Science of Browning: Maillard Reaction

 

 Maillard reaction name after a French chemist Louis Camille Maillard, is a chemical reaction which occurs between amino acid and reducing sugar in the presence of the heat. Basically it is responsible of browning your food, give complex flavor that makes bread toasty and malty, burgers taste charred and coffee taste dark and robust. Maillard reaction doesn't just make food delicious. Understanding the reaction even on the surface level is a gateway on understanding the physical and chemical process of cooking

Maillard reaction is complex in fact that its the only in the last few years that the scientist have begun to figure out what it actually is. But they know the basics that Maillard Reaction is many small simultaneous chemical reactions that occur when proteins ans sugars are transformed by heat, producing new flavors and aroma and color. 

Products with Maillard Reaction

- caramel made from milk and sugar

- browning of bread in toast

- color of beef, chocolate, coffee and maple syrup

- self tanning products

- flavor of roast meat

- color of dried condensed milk

How it works? 

The first thing you need for the Maillard reaction is the heat. A food left on a counter for a week at room temperature will certainly undergo some chemical reaction, but Maillard wont one of them. But Maillard can work on low temperature can work on lower temperature and with a lot more water.with right heat and timing definetly you will have a good result of a Maillard reaction, but without proteins and sugar to work on it, it wont simply happen. Proteins are long chains of amino acids, crumpled like piece of paper. Some of them are Maillard susceptible meaning they really love to bond with SUGAR.

Molecules of complex sugar, like starches and table sugar are too bog to react with Maillard proteins. Instead these proteins require reducing sugar which is essentially simple sugar that attracts amino acids at certain moisture and temperature levels. In critical point the maillard reaction somewhat limited set of proteins and sugar molecules and these bond mix over time and new molecules are added. This molecules mix over and over, billions and trillions time per second on the surface of the food, forming and growing, recursive, recombinatory aroma and flavor engine.This engine is influenced by temperature, time and pH all things that home cook can control.

Maillard in Baking

Baking soda can give assist on Maillard Reaction by creating more alkaline setting. That is why you might see baking soda is used in water bath for pretzels or in caramelized onion. Some recipe employ baking soda to help meat brown faster as well.

For Breads, provost extols the virtues of an egg wash promote Maillard so proteins in the egg can interact with sugar in the dough for appealing toasty flavor. The type of wash also affects the degreeof browning. Water will give decent browning with little shine, with both features increasing as you move on to milk, whole eggs and lastly the eggyolk, which impart a good browning and an intense shine.

What it is not Maillard?

Caramelization is another type of browning, so easy to conflate it Maillard, especially because you can get both types of reactions at the same time. Caramelization however specifically  refers to when sugar are exposed to high heat. The sugars break down and turn successively yellow, tan brown and darker brown while developing that complex , sweet pungent flavor we call caramel.

Cookie dough also is not part, though they same the same building blocks of as a steak. What differentiates the two is the proportion. A steak obviously higher in protein while cookie has lot of sugar. This has a profound effect not only on the way in which the Maillard reaction occurs but also on the degree to which these food experience other reactions like caramelization.

Keep in mind that, though different these reactions are mutually exclusive. Both the Maillard reaction and caramelization can do take place both in steak and cookie dough, but produced markedly different, often complementary flavors and aroma to each other.

Maillard reaction is not just about cooking. It is a science. It is a foundation, recipe is our experiment and we are the scientist whose sustenance, satisfaction and ultimately survival depend on the reaction.