Happy Thanksgiving from the Reef Chemistry Forum!

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you have a great holiday!

I thought I'd give some info on a turkey topic that gets less air time than the usual tryptophan discussions...

Most people who eat turkey like to see it nicely browned. Here's what's happening when food is browned during roasting.

The brown color generally comes about from a series of reactions called the Maillard reaction.

At temperatures above 140 C, in one of these reactions, free amino groups (such as in proteins that contain lysine) can react with carbonyl groups in carbohydrates. These compounds then continue to decompose to a variety of colored and tasty compounds.

This article has a nicely detailed description of the process without being a pure science article:

Food Chemistry - What is The Maillard Reaction?

The Maillard reaction mechanism consists of a lot of different chemical reactions, we zoom in on the main steps, discussing some hard core chemistry!

foodcrumbles.com

Have a great day and Happy Reefing!

 

[Timfish]

Happy Thanksgiving! But I prefer my Maillard reactions occur in salmon.

 

[Reefering1]

Maillard reactions on everything for me!! Thanks for the chemist's explanation. Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

[TokenReefer]

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[Peace River]

Wow. You learn something everyday! I thought a maillard reaction happened when you got chased by a duck!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 

[kevgib67]

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you have a great holiday!

I thought I'd give some info on a turkey topic that gets less air time than the usual tryptophan discussions...

Most people who eat turkey like to see it nicely browned. Here's what's happening when food is browned during roasting.

The brown color generally comes about from a series of reactions called the Maillard reaction.

At temperatures above 140 C, in one of these reactions, free amino groups (such as in proteins that contain lysine) can react with carbonyl groups in carbohydrates. These compounds then continue to decompose to a variety of colored and tasty compounds.

This article has a nicely detailed description of the process without being a pure science article:

Food Chemistry - What is The Maillard Reaction?

The Maillard reaction mechanism consists of a lot of different chemical reactions, we zoom in on the main steps, discussing some hard core chemistry!

foodcrumbles.com

Have a great day and Happy Reefing!

Does that reaction only when you place turkey in your reef tank? I’m going to put mine in now behind my rock so I don’t knock any of my corals over. Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[FrugalReefer]

 

[jda]

My young adult kids helped more with the cooking yesterday. This was more like a science experiment than a culinary activity. So far, nobody serious hurt or injured.