Steamed Boston Brown Bread recipes?

I've been playing around with this and thought I should try a recipe rather than just throwing together the ingredients I saw on a can of it.

They were...whey, cornmeal, rye flour, wheat flour, baking soda and molasses.

I have the whole list although the corn and grains are freshly ground whole here at home and it's blackstrap molasses....I've been soaking the flours in whey and some sour dough starter 'discard' overnight first.

It's coming out not bad and certainly edible but there's room for improvement.

Seems like it needs some cardamon maybe?...a little sugar?

My wife once made and I enjoyed a loaf following the recipe in Crescent Dragonwagon's Bean by Bean cookbook -- a book which I am comfortable recommending just in general.

I am putting this recipe here as rye bread is almost non-existent wherever I shop.  This might work as a substitute and I have all the ingredients.

Ingredients

   3/4 cup (78g) King Arthur Pumpernickel Flour*
   3/4 cup (106g) yellow cornmeal
   3/4 cup (85g) King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour
   3/4 teaspoon baking soda
   3/4 teaspoon table salt
   3/4 cup (106g) currants or raisins
   1 1/2 cups (340g) buttermilk
   1/2 cup (170g) molasses

*Also known as whole rye flour.

   If baking the bread, preheat the oven to 325°F; no need to preheat the oven if you choose to steam the bread on the stovetop.

   Lightly grease an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan or a 10-cup Bundt pan.

   To make the bread: In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the pumpernickel flour, cornmeal, whole wheat flour, baking soda, salt, and currants or raisins.

   In a separate small bowl, beat together the buttermilk and molasses until smooth.

   Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined; there's no need to beat the batter.

   Spoon the batter into your chosen pan, and cover the pan with buttered aluminum foil, fastening the foil tight to the edges of the pan (so the bread will steam a bit), but ballooning it in the center, so the bread has room to expand without hitting the foil.

   To bake in the oven: Bake the bread in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Remove the foil (the middle of the loaf may be slightly sunken; that's OK), and bake for an additional 10 minutes. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs clinging to it.

   To steam the bread: Secure the foil cover with a rubber band. Place a steamer insert (or some crumpled aluminum foil) in the bottom of a deep kettle; you want to shield your Bundt or loaf pan from resting on the bottom of the kettle. Place the pan into the kettle, atop the insert or foil. The kettle should be deep enough so its lid can cover the pan with a bit of room to spare.

   Fill the kettle with boiling water two-thirds of the way up the pan. Bring the water back to a boil, lower it to a simmer, then place the lid on the kettle. Steam for about 2 hours, adding water if necessary. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, or with a few moist crumbs clinging to it.

   Remove the bread from the kettle or the oven, and let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before turning it out of the pan onto a rack to cool completely.

   Storage instructions: Store leftover bread, well wrapped, in the refrigerator for up to five days; freeze for longer storage.

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/boston-brown-bread-recipe

oh dear! i haven't had this since I was a kid!

now i know what i'll have to make for breakfast this weekend.
found a recipe that looks interesting.

https://www.seriouseats.com/easy-boston-brown-bread
I wonder if I could steam it in my pressure cooker (if it's talking about 40+ minutes' steaming).
Also I don't have that kind of can handy, so I'll need to do some searching for alternative baking containers. Or maybe roll up a roll of aluminum foil with a sushi rolling mat....

Thanks all!

I see from the recipes posted that salt is used so I'll add a bit next time.

And my homemade yogurt could sub for the buttermilk.  I think that would help make it richer tasting than just using whey as I have been.

I did try my yogurt creme cheese with it and that was good as the tartness contrasted nicely and does help the flavor....needs lots more raisins though and a spice I think.

I've been using the two qt crock from an old crock pot with an upsidedown  bowl on top and all sealed with foil and string.

Am thinking of trying my widemouth pints with lids screwed on?
Does it need to vent since it has some leavening?  They say cover tightly.

i since saw another recipe that used a baking tin covered with foil.
i'm not sure i'd cover them THAT tightly-- it would stink to have a mason jar crack. Not sure it would come to that, but.... my jars are precious!

here's my current dilemma: no rye flour (sigh, flour embargo after having bought 500 types of flour. I still have to use up the amaranth, quinoa, white rice, and teff before i will buy any more types...) I have some buckwheat and whole wheat, think it would work just as well?

Tereza,
I think buckwheat would substitute for rye just fine.
I don't really notice the flour flavors over the mollasses anyway.

We used buckwheat instead of wheat for everything for years...until recently when I went on my sourdough binge and got some wheat.

And cornmeal for the third flour?  Seems like one of the other interesting ones you have might sub easily for that if you don't have any.

I'm having the same thoughts about the jars...probably don't want to risk a disaster and the crock is really working fine.

that's just what I wanted to hear!! I definitely have cornmeal, but I'm always looking for a place to throw the buckwheat and quinoa flour.... and if the molasses masks all the flavors that will be even better- quinoa flour can be a bit forthright in the taste department (amaranth is way more neutral. we are now on the getting-older-adding-more-protein-to-the-diet train and i'm putting one or the other in the few baked goods i still make, with good effects).

so I made my brown bread! it was lovely. I used cornmeal, buckwheat flour, and whole wheat flour in pretty much equal proportions.
It was way, way sweeter than I remembered, and my tastes have changed, so i would probably make it with half the molasses, if i try it again with the rye.
But it made nice toast, especially with some marmite on it.

I decided to steam it in my rice cooker, in muffin tins. That way it took 25 min instead of.... ages. Worked just fine. Like other steamed bread, it's important to make sure you don't have condensation dripping onto it, otherwise no biggie. And also they weren't covered.

This is awesome! I've been wanting to try making my own rye bread for a while, too. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Can't wait to give it a go!