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
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the batter
Mix the flour, rye meal, corn meal, molasses, sour milk, egg, salt, and baking soda until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased pan.
Steam and bake
Steam the pan for 3 hours.
After steaming, place the pan in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 10 to 20 minutes before serving.
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.
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Rye + corntop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together182 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Flour + ryetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,320 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Rye + milktop 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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the loaf together.
- Rye meal
- Adds earthy flavour and a denser, moister crumb than wheat flour alone.
- Corn meal
- Contributes coarse texture and body to the crumb.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark colour and moisture to the loaf.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity reacts with the baking soda so the bread rises.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and helps give it structure as it sets.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk and molasses to produce gas for rising.
The step that matters
Steaming the pan for 3 hours. Steam keeps the loaf moist while the baking soda reaction lifts the batter. If water runs low or the pan is opened too often, the bread can dry out or set unevenly.
“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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