Boston Brown Bread

I have a confession to make. I've never tried Boston brown bread. I didn't even know it existed until after college. (I obviously didn't grow up or go to school anywhere near Boston.) The thought of taking dough and placing it in an old can to bake is one that never would have occurred to me. Although truth be told, a good many things would never occur to me, some of them, quite obvious. <insert whichever joke you like here>

Finished product.

Another confession: I didn't know what saleratus was until today. I'd seen it several times but had never followed up on it. In fact, I was avoiding recipes with it because I didn't know what it was. But it turns out saleratus is another word for baking soda. (Fun fact: the origin of this word comes from the Latin sal aeratus means "aerated salt.") I was quite prepared to go on a grocery store quest for an obscure ingredient but was pleasantly surprised to find it was a common item I already had. So let's get to it.

Ingredients needed.

Steamed Brown Bread
(Adapted from The Home Cook Book, 1877)

1 cup milk
2 tablespoons molasses
1/2 cup corn meal
1/2 cup rye flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Place in a clean and greased old coffee tin.
3. Cover top with greased parchment paper, then foil.
4. Tightly tie in place with string.
5. Place in large pot (making sure pot lid covers foiled-covered tin).
6. Add boiling water to come halfway up tin.
5. Simmer gently 2 hours, or until tester inserted comes out clean.

Steaming brown bread. (N.B. Green twine gets stinky when hot and wet.)

Results: I just finished cooking it and now it's cooling. It smells delicious, except for the wet twine smell from the cooking water. (I ran out of kitchen twine and substituted regular twine which I use for tying my tomatoes. You'd best believe I'll be buying kitchen twine in the very near future.)

Finished loaf.

Oh! Where has this been all my life? Taste and texture wise, it's similar to a bran muffin but less sweet. The rye flour adds a lovely extra dimension from the usual whole wheat bread flavor and the corn meal adds a bit of texture. It's a dense loaf but I like my breads with a bit of substance. In fact, the Beta Taster may not get any. He likes to save his food treats. Whereas my philosophy is to eat it while it's fresh.