Why it works: Milk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. 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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Make and bake
In a large bowl, mix together the sour milk, baking soda, sugar, hot water, graham flour, salt, and melted lard until well combined.
Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan.
Bake for nearly 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
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 + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Graham flour
- Provides the bulk and structure of the loaf, with its bran adding a hearty texture.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity reacts with the baking soda to produce gas that lifts the loaf.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the sour milk to leaven the bread without yeast.
- Melted lard
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and contributes moisture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown during baking.
The step that matters
Mix only until well combined. Once the sour milk meets the baking soda, the gas-producing reaction starts right away, so the batter should go into the pan and into the oven without delay to keep the lift.
“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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