Duvel

I was not making a point for the reverse sear method, I was trying to utilize Kenji‘s way of describing the things going on on the surface of a piece of meat at low-ish (120 oC) temperatures to get my point across. Maybe it’s simply a lack of English skills on my side, so I thought I borrow from a popular author. In any case: I‘ve tried with the little patience I have left at the end of the working day to help you to get where you want. Of course, you can freely choose your course of action, and I am sure you will post your results here to advance the discussion, that seemingly can’t be concluded without your experiment. Good luck !

Now you are getting me confused: are you asking your initial question for a piece of meat that is already seared and browned, so it has undergone Maillard reaction already ?

I am really trying to get you there: please read this explanation on the reverse sear technique to understand how your desired conditions will affect the surface chemistry of your roast/chicken breast/tofu cube … https://www.seriouseats.com/reverse-seared-steak-recipe TL;DR: Moral of the story: Moisture is the biggest enemy of a good sear, so any process that can reduce the amount of surface moisture on a steak is going to improve how well it browns and crisps—and, by extension, minimize the amount of time it spends in the pan, thus minimizing the amount of overcooked meat underneath. It's a strange irony that to get the moistest possible results, you should start with the driest possible steak.

You know what: try it. Liquid and dry rub. Make pictures. Afterwards, you‘ll owe me a pizza. Well browned.

I answered it, maybe in too indirect way: You‘ll unlikely get a decent Maillard reaction on the surface of your roast/chicken breast/tofu cube at 120 oC and 4h when you employ a wet marinade containing free amino acids and sugar. You‘ll get a bit of yellowing. Your only chance is to eliminate the accompanying surface water by employing a dry rub. As you unlikely will be using powdered AAs your best chance is to generate these in situ by increasing the surface pH using alkaline salts. Go and try it out.

Which I understand, given the irrelevance to the current subject and the predictable outcome. But are you actually interested in getting a decent Maillard reaction going at ~20 oC below the actual onset, or do you just want to get approval for your idea(s) with the liquid aminos ?

Lazy streak continues: salmon burger with sauce remoulade, salad, pickles and tomatoes on a (commercial) brioche bun, accompanied by some nachos (too lazy to make even oven fries) … Yet, no complaints 🤗

You are not really interested in actual feedback, are you ?

The Maillard reaction is at least a bimolecular reaction (sugar, amino acids), in reality probably of an even higher order. Therefore, the speed of the reaction is proportional to the concentration of each of the reactants (“the more often they meet each other, the faster they can react”). So, the smart way is to employ your reactive mixture without additional dilution. Have you ever tried to brown a steak in a wet pan !? Faster than ..? Faster than dry heat at the same heat transfer coefficient ? How do you compare and to what ? First, I’d call that anecdotal evidence. Second, the bark on pastrami is comprised of herbs, spices and smoke. There is surely some Maillard going on, but as you have dismissed other ways to create a browned exterior upthread, I would not use that example here.

I’d reckon you’ll get better results with a mixture of icing sugar & baking soda as a rub/dusting. To achieve a decent Maillard reaction you’ll need to get rid of the water in your spritz, and at low temperatures this takes some time. Better employ dry ingredients; the baking soda with partially dissolve the surface proteins, delivering the amino acids to react with the sugar.

No, I haven’t. Sounds like an idea, though … I’ll give it a try next time - thanks 🤗

Din Tai Fung ?

Weekday dinner: oven-roasted chicken, Greek salad and rosemary garlic potatoes …

Room temperature … sorry, old laboratory lingo 🤭

Salt will penetrate the olives. The brine and the olives will equilibrate over the course of time, and having commercial olives in a jar this process has been completed. You can check the salt content of the jar - 2% will be adequate. If you are lacking flavor you can add things to adhere to the olives, like a marinade. Oil & spices will flavor the surface at maximum, but most likely only modify the initial taste, not the olive itself. What works for me is a mixture of olive oil, smashed dried tomatoes, “some” garlic (if yours aren’t saturated already), some chili, pinch of MSG and a pinch of sugar. 30 min at RT and you are good to serve …

I am a bit confused: aren’t thise olives already brined/pickled, when you get them ? And then you desalinated them only to brine them again ? What am I missing ?

Legit 🤗

Gesundheit 🤗

Yeap - even worse: not only the urge to eat, but the urge to think of, prepare and finally ace the preparation of … it’s rough 😱

Lazy Friday: picked up some boxes of sushi … It’s ok-ish. Some of the big rolls are not too popular in my family, so I started to top them with kewpie, broil/torch them and add a bit furikake. Adds moisture & umami and makes them pretty quickly disappear 🤗 Plus some soba in cold mentsuyu, with an 4 min egg and sesame/spring onion topping … No complaints 😉

I think nutritional yeast is more related to good skin condition than overall energy. It does, however, comes with a few side effects, e.g. sometimes turns your hair into unusual colors and promotes affinity to frozen foods …

The breakfast of champions …

“Indian” themed dinner … Raita, yellow lentil dhal, palak paneer, pickled chili cukes, lamb curry and freshly made garlic naan … Enjoyed with an IPA (see what I did there 😝 ?) Little one had different plans and got onigiri, topped with smoked salmon & kewpie, torched, and some furikake … No complaints 🤗

Really ? Including that picture-perfect playdoo egg ?! I challenge you to conduct a field study (with pictures of you and the KFC egg 😝)

Smart.