Why it works: Rye and molasses work together. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 804 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Rye and Indian Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the dough
Pour just enough boiling water over the Indian meal to wet it.
Stir the Indian meal constantly until it is scalded.
In a large bowl, combine the rye meal, scalded Indian meal, molasses, salt, baking soda, and yeast.
Mix in warm water until the mixture is stiff but can be stirred with a spoon.
Rise and shape
Cover the dough.
Let the dough rise overnight.
Transfer the dough to a large pan.
Smooth the top with a hand dipped in cold water.
Let it stand for a short time before baking.
Bake
Bake in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 5 to 6 hours, or overnight if started late in the day.
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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Rye + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together804 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rye meal or rye flour
- Provides the main structure and a dense, hearty texture, with flavor typical of rye.
- Indian meal
- Scalding softens the cornmeal so it absorbs water and gives the loaf a moist, tender crumb.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color, and moisture, and promotes browning during the long bake.
- Yeast
- Ferments the dough during the overnight rise, producing gas that lightens the loaf.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidity in the molasses to give additional lift and help the crumb open.
The step that matters
Mix in warm water until stiff. Too much water makes the dough slack and it will not hold its shape; too little leaves dry, dense bread. The mixture should be stiff but still stirrable with a spoon, which sets the structure before the long rise and bake.
“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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