The secret to instant caramelization?!
Everyone says properly caramelizing food takes time, but that doesn’t make sense to me. If you combine something extremely hot with something equally cold, the temperatures should cancel each other out while leaving only the browning. Ergo, instant caramelization.
I believe the secret is getting the hot-to-cold ratio exactly right.
If my calculations are correct:
Pan Heat divided by Food Cold times the available Surface Area(squared) = Maillard Constant
The problem is that I don’t know whether I should measure the pan and food by temperature, mass, or both? The degrees in farenheit and negative farenheit should cancel each other out leaving only the food in the pan to equal instant caramelization. Last night I tried a 450°F pan with 0°F food, but the temperature differential was 450, which is obviously not zero. (I had a fire extinguisher on hand to put out my cabinets.) Tonight I’m trying a 450°F pan with food at exactly −450°F so the thermal integers align perfectly.
Please don’t tell me caramelization “takes time.” Time is just another variable, and I have already removed it from my equation.
Before you warn me about my experiment, rest assured. I have already preheated the smoke alarm.