Maillard Browning and Caramelization Differ

Photo by manfredrichter on Pixabay

Caramelization is the browning of sugars alone under heat, producing the nutty, faintly bitter-sweet notes in caramel or roasted onions. The Maillard reaction — the one responsible for a seared steak's crust or bread's golden top — involves a reaction between amino acids (from protein) and reducing sugars, and produces a much wider, more complex range of savory, toasty flavor compounds. Both need heat well above simmering to happen at any real speed, which is part of why boiling meat never produces a browned crust the way searing does.