Why it works: Flour and buttermilk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,721 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Brown Bread
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the dough
In a bowl, combine brown flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.
Rub in the dripping until finely mixed.
Add buttermilk to form a nice dough.
Knead slightly and place in greased tins.
Bake
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) until done.
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 + buttermilktop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Cream + buttermilktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together674 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Brown flour
- Provides the bulk and structure of the loaf, along with the bran-rich brown color and flavor.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the buttermilk to produce carbon dioxide, which makes the bread rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acts as an acid that works with the baking soda to leaven the dough and adds tang.
- Dripping
- Adds fat that coats the flour particles, tenderizing the crumb and adding richness.
- Buttermilk
- Supplies the moisture that hydrates the flour and its acidity that activates the baking soda.
The step that matters
Add the buttermilk and handle the dough gently. Baking soda and cream of tartar start producing gas as soon as they meet liquid, so the dough should be shaped and put into the hot oven promptly. Overworking it develops gluten and can make the bread dense and tough.
“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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