Final lab session of our Food Chemistry class this year.
An experience of the effects of pH on browning reactions.
We make a variant of traditional soft pretzels, using a rather leaner formula than often used [for us no milk or eggs]. The loss of lactose from the milk and glucose from the egg might have contributed to our failure to get the same level of color development we saw last year when we used a full rich formula with egg and milk.
Still it is a great way to experience the effect of pH shift on the color and aroma generated by primarily Maillard browning, allthough at pH 14 in the 4% NaOH, other reactions are very likely.
2010 formulation
2009 formulation
A poolish is a 50:50 mixture of flour and water BY WEIGHT with about 0.1% of the flour weight as dried [instant] yeast [NO SALT] that is allowed to ferment around 16 hours before being added to the final dough.
OSU
A very nice experiment indeed – this is an excellent way of illustrating the effect of pH on the Maillard reaction!