So yes, caramelization is a little science-y. (Think caramelized onions.) High, dry heat is the quickest ticket to perfect caramelization and a crispy exterior. If you try to caramelize a vegetable in a 300° oven or over a medium-low flame, you’ll end up with caramelization eventually, but it will take a long time to get there. And caramelization also needs high heat to happen quickly. Caramelization can only happen in dry heat, which means you can’t caramelize while steaming, blanching, boiling, or cooking with a sous vide machine.

There are two things you need to keep in mind when you want to caramelize something. This is why there should always be a sweet component, like honey, brown sugar, molasses, or regular sugar, in a marinade or glaze.

Glazes work the same way, thickening and developing deep, sweet flavor when brushed onto the outside of browned meats. This is a result of protein breakdown, not sugars browning, and it’s called the Maillard Reaction.) When we make marinades for meats, what we’re really doing is coating them in a mixture that will start to caramelize as soon as it’s exposed to high heat. (Side note: Browning, which looks similar to caramelization, can still happen in foods that don’t caramelize, like meats, eggs, bread, and dairy. While caramelization does happen with natural sugars, adding another sugary substance to whatever you’re cooking can help jump-start things a bit for foods that have either a low sugar content or no sugar at all.

Bake dredge cooking definition