Cooking & Baking

Last edited Sun Jun 7, 2026, 07:49 PM - Edit history (1)

...you really need to watch it. It goes from nicely browned to burnt pretty fast.
The browning is different than simple carmelization (which only requires sugars & butter only has a trace amount of sugar as lactose) because it involves the Maillard reaction. That involves the milk protein in the butter.
Once the moisture is gone we have 100% butterfat at quite high temperature so we toast/fry the milk solids, which is mostly a protein called casein.
Just like high heat turns the surface of meat dark brown on the grill, the protein denatures and begins to oxidize.
Changes the flavor profile dramatically.
Sorry to go so tech. I'm DU's friendly neighborhood organic chemist