Skip to main content
Bread

Steamed Bread

A steamed bread made with flour, rye meal, corn meal, molasses, sour milk, egg, salt, and baking soda.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

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 ↓

Steamed Bread

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the batter

  1. In a bowl, combine flour, rye meal, corn meal, molasses, sour milk, egg, salt, and baking soda. Mix until well combined.

  2. Pour the mixture into a greased pan.

Steam and finish

  1. Steam for 3 hours.

  2. After steaming, place the pan in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 10 to 20 minutes 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.

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. Rye + corntop 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. Rye + milktop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together918 recipes

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

  5. Flour + corntop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Baking soda
Reacts with the sour milk's acidity to produce gas, helping the bread rise and turn light.
Sour milk
Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds moisture and a slight tang.
Egg
Binds the batter and adds structure and richness as it sets.
Molasses
Adds moisture, sweetness, and a dark color with a deep flavor.
Flour
Provides the main structure, which sets as the bread cooks.

The step that matters

Steaming the batter. Steam must be kept steadily available for the full 3 hours, since the bread sets through moist heat. If the pan dries out or the water boils low, the loaf can turn out dense or gummy in the center.

“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 steamed bread recipes

Pudding 29Brown 4 See all 25 →

You might also like

CornbreadCornbread345 recipesBread PuddingBread Pudding336 recipesMilk Bread RollsMilk Bread Rolls242 recipesPotato BreadPotato Bread124 recipes