Caramelisation and Dextrinisation Flashcards
Why don’t you need to add sugar to the pan to caramelise onions?
Because they have natural sugar in them.
What is the first sign of onions caramelising?
They turn soft
Is Dextrin a monosaccharide, disaccharide or a polysaccharide?
Polysaccharide
How is Dextrin formed?
By the baking/toasting/grilling of foods with carbohydrates in
Name a food with Dextrin in it
Cake, toast, pastry, bread e.t.c.
What 3 things do you need to caramelise something?
Oil, sugar and heat
Why do foods go black when burnt?
Because the hydrogen and oxygen evaporate off as steam, leaving the carbon behind (which is black in colour).
Why do foods taste like charcoal when burnt?
Charcoal is mostly pure carbon so that is why burnt foods taste of charcoal because the oxygen and hydrogen have evaporated leaving only carbon.
Describe what the different stages of onion caramelisation look like
White, shrunken, golden, golden brown and really shrunken.
Name the range of colours Dextrinisation can turn foods
Yellow, dark yellow, golden, amber, dark amber, black.
Name the different flavours you will get from caramelisation and how long you you have to cook it to get them
Cook for a short time (yellow) - very sweet
Cook for medium time (till amber) - toffee/caramel flavour
Cook for long time (black) - bitter
What can you not do when making caramel?
Stir otherwise large lumps form
True or False - You can use caramel to make sugar work decorations?
True
