Why it works: Wheat and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,373 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Graham 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 dough
Mix the unbolted wheat flour, yeast, molasses, and salt in a large bowl.
Add warm water gradually until a stiff dough forms.
Let the dough rise for 6 to 8 hours.
Shape and bake
Wet your hands with cold water and shape the dough into loaves.
Place the loaves in pans and let them rise for 1 hour or until they rise about 1 inch.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 2 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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Wheat + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Wheat + molassestop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together702 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Unbolted wheat flour
- Forms the gluten network and bulk of the loaf, giving structure and a sturdy crumb.
- Active dry yeast
- Produces carbon dioxide during fermentation, which makes the dough rise and become airy.
- Molasses
- Feeds the yeast and adds sweetness, moisture and a deep, dark color to the crumb.
- Warm water
- Hydrates the flour so gluten can form and activates the yeast.
The step that matters
Let the dough rise for 6 to 8 hours. Yeast needs enough time to ferment the sugars and develop gas and flavor; a dough that is rushed or under-proofed will bake dense and heavy.
“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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