Caramelization vs. the Maillard reaction
Intermediate Kitchen science
Caramelization is sugar alone breaking down under heat; the Maillard reaction needs protein too, and the two often happen together.
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How do you do it?
- For caramel, heat sugar alone; table sugar starts to color around 320°F and turns bitter quickly past about 380°F.
- Expect foods with both protein and sugar, like onions, meat and bread, to brown mostly through Maillard at lower temperatures.
- Use honey, maple or fruit sugars carefully in glazes; fructose browns at lower heat and burns sooner than table sugar.
- Pull caramel off the heat a shade lighter than you want; the hot pan keeps darkening it.
Why does it work?
Caramelization needs no protein. Heated sugar molecules lose water and break into smaller pieces, which recombine into brown polymers and aromas like butterscotch, toffee and a pleasant bitterness. Table sugar (sucrose) needs much more heat for this than the Maillard reaction needs, which is why plain sugar stays white in a pan until it is very hot. Maillard browning comes from amino acids reacting with sugar and tastes more savory and roasted. So-called caramelized onions are mostly Maillard browning, helped along by some true caramelization of their sugars.
What are the common mistakes?
- Walking away from cooking sugar — it goes from amber to burnt in seconds.
- Calling every browning caramelization — leads you to add sugar where drying the surface would help.
Still stuck? Watch someone do it on YouTube.
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