Why it works: Corn and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,955 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. 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.
Mix and pour
In a large bowl, combine the Graham flour, corn meal, sour milk, molasses, and baking soda. Mix until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased loaf pan.
Steam and bake
Steam for 2½ hours.
After steaming, place the loaf in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 15 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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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Flour + corntop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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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Milk + molassestop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,243 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Flour and milk 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
- Graham flour
- Provides the bulk and the hearty, whole-grain structure of the loaf.
- Corn meal
- Adds coarse texture and body to the crumb.
- Sour milk
- Supplies moisture and acidity that react with the baking soda to lift the bread.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark colour and moisture to the loaf.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk to produce carbon dioxide, which makes the bread rise.
The step that matters
Pour the batter promptly after mixing. Baking soda starts reacting with the acidic sour milk as soon as they meet, releasing gas. Delaying the pour or steaming lets that lift escape, which can leave the loaf dense.
“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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