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Bread

Boston Rye-and-indian Bread

A yeast‑leavened bread made with Indian meal, rye meal, molasses, and salt, baked at 300°F.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Rye and molasses work together. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 804 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Boston Rye-and-indian Bread

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the batter

  1. Combine Indian meal, rye meal, molasses, yeast, and salt in a large bowl.

  2. Mix well and add enough warm water to form a smooth batter.

  3. Dip your hand in water and smooth the top of the batter.

  4. Let the mixture stand until it rises and cracks.

Bake

  1. Preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C).

  2. Pour the batter into iron pans and bake for about 4 hours.

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 + molassestop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together804 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Indian meal
Provides the bulk and structure of the loaf, since it sets as it cooks.
Rye meal
Adds the dense texture and earthy flavor that define this bread.
Molasses
Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown during the long bake.
Yeast
Ferments the batter so it rises and cracks before baking.

The step that matters

Letting the batter stand until it rises and cracks. Yeast needs warmth and time to ferment the thick batter. Under-rising leaves a dense loaf, so the cook should wait for the visible rise and cracks before baking.

“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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