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Caramelisation

The breakdown of sugar by heat alone into colour, aroma and bitterness.

160–180 °C (320–356 °F)

What it is

Sugar melts, then decomposes into hundreds of fragments — nutty, buttery, fruity, and finally bitter. It happens without any protein present, which is what separates it from the Maillard reaction, though in most cooking the two run together.

Why it works

Different sugars start at different temperatures — fructose well below sucrose — so honey and fruit colour sooner than granulated sugar. Past a certain point the bitter fragments dominate, and the window between deep and burnt is narrow.

When to use it

Caramel, dulce de leche, roast root vegetables, caramelised onions, toasted sugar in desserts.

What goes wrong

Stirring a dry caramel, which makes it crystallise; walking away in the last thirty seconds; assuming that browned onions are caramelised when most of that flavour is Maillard.

Meridian cooking encyclopedia — Watchman Productions

More on this shelf

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  • Collagen and gelatin Why tough cuts become tender and rich with long, moist cooking.
  • Fermentation Controlled microbial transformation of food, and the conditions that keep it controlled.
  • Gluten development How two wheat proteins become the elastic network that holds bread together.
  • How heat sets protein Why an egg becomes solid, fish flakes, and meat goes from translucent to opaque.
  • Smoke point The temperature at which a fat starts to break down visibly, and why it matters less than it is said to.
  • Starch gelatinisation The swelling and bursting of starch granules in hot water, which thickens sauces and cooks grains.
  • The Maillard reaction The reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars that browns food and creates hundreds of new flavour compounds.