Hey, So What IS The Maillard Reaction?

It’s Maillard.

Everywhere you see, anywhere you look, it’s Maillard. It’s the sizzle of that delicious piece of chicken breast on the pan, the beautifully nutty browned butter, the heavenly cookies baked to perfection in your oven, and even the simple cold beer that you crack open with the boys.

“It’s true,” said Grant Crilly, co-founder of ChefSteps and overall awesome guy, “it’s all Maillard.”

1. What is the Maillard Reaction?

The Maillard Reaction, named after Louis Camille Maillard, is a chain of complex and simultaneous chemical reactions which creates pigments, flavors, and aromas in cooked meat, baked goods, roasted coffee beans, beer, and even self-tanning lotions.

2. Why does it make us salivate?

a) Pigment

The Maillard Reaction rearranges amino acids and certain simple sugars in rings and collections of rings whose light reflects in a way that gives the food a brown color that is naturally appetizing.

b) Smell

As modern humans, we are almost legally obligated to know that browning and flavor come hand in hand: But the color of food is far from the only signifier of its flavor. Think about it: when you’re searing food or baking a batch of cookies; when you walk into a bakery or a coffee shop, when you return to a hearty home-cooked meal, you’re surrounded by it. Thanks to the molecules produced by the Maillard reaction, a potent, nutty, irresistible aroma is released, characteristic of roasting, baking, and frying.

It’s all Maillard

But why is the same reaction producing different smells? Why does a seared chicken breast produce a smokey, meaty smell, but a batch of browned butter soak your kitchen with its nutty, earthy scent?

Though Maillard occurs in all kinds of food, the simple sugars and proteins present will create different aromas. That’s why roasted coffee beans will never smell like freshly-baked bread.

3) Maillard Enhancers

a) Temperature & Moisture

The Maillard Reaction can take place at any temperature, yet is only noticeable at 120°C or higher. It is optimal in the range of 140-165°C. Since water evaporates beyond 100°C, in order to visibly notice the Maillard Reaction, we need mostly dry conditions. The higher the temperature, the faster the Maillard Reaction takes place as high temperatures accelerates the rate of chemical reactions and the evaporation of water in food. However, at above 180°C, a different set of reactions occurs: pyrolysis where molecules start to decompose (aka burning). So it is best to monitor the heat to achieve the best results.

b) pH level

Amine groups in amino acids often carry protons which they need to eliminate before reacting with simple sugars. Alkaline environments helps to deprotonate the amines, consequently boosting the Maillard Reaction. Chinese cooking, for example, often adds bicarbonate soda (baking soda) to food before cooking for this specific reason.