Why it works: Rye and milk work together. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 918 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓
Brown Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
In a large bowl, mix cornmeal, rye or wheat flour, sour milk or buttermilk, baking soda, molasses, and salt.
Add enough water or sweet milk to create a thick batter.
Bake and cool
Pour the batter into a deep dish and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 3 hours.
Let the bread cool gradually for 1 hour.
Alternatively, steam the bread until done, then place it in the oven briefly for firmness.
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 + milktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together918 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Rye + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together804 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + molassestop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,243 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cornmeal
- Forms the bulk of the bread and gives it its corn flavour and crumb.
- Rye or wheat flour
- Adds gluten-forming or starch structure that helps hold the crumb together.
- Sour milk or buttermilk
- Its acidity reacts with the baking soda to produce gas for rising and adds tang.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the sour milk or buttermilk to leaven the bread.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark colour and moisture to the bread.
The step that matters
Bake and cool gradually. Baking soda reacts with the acid in the sour milk right away, so the batter should go into the oven promptly once mixed. Cooling gradually lets the set crumb finish firming without collapsing or becoming gummy.
“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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