Why the Maillard Reaction Makes Everything Delicious

This week Reactions is taking a look at the chemistry behind the Maillard reaction, known as the "browning reaction." Science makes your food delicious. Why does fresh, hot toast have a more complex flavor than plain bread? Why does cooking raw food in general result in mouthwatering smells and a rich taste? The answer lies with the Maillard reaction, also known as the “browning reaction.” The chemistry behind this reaction is responsible for those good smelling steaks. By delving into how this process works, Reactions helps you get the most deliciousness out of your cooking.

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LA Funk by Cragkeys

Producer:
Elaine Seward

Writer:
Doug Dollemore

Executive Producer:
Adam Dylewski

Scientific consultants:
Martin Lersch, Ph.D.
Darcy Gentleman, Ph.D.

Sources

Ever wonder why dogs sniff each others' butts? Or how Adderall works? Or whether it's OK to pee in the pool? We've got you covered: Reactions a web series about the chemistry that surrounds you every day.

Reactions is produced by the American Chemical Society.

[aL_]

A tiny bit of baking soda can take the edge of acidic tomato sauce. it also delays curdling when boiling dairy products (like a sauce). useful stuff :)

[ermonski]

Maillard reaction is important for that profound, concussive crunch. It's the platonic ideal.

[mccree]

Also, they go brown partly due to dextrinisation, where the starches break into glucose, then the water from the sugar evaporates, leaving black carbon behind.

[mrjackrabbitslim]

I'm curious, why does warmed up food taste better than cold food? At least to me it does. I can't palette cold meat (like a roast chicken that's been kept in the refrigerator), but I love the warmed up version. Does the Maillard reaction happen just once upon first cook, or does it happen with every heating and re-heating? Also do the flavors in "flavor town" dissipate as your food cools?

[nickd]

Did you put a steak on a cold cast iron? Sacrilege!

[snoozieboi]

Now we just need a reaction video to this

[will]

I was literally wondering about this before it came up on my sub box!

[kingkong]

well heat up your pan before you put your food. not like the steak shown, the butter is not even melted.

[somyacharanpahadi]

1:50 'Flavour town' sounds like a great name for a restaurant.

[luke]

Read it as "Mallard" hoped for a clip on Roast Duck. Was disappoint

[SirFancyPantsMcee]

The maillard reaction occurs around 280 to 330 °F or 140 to 165 °C.... if your butter is barely steaming in a luke warm cast iron pan it means that the temp is under 100 °C or 212 °F. So you are quite a ways off. So for anyone reading this, the water in the butter is the enemy of browning.

[cpaulson]

Unless you are talking about the Maillard reaction in dairy products, some confectionery products and fruit juices where it can create off-flavours. And then there is the potential for acrylamide formation.

[elietheprof]

Do fats affect the Maillard reaction too? Or just proteins, carbs, acids and bases?
(I'm designing some recipes and sometimes have to substitute ingredients)

[alexanderforselius]

Finally, this seems to be the common denominator that might answer the philosophial logic why the most pleasurible food also is the most metabolic dangerous one, as the mechanics of the devastation of diabetes on the body is attributed to glucose causing maillard effect on the body, further boosting free radicals. Eg a mnemomic or though play of metabolic syndrome: the grilled food you eat will then grill you from the inside, the pleasure food you eat will then eat your body too from within because your body also is by proteins and is a ’food’ to that can react with sugar.

[dkweerasinghe]

well done, folks teaching Maillard reaction should share this with Students as an ice breaker
Thanks dk

[kingbugs]

The single most important thing that people forget when they use slow cookers.

[johndrachenberg]

What the heck was poured on that burger at 0:41? I've never seen that done before. Olive oil? What's the point?

[doms]

Can someone explain something to me?
For the maillard reaction it needs sugars and amino acids. But steak has no sugar, so how does that work?

[ivorymantis]

If I recall correctly, the main reason the blackened part of cooked meat tastes so good can be answered through the lens of evolutionary biology. Primitive man, first taking tool to hunt, broke down protein of meat first through cooking. Cooking it to the "sweet spot" over nothing but a bunch of chars definitely would create areas of blackened flesh. Eventually human biology associated this "sweet spot" of having lots of charred flesh and beneficial proteins and made what should taste icky and bitter taste absolutely amazing to us.

[abichan]

I think onions do caramelize, as they contain sugars