Why it works: Flour and rye match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,320 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Brown Bread
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine thick sour milk and baking soda, mixing well.
Add Graham flour, rye flour, cornmeal, molasses, and salt to the milk mixture. Stir until well combined.
Steam
Pour the batter into a greased steaming mold.
Steam for 5 hours until cooked through.
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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Flour + ryetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,320 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + ryetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together918 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Milk + flourtop 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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Rye + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together804 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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
- Thick sour milk
- Acidity reacts with the baking soda to produce gas, lifting the batter as it steams.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour milk's acid to release carbon dioxide, which leavens the bread.
- Graham flour
- Provides wheat bran and germ for body and a hearty, slightly nutty texture.
- Rye flour
- Adds flavor and a moist, dense crumb, since it forms less gluten than wheat.
- Cornmeal
- Gives a coarse, crumbly texture and corn flavor to the loaf.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color and moisture, and helps the crumb stay soft.
The step that matters
Combine the sour milk and baking soda first. Baking soda needs an acid to react with, and the sour milk supplies it. Mixing the soda into the milk before adding the flours lets the reaction begin, so the batter rises evenly during steaming.
“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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