Quote: Most everything else could be slathered on after brining since it only impacts the surface layer.
- sugar - there is a 'sweetness' impact of course, but you could better add that after cooking without all the waste.
The surface sugars are necessary to create those tasty Maillard reactions that are part of 'bark' as well as the crust on a pan sear. [ Despite what you read - the browning of an untreated seared steak is NOT Maillard reaction, since there are virtually no carbohydrates there. That's the breakdown of fats and proteins into frond]. We'd all be a bit better off using glucose or fructose rather than sucrose (table sugar, cane sugar, beet sugar, the stuff in molasses) if Maillard reactions are the goal.
FYI...
One of the most important flavor-producing reactions in cooking is the Maillard reaction. It is sometimes called the “browning reaction” in discussions of cooking, but that description is incomplete at best. Cooked meats, seafood, and other protein-laden foods that undergo the Maillard reaction
do turn brown, but there are other reactions that also cause browning. The Maillard reaction creates brown pigments in cooked meat in a very specific way: by rearranging amino acids and certain simple sugars, which then arrange themselves in rings and collections of rings that reflect light in such a way as to give the meat a brown color.
The important thing about the Maillard reaction isn’t the color, it’s the flavors and aromas. Indeed, it should be called “the flavor reaction,” not the “browning reaction.” The molecules it produces provide the potent aromas responsible for the characteristic smells of roasting, baking, and frying. What begins as a simple reaction between amino acids and sugars quickly becomes very complicated: the molecules produced keep reacting in ever more complex ways that generate literally hundreds of various molecules. Most of these new molecules are produced in incredibly minute quantities, but that doesn’t mean they’re unimportant.
http://modernistcuisine.com/2013/03/the-maillard-reaction/
Quote:
et me suggest something a bit radical tho' obvious. Most spices & especially herbs fade with heat. Anyone who's added basil to a tomato sauce then simmered for ~10 minutes realizes the basil flavor is lost, oregano less-so. I don't have any organized knowledge of the individual spice/herb heat issues, but my experience suggests:
- paprika & cayenne - can take a lot of heat and retain all the 'hotness' and 'smokiness', but everything else fades.
- black pepper - fades significantly at the boiling point - but isn't lost.
- onion & garlic - change when heated (more like roast onion/garlic - mellow not 'sharp'). The granulated and 'salt' forms taste weird to start with.
- oregano & celery seed - nearly lost in the heat.
- cumin - like basil you can cook this out of a chili sauce at the boiling point in a few minutes, very unstable.
- mustard/horseradish - certainly loses a lot of heat during cooking.
- the flavor of clove & allspice (in part eugenol) can
reportedly penetrate meat. this molecule is a bit smaller than glucose and more mobile, and less polar. It's also thermally stable tho' it will
boil ~500F. I'm not a big fan of this flavor - well maybe a LITTLE in ham, but it could survive a smoker.
- ginger - I've
read it can stand heat, but it's nothing I'm very interested in.
If you were Culinary educated or worked with a professional Chef you would know that the end result in cooking is greater than the sum of the parts. Herbs and Spices impart their flavors and although volatile DO NOT evaporate or decompose completely, they do change in flavor. Chef's take advantage of this to " Layer " flavors adding herbs and spices both at the beginning and the end of the cooking process depending on the desired flavor profile. Cumin cooks out at the boiling point...Very unstable? Have you never eaten a well made Chili that has cooked for hours? The flavor Cumin imparts is quite strong but over time mellows. In any event it is most definitely still there. Paprika fades? You must not have made or eaten Chicken Paprikash. Simmers for an hour and is full of Paprika flavor. Every Pro I ever met adds Black Pepper multiple times through out the cooking process to take advantage of it's multiple flavors released as it cooks. Oregano nearly lost? Tell Italian Grandma's that when they spend all day simmering the pot of Sunday Gravy the flavor of Oregano is nearly lost. It's not. You got Basil right. But the Pro's add the stems at the beginning and the leaves at the end of a cook. Two completely different flavors
Steve, I am so disappointed... I spent all that money on Culinary School, working in the industry for years learning from many Pro's including Certified Master Chefs and taught hundreds of students...And all I had to do was read a couple of books and watch Alton Brown...JJ
BTW...Becoming a Pro Chef was my second career. My first career was in Electrical Engineering...I ACED Bio 101. Physics was more challenging, got B's and C's...