It’s Not Burnt; It’s The Maillard Effect, Justin Wright

I love science and math. I also love to cook. I find it fascinating that even the simplest things you might do in the kitchen can involve some very complex science.

One interesting application of science in the kitchen is the Maillard Reaction.

In the 1910s, French scientist Louis-Camille Maillard was studying with how proteins are created in nature and described the "non-enzymatic browning" of sugars and amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) under heat.

What he found was that when certain sugars and amino acids are heated they will react in a way that produces brown "melanoids" and different aromas and flavors, depending on the amino acids involved.

When cooking, this process can create hundreds of different aromas and flavoring compounds (as many as 600 have been found in the aroma of beef), and an array of colors. Knowing which acids and sugars combine to create specific flavors is the basis for making artificial flavors for food. In the human body, the study of these reactions may help understand problems related to diabetes and degenerative eye disease.

Sometimes, the caramelization of sugars is confused with the Maillard reaction, because they sometimes occur at the same time and produce similar effects. They are both "non-enzymatic browning", but the difference is that caramelization involves the breaking down of sugar with heat instead of reacting with amino acids. Oddly enough, caramel in candies made from milk and sugar isn't made entirely from caramelization of the sugars, since the proteins in the milk make Maillard reactions likely.

A simple experiment to demonstrate Maillard reactions would be to simply make some toast. Toasting bread is probably the most common example of these types of reactions.

See how toasting different types of breads, bagels vs english muffins,whole grain vs white, result in different smells and colors. Does the end of the loaf taste different from the middle? Does one smell better than another?

When you've finished examining the toast, spread some peanut butter on it (roasted peanuts are another good example) or some roasted meat (yes, that too) and enjoy.


When not cooking or chasing his son around the Museum of Discovery's Room to Grow, Justin develops software for a local consulting firm and rarely blogs at Yet Another Obligatory Wordpress Blog