettle of boiling water and steam for 2.5 hours.
After steaming, bake the bread in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes.
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.
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + milktop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,243 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Cornmeal
- Gives the loaf its coarse, crumbly body and characteristic texture.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides gluten-forming structure so the loaf holds together.
- Graham flour
- Adds a nutty, coarse texture and wholesome brown color.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture and deep brown color to the crumb.
- Sour milk or buttermilk
- Its acidity reacts with baking soda to produce rise and tenderness.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic milk to release gas, leavening the bread.
The step that matters
Keeping the pail sealed and the water boiling during steaming. Steam trapped in the covered pail cooks and leavens the batter evenly. If the water stops boiling or the lid is left off, the bread can turn out dense and underbaked in the centre.
“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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