Been doing a bit more reading on this over the last couple of weeks.
So barls, did you go with using any lime, etc to alkalise the syrup as you were heating it? (as well as using DAP, of course)
From the reading i've covered, the way to go seems to be like that described in Ryan Brews (as per the link in maggot brain's post above (#8)), or in a link in the thread Lael mentions in his post above (#9)
i.e.: using something to alkalise the mix as you start to heat it, like slaked lime (calcium hydroxide).
I'm undecided as to what is the better technique.
Using DAP/yeast nutrient makes sense & seems to fit the chemistry the best.
Alkalising this mix also seems to make sense & best fit the chemistry - Maillard reactions occur best under alkaline conditions, and i'm not sure if the DAP/Yeast nutrient would be enough to raise the pH sufficiently.
The real question in my mind is whether you do an initial step using acid, before adding the DAP/Nutrient + Alkalising agent. The point of this is to invert the sugar - ie: split the sucrose/maltose into glucose & fructose, or at least some of it. This also seems to make the best sense in terms of the chemistry - you need reducing sugars (i.e.: glucose/fructose) to participate in the Maillard reactions. Heat by itself will do a bit of this, but an acid greatly improves the rate/yield. What convinced me to do this step is that it's reported from a few sources that the Belgians use Hydrochloric acid (plus a base/alkaliser, plus amino acid or DAP/Yeast Nutrient) in their process.
Link is here of one of the sources, and the entry is near the bottom. The important bit is:
"
Hi Dennis! Great work here. Reminds me of what I went thru in 2004. Finally I went to Belgium and learned all there is to know(mostly) about Candi Sugar. Anyway, I think I can add a few things. 1- Candi Sugar starts with refined white sugar. Cane or Beet is used depending on current prices. 2- Sugar and water are heated with HCL to invert. Then a base is added and continued heating. Then the secret amino is added. When the solution is at the desired flavor and color it is poured into large metal containers and metal plates are lowered into the syrup. During cooling, rock sugar is formed on the plates. After the rock sugar plates are removed, the leftover syrup is mixed with invert syrup and sold as candi syrup. 3- The total percentage of caramelized syrup present in the candi syrup is aprox 4%. This accounts for high fermentability of the candi syrup and nice pleasing flavor. The base syrup is not so."
Interesting stuff.
(I've read through Lael's links, and i'm not sure which process he follows exactly, by the way.)
So i'm inclined to think the best process (amounts yet to be determined) is:
1) Mix sugar + water + acid. (sugar would probably be at least partly dark/muscavado, etc)
2) Heat for 30mins or so
3) Carefully add enough base/lime/lye to neutralise the acid and raise the pH to a high enough level. Start heating.
4) Add DAP/Nutrient.
5) Heat to chosen temp (e.g.: 280 or 290°C) and basically follow the regime in barls's OP
Thoughts??
Or is everyone already doing this and i'm just a bit slow? :unsure:
Another question is whether i could bypass the acid/inverting step by using either Lyle's Golden syrup or Glucose syrup as all or part of the sugar component. Again, thoughts?
Oh, and one last one, could egg white/albumin be used as the source of amino acids - it's mainly just protein, and should provide ample amino acids for the required Maillard reactions. The big issue here is whether the resulting Maillard compounds taste good or terrible.
