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 ↓
Brown 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.
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine rye meal, Indian meal, molasses, cold water, baking soda, and salt. Mix until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a steaming mold.
Steam and dry
Steam for 4½ hours.
Transfer to a preheated oven at 300°F (150°C) for a few minutes to dry the top.
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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Rye + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
- Rye meal
- Provides the structure and the dark, earthy flavour of the bread.
- Indian meal
- Gives the bread a coarse, crumbly texture and helps it hold its shape.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture and the dark colour of the bread.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses's acidity to lift and lighten the batter.
The step that matters
Steam for the full time in a sealed mold. Steaming gently cooks the batter through without drying it out. If the mold leaks or the water boils off, the bread can turn dense and dry, so the mold needs to stay sealed and the water topped up.
“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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