Why We Like Burgers

`At least most of us like burgers. It has a lot to do with the Maillard reaction. A scientific description of a cooking a burger.

“When the beef patty hits the hot grill, the water at the lower surface quickly boils away, producing a very thin, dry crust, actually a transparent gel, called the desiccation zone. Immediately above is the Maillard zone, where heat causes reactions among sugars and proteins that turn the meat brown, yielding molecules with an intrinsically appealing flavor — at least to most humans.”