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my favorite trick regarding the Maillard reaction: use baking soda to speed it up [1] [1]https://blog.khymos.org/2012/06/04/maximizing-food-flavor-by-speeding-u

by wolfi1 6y ago

my favorite trick regarding the Maillard reaction: use baking soda to speed it up [1] [1]https://blog.khymos.org/2012/06/04/maximizing-food-flavor-by-speeding-up-the-maillard-reaction/ https://blog.khymos.org/2012/06/04/maximizing-food-flavor-by...

ryandamm 6y ago
That's especially effective in a pressure cooker, where the elevated pressure and increased temperature allows the Maillard reaction to proceed in water phase. But be careful; I've noticed that if you use too much baking soda, you can get odd flavors — like squash tasting like pretzels.
- ReptileMan 6y ago
  Well - high temperatures, alkaline reagents and fats - this seems like a good way to get tiny amounts of something soap like. But your sauce will be emulsified to perfection.
vosper 6y ago
You can also bake baking soda to make it extra alkaline. It makes a big difference for pretzels. There's not a huge difference between baked baking soda and the traditional lye, IME.
- anfractuosity 6y ago
  That's interesting re pretzels, not heard that before :) Do you have a recipe you follow?
  - jihadjihad 6y ago
    This article is a good overview of the science, and includes a recipe: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/dining/15curious.html https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/dining/15curious.html
    - anfractuosity 6y ago
      Thanks, that's really interesting, and about baking the bicarbonate too.
  - vosper 6y ago
    I like to make my pretzels with sourdough starter discard, because I think the sourness adds a lot to what’s an otherwise fairly bland bread (you could argue it’s the dips that make the pretzel, though!) I do this (makes 3 medium pretzels, enough for my wife and I to share) 40g sourdough starter discard 85g any beer (or water) 1 tsp each salt, yeast, sugar 160gm white flour 2 tbsp butter I warm up the beer and butter until the butter’s just melted (not too hot, don’t boil it). Add the yeast, starter, and sugar. Give it a good stir. In a decent-sized bowl add the flour and salt, then add the liquids. Give it a good mix with a wooden spoon. The dough should be just wet enough that there are no dry bits in the bowl, and it should all glom together easily. This is not a wet dough; I find about 58% hydration to be good. If it’s sticking to your fingers it’s probably too wet. Take the dough out of the bowl, give it a bit of a knead (a few minutes should be fine, it should be fairly stiff to start with and easy to knead). Form it into a ball and chuck it in an oiled bowl, let it rise for at least an hour, then take it out and mercilessly squish the dough. You want the flavour of the fermentation, but not the airiness. Pretzels should be fairly dense. No prize for big air bubbles here. Form the pretzels (youtube, it’s easy) and put them on parchment/baking paper that’s been oiled/buttered. Chuck em in the fridge or freezer, they’re easier to handle when cold. If using lye, make a 3% mix (30gm lye per litre of water; 1 litre should be enough) and when the pretzels are cold and stiff dunk them in the lye water for a minute each. Drain them and move them back to the parchment paper (might be good to oil it again) and give them a good dabbing with a paper towel to dry off the surface a bit. If you don’t the salt flakes you’re about to sprinkle will soak into the dough. Sprinkle salt flakes (you do want flakes not normal table salt). Chuck into a 200C oven on fan bake (or just bottom element) for 6-8 minutes until just past golden brown. Be sure to check on them, all ovens are different.
- MisterBastahrd 6y ago
  I believe some people use this to make ramen noodles, too.
- yellowapple 6y ago
  I wonder if that'll work for nixtamalization? Normally you need lye to make e.g. hominy (and thus grits, corn tortillas, grits, tamales, grits, masa, etc... did I mention grits?), but any alkaline should theoretically work, so I might have to give this a whirl.
ars 6y ago
But how do you get rid of the baking soda flavor afterward? I've tried recipes that advocated some baking soda, but even though I followed the instructions to the letter, the end result just had the terrible flavor.

by wolfi1 6y ago

ryandamm 6y ago

That's especially effective in a pressure cooker, where the elevated pressure and increased temperature allows the Maillard reaction to proceed in water phase. But be careful; I've noticed that if you use too much baking soda, you can get odd flavors — like squash tasting like pretzels.

ReptileMan 6y ago
Well - high temperatures, alkaline reagents and fats - this seems like a good way to get tiny amounts of something soap like. But your sauce will be emulsified to perfection.

vosper 6y ago

You can also bake baking soda to make it extra alkaline. It makes a big difference for pretzels. There's not a huge difference between baked baking soda and the traditional lye, IME.

anfractuosity 6y ago
That's interesting re pretzels, not heard that before :) Do you have a recipe you follow?
- jihadjihad 6y ago
  This article is a good overview of the science, and includes a recipe: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/dining/15curious.html https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/dining/15curious.html
  - anfractuosity 6y ago
    Thanks, that's really interesting, and about baking the bicarbonate too.
- vosper 6y ago
  I like to make my pretzels with sourdough starter discard, because I think the sourness adds a lot to what’s an otherwise fairly bland bread (you could argue it’s the dips that make the pretzel, though!) I do this (makes 3 medium pretzels, enough for my wife and I to share) 40g sourdough starter discard 85g any beer (or water) 1 tsp each salt, yeast, sugar 160gm white flour 2 tbsp butter I warm up the beer and butter until the butter’s just melted (not too hot, don’t boil it). Add the yeast, starter, and sugar. Give it a good stir. In a decent-sized bowl add the flour and salt, then add the liquids. Give it a good mix with a wooden spoon. The dough should be just wet enough that there are no dry bits in the bowl, and it should all glom together easily. This is not a wet dough; I find about 58% hydration to be good. If it’s sticking to your fingers it’s probably too wet. Take the dough out of the bowl, give it a bit of a knead (a few minutes should be fine, it should be fairly stiff to start with and easy to knead). Form it into a ball and chuck it in an oiled bowl, let it rise for at least an hour, then take it out and mercilessly squish the dough. You want the flavour of the fermentation, but not the airiness. Pretzels should be fairly dense. No prize for big air bubbles here. Form the pretzels (youtube, it’s easy) and put them on parchment/baking paper that’s been oiled/buttered. Chuck em in the fridge or freezer, they’re easier to handle when cold. If using lye, make a 3% mix (30gm lye per litre of water; 1 litre should be enough) and when the pretzels are cold and stiff dunk them in the lye water for a minute each. Drain them and move them back to the parchment paper (might be good to oil it again) and give them a good dabbing with a paper towel to dry off the surface a bit. If you don’t the salt flakes you’re about to sprinkle will soak into the dough. Sprinkle salt flakes (you do want flakes not normal table salt). Chuck into a 200C oven on fan bake (or just bottom element) for 6-8 minutes until just past golden brown. Be sure to check on them, all ovens are different.
MisterBastahrd 6y ago
I believe some people use this to make ramen noodles, too.
yellowapple 6y ago
I wonder if that'll work for nixtamalization? Normally you need lye to make e.g. hominy (and thus grits, corn tortillas, grits, tamales, grits, masa, etc... did I mention grits?), but any alkaline should theoretically work, so I might have to give this a whirl.

ars 6y ago

But how do you get rid of the baking soda flavor afterward? I've tried recipes that advocated some baking soda, but even though I followed the instructions to the letter, the end result just had the terrible flavor.