Why it works: Rye and corn 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
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.
Make the batter
In a large bowl, combine molasses, water, sour milk, rye flour, corn meal, baking soda, and salt.
Mix until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased loaf pan.
Steam and bake
Steam for 3½ hours.
After steaming, bake 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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Rye + corntop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together182 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Rye + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,320 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Milk + ryetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together918 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Flour + corntop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 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
- Rye flour
- Provides the structure and the dense, dark crumb typical of brown bread.
- Corn meal
- Adds bulk and a coarse, grainy texture to the loaf.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity reacts with the baking soda to help the loaf rise and adds moisture.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the sour milk to produce gas that lightens the batter.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture, and the deep brown color of the bread.
The step that matters
Pour the batter into the pan promptly after mixing. Baking soda starts reacting with the acid in the sour milk as soon as the ingredients combine. Delaying the pour lets some of that gas escape before the batter sets, which can leave the loaf flatter and denser.
“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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