Speeding up the maillard reaction

Browning of onions can be significantly speeded up by adding a pinch of baking soda (=sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO3). This time lapse video (10x) shows chopped onions being fried with and without baking soda, side by side for comparison.

You can read the accompanying blog post at http://blog.khymos.org/2008/09/26/speeding-up-the-maillard-reaction/

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Maillard
• reaction
• kitchen
• science
• pH
• molecular
• gastronomy
• onions
• browning
• frying
• time
• lapse

[malayrojak]

khymos, until i saw the pictures at the end of the sample times I thought you were eating spoonfuls of it :).

[4Chef20]

The browning of onions is the process of Caramelization, not a Mailard Reaction. A Mailard Reaction occurs in meats between the amino acids and the reducing sugars.

[atticuzz89]

@4Chef20

Nice one chef, you are right. Except that browning onions is a mailard reaction.

[Simplon007]

Very interesting video, thank you. I also thought 'why does that guy eat the oignons all the time?' :-) Kind regards from Alsace. Christian.

[ZeRoO4478]

@OZMS1518 i'm not a chef, not completelly, but thanks for the date i will apply it

[OZMS1518]

@ZeRoO4478

Wrong Chef

[OZMS1518]

@ZeRoO4478

Chef? You are wrong

[OZMS1518]

@ZeRoO4478

Wrong

[azdgariarada]

I'd be interested in a taste test comparison between the baking soda method and a normal batch of caramelized onions, once they both reach the same level of caramelization.

Will the average person be able to taste the baking soda?

[4Chef20]

@ZeRoO4478 Maillard reaction: results from a chemical reaction between an amino acid and a reducing sugars. How ever, unlike the Maillard reaction, Caramelization is a pyrolysis reaction, as opposed to reaction with amino acids.

[ZeRoO4478]

@4Chef20 you're wrong man, caramelization is the same as the maillard reaction ._.

[AlcatrazPornSociety]

@4Chef20 its both, it does caramelise but it also does contain amino acids which produce the maillard reaction