rocketsurgeon
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Best food grade base for use as a catalyst in the Maillard reaction
Hey people, I am working on an little experiment with the Maillard reaction in onions. So far I have been using sodium bicarbonate and calcium
hydroxide as a basic catalyst.
here are my needs for the catalyst:
- needs to be a base (unless you have a better catalyst)
- must be food grade (must be edible)
- can't taste weird
- and has to be easy to get
these don't all have to be met except for food grade
and this will be done in a non-lab environment AKA my kitchen.
[Edited on 21-2-2014 by rocketsurgeon]
[Edited on 21-2-2014 by rocketsurgeon]
"there just a pile of idiots" rocket surgeon
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ZIGZIGLAR
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Is there any reason why sodium bicarbonate cannot be used? Baking soda is widely accepted as the best* catalyst for malliard reactions in the kitchen.
*You could easy get a stronger reaction from a more basic chemical, but you will run into health or taste based issues.
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hyfalcon
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Use pickling lime. Calcium hydroxide should work for you.
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rocketsurgeon
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thanks
I was asking this because I wanted to see if there were any other bases that would work as a catalyst.
would like me to document my process of making caramelized onions from a chemical standpoint ? (and yes bfesser I know this is not a cooking show)
"there just a pile of idiots" rocket surgeon
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ZIGZIGLAR
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I'll give your process a go on my Sunday omelette tomorrow, if I have the chems available, that is.
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rocketsurgeon
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baking soda
when you are cooking with the baking soda use less than 1tsp per onion. other wise they will taste horrible.
"there just a pile of idiots" rocket surgeon
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mnick12
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I messed around with this for a while, to see if I could make a good sauce without meat ( a ridiculous suggestion I know). I ended up roasting baking
soda in my oven at 500F for about an hour to make sodium carbonate. Cooked some onions in clarified butter until the began to sweat, drop the heat to
med-low and added about 1/2tsp of the carbonate. From here leave it on low or medium low for at least 20 or so minutes, to high of a heat and the
onions will dry out and burn. Once caramelized crank up the heat and de-glaze the pan with a little white or red wine add some garlic, rosemary, and
puree the onions. Add some starch if you want it thicker, and delicious!
rocketsurgeon's suggestion of not using to much soda is correct, it has a nasty flavor. Also don't add any additional salt there are plenty of sodium
ions in it. One thing I found is acidifying the reaction after you have reached the desired brown-ness acidifying really improves the flavor. I used
vinegar.
Also food is awesome.
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rocketsurgeon
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decrease the ph
I found that onions contain a natural ph indicator that turns green when basic.
to get rid of the green color I dilute some citric acid in water and add after the reaction.
"there just a pile of idiots" rocket surgeon
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bfesser
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On the subject of pH indicators and food, I've noticed something about blueberry juice that I've been wanting to ask about, but haven't found the
right time. I've noticed that the intensely violet juice that drains from previously frozen blueberries goes through a sudden color change to a faint
blue when I rinse it away with tap water.
I know that my tap water contains a bit of CaCO<sub>3</sub>(aq), but I don't know the approximate concentration. I'd expect it to be
mildly basic and I would expect the blueberry juice to be mildly acidic. I wonder if the color change is due to the colored compound(s) chelating
Ca<sup>2+</sup> or changing with pH. Either way, does anyone know what compound(s) from the blueberries would be responsible for this?
I've been meaning to do a lit. search, but haven't gotten around to it yet.
Next time I get some frozen blueberries, I'll try to remember to save a vial of the liquid to experiment with (NaOH(aq),
CaCl<sub>2</sub>(aq), etc.).
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Metacelsus
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthocyanin#Use_as_pH_indicato...
http://mn-stpaul.civicplus.com/DocumentCenter/View/1492
If your water has pH 8.93, then it is reasonable for the anthocyanins to change color.
[Edited on 23-2-2014 by Cheddite Cheese]
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zed
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The Maillard reaction is discussed regularly on episodes of "America's Test Kitchen". Blotting the surface of your onions before frying might be
helpful. Sugar is also an excellent material to encourage browning, as might be flour.
They have an episode wherein they make a delicious French Onion Soup via the Browning of Red/Purple Onions. It may/ or may not help you in your
current quest, but I've made that soup, and it is might good.
Individual recipes are available on line, or in their 2001-2014 Cookbook.
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