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Brown Bread

A steamed cornbread made with cornmeal, molasses, sour milk, and baking soda.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Brown Bread

Why it works: Corn and rye work together. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 182 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓

Brown Bread

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.

  2. Pour the mixture into a greased steaming mold.

Steam and serve

  1. Steam for four hours.

  2. Let cool before serving.

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.

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. Corn + ryetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together182 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  2. Flour + ryetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,320 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Corn + milktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,955 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Milk + ryetop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together918 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Corn meal
Forms the bulk of the batter and gives the bread its structure and grainy texture.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, dark color and moisture to the bread.
Sour milk
Supplies liquid and acidity that react with the baking soda to lighten the crumb.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic sour milk to produce gas that makes the bread rise.
Egg
Binds the batter and adds richness and structure as it sets.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the crust and color develop.

The step that matters

Pour the batter into a greased steaming mold. The batter rises as the baking soda reacts with the sour milk, so the mold needs to be greased for easy release, and filled with room to expand. Once the mold is sealed, it must steam continuously so the bread sets evenly.

“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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