Why it works: Milk and wheat are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,418 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓
Graham Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Pour scalded milk and boiling water over molasses and salt in a mixing bowl.
Dissolve the yeast cake in lukewarm water.
Wait until the mixture cools to lukewarm.
Stir in 2 cups of wheat flour.
Add the dissolved yeast.
Add the remaining wheat flour.
Sift in the graham flour. Discard any bran that remains in the sifter.
Cover.
Let rise until doubled in bulk.
Stir again.
Beat for 10 minutes.
Shape and bake
Fill well-buttered bread pans halfway.
Let rise until nearly doubled.
Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for 2 to 2½ hours.
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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Milk + wheattop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,418 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Wheat + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + molassestop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,243 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Wheat flour
- Provides the gluten network that gives the loaf its structure and chew.
- Graham flour
- Adds coarse bran and a nutty flavour, giving a denser, heartier crumb.
- Yeast
- Produces carbon dioxide as it ferments, making the dough rise and become light.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark colour and moisture, and feeds the yeast.
- Milk
- Adds richness and softness, tenderizing the crumb and helping browning.
The step that matters
Wait until the mixture cools to lukewarm. Yeast is killed by hot liquid, so adding it to a mixture that is still hot can stop the dough from rising properly. Cooling first keeps the yeast alive and active.
“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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