Does dairy-based marinade increase the amount of browning (Maillard reaction) in meats?
On Food and Cooking mentions that the Maillard reaction begins with a carbohydrate molecules and amino-acids. Dairy products are rich in carbohydrates and meats are rich in amino acids.
I wonder whether soaking meat in a dairy-based marinade (sour cream is a popular ingredient) amplifies that tasty browning during grilling.
Best Answer
Two things that encourage Maillard reactions are more heat and higher PH. Modernist cuisine has instructions to caramelise food in water using a pressure cooker and baking soda. Baking soda can taste soapy. You can also look to non-flavored antacid from the chemist and something used in asian noodle making called alkaline salts or lye water.
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Quick Answer about "Does dairy-based marinade increase the amount of browning (Maillard reaction) in meats?"
Adding dairy to your marinade you increase the aminoacid level on something that is not the meat, so you add "competition" on substrate level on your Maillard reaction. It also adds more "incorporated" liquid to your meat, making it more likely to cook than sear.How do you increase Maillard reaction?
High-temperature cooking speeds up the Maillard reaction because heat both increases the rate of chemical reactions and accelerates the evaporation of water. As the food dries, the concentration of reactant compounds increases and the temperature climbs more rapidly.What are the factors affecting the rate of Maillard reactions?
The course of Maillard reaction is strongly affected by factors which influence the different chemical reactions involved. These include temperature, time, water activity, reactant source, and concentration (5), the type and ratio of reducing sugar (6,7), amino acids (7,8), pH (9), and food composition (10,11).What causes browning of meat?
As meat ages it turns brown from oxidation. The oxidation process is a result of the bound iron molecule in myoglobin going from the ferrous to ferric form. This produces what is called metmyoglobin. Metmyoglobin is the cause of the characteristic brown coloration of meat that occurs as it ages.Which ingredient increases a baked products browning?
Adding a pinch of baking soda accelerates the browning process, without burning the onions, and their flavor is greatly enhanced in the process.Why the Maillard Reaction Makes Everything Delicious
More answers regarding does dairy-based marinade increase the amount of browning (Maillard reaction) in meats?
Answer 2
The answer to your question is "not really".
As you mentioned in the question, Maillard reaction begins with carbohydrates and aminoacids. Meat is rich in aminoacids, so you don't need to add it to your recipe, it is already there.
If you want to increase the Maillard reaction, you need to use a marinade that is rich in carbohydrates, the simpler the better. This is the reason why sugar, honey, syrup, apples, orange juice and similar ingredients are very popular in meat marinades.
Adding dairy to your marinade you increase the aminoacid level on something that is not the meat, so you add "competition" on substrate level on your Maillard reaction. It also adds more "incorporated" liquid to your meat, making it more likely to cook than sear.
The other answer mentions upping the pH with antiacid or lye water, I recommend doing this with caution, especially if we're talking about a meat that contains a lot of fat. Lye water is very basic and it is also used with lard or oil to produce soap. (Which is the degradation of the fat in fatty acid + glicerol and then the formation of a salt with the fatty acid and the base)
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