The Science of BBQ - How to Build an Umami Bomb
Learning about the culinary world in a scientific way; the how and the why of the way we prepare and cook food through the science of BBQ is a fascinating journey. This article is all about how to successfully build an umami bomb, creating umami synergy in the foods you prepare. Doing this guarantees fantastic tasting foods and very satisfied guests. Try the umami-rich BBQ recipe in our feature image - Steak with Umami-Salt and Caesar Salad tonight!
What is Umami?
In 1908, Dr. Kikunae Ikeda, of the University of Tokyo noted that there was a distinct taste more than just salty in his dashi stock (a broth of dried kelp and bonito). He surmised, then proved, that there was a fifth taste. One that lingers on the tongue and satisfies in ways that the other four tastes didn’t. Umami. Translating to the “essence of deliciousness” this word is derived from the Japanese word Umai or tasty. Umami wasn’t accepted as legitimate until scientists discovered that there were specific taste receptors for Umami in the mouth.
Umami Descriptors
As we are just beginning to understand this flavor itself, here are some words that describe Umami in a dish.
- Richness
- Savory
- Meaty
- Depth of flavor
- Full-bodied
- Dimensional
- Mouthwatering
- Mouthfeel
- Warmth
- Well balanced
- Complex
The combination of grilled ingredients, dried peppers, and the addition of cheese to this Elevated Carne Asada dish creates some bombastic umami.
How to Build an Umami Bomb
The Building Blocks of Umami
Glutamate is the main building block when it comes to Umami. It is a naturally occurring amino acid that is found in many foods and even the human body. It is nonessential, which means we can make it ourselves too, and is a key component to cellular metabolism, the physical act of tasting within the tongue, and of neurotransmission.
Alone, glutamate doesn’t do much, it doesn’t even really have much umami flavor. The protein chain it is within must be broken through processing to create free glutamic acid. But, to create that strong umami flavor, these free glutamic acids need to be paired with the nucleotide compounds inosinate and guanylate.
Protein doesn’t actually have a taste. Only when proteins are broken down and the resultant amino acid chains disintegrate do you gain flavor, hence cooking, aging, and other means of food processing are used to increase the deliciousness of food.
The Flavor of Umami
Glutamate creates a salty-like flavor, only deeper. Things like soy sauce, tomatoes, meat, and anchovies have high levels of naturally occurring glutamate. Nucleotide umami compounds come in the form of inosinate which is largely found in meat as well as green tea and even vegemite. Guanylate can be found in dried mushrooms, seaweed, and seafood.
When you combine glutamate with inosinate or guanylate-rich foods a flavor explosion, an umami bomb if you will, is created. This synergy of umami compounds is not new. Many cultures have been creating umami-rich foods for centuries. Combining foods high in protein with those high in nucleotide glutamates comes naturally and can be ingrained in a country’s mother dishes. Examples include kombu with bonito in Japan, onions, celery, and carrots (mirepoix) with beef in French cuisine, tomato sauce with cheese or meat from Italy, and cheddar cheese with ground beef in America.
The umami of an ingredient can be increased through processing. Simply allowing certain foods to ripen can increase the umami, however, processing can be as complicated as fermentation and low and slow cooking techniques. Steak and cheese are prime examples of using aging to increase umami. Freshly cut meat is bland and metallic. Aging for at least 10 days will ensure that the glutamic acid increases by at least 15 percent. Dry aging can increase this percentage even more. Fermented ingredients like miso and Worcestershire sauce, cured meats, and especially cheese experience a very similar transformation.
Irish Beef Stew
An amazing example of umami would be this grill recipe for Irish Beef Stew. Not only does it utilize mirepoix and beef, but slow cooking to extract flavor and provide tenderness to the beef. This meal is easy and freezes well for fast, weeknight dinners too.
How to Identify Umami
Identifying umami isn’t easy as we’ve been conditioned all of our lives to identify only the four main tastes, sweet, salty, bitter, and sour. However, umami is gaining ground as the fifth taste. How do you identify it though?
When you taste a meal that has high levels of umami synergy, it will coat the tongue, stimulating the roof of your mouth and the back of the throat. Umami leaves a long-lasting, pleasurable aftertaste. Umami leads to increased salivation through its scent. Every bite of food you take will be satisfying. Scientifically speaking, this is because the transmitters that detect salt and umami are not the same so you are getting a double whammy of sensation when you eat something with loads of umami.
Pantry Staples that Will Add Umami to a Dish
Umami can stimulate appetite and contribute to feeling satisfaction from eating. Including one of these in your next meal, especially if you taste it and find it lacking, will add umami to your next meal. Ketchup, miso paste, truffle oil, ranch, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, fish sauce, dashi, tomato paste, anchovies, and dried mushrooms.
Butter Chicken Parmesan
In this recipe for Butter Chicken Parmesan, the combination of cashews, tomatoes, and butter creates an umami-filled sauce, while the cheese and tomato-based sauce combine for an even larger flavor explosion.
MSG - Instant Umami
MSG, or Monosodium Glutamate is the sodium salt of glutamic acid. It is the king of flavor. Vilified as bad for one’s health in the 1960s, these claims were never actually properly tested or researched. Studies have since concluded that there are no short-term or long-lasting side effects due to the consumption of foods containing MSG, although the FDA has not changed MSG’s ranking from generally recognized as safe (GRAS) even though it is identified by the EU as a permitted food additive.
MSG used to be created by extracting the crystalized MSG from seaweed broth, it is now gathered by harvesting the fermented starch from sugar cane, molasses, and beets. MSG, when added to your meal, can cause an explosion of taste. It is an instant umami creator. MSG is water soluble; the salt will enhance things by providing that salty flavor, while the glutamate finds and bonds to the nucleotide umami compounds – inosinate and guanylate - creating instant umami. This means that MSG can reduce salt consumption while retaining the intense flavors that you love if not improving the flavor of your meal. This is due to the fact that there is 1/3 sodium to 2/3 glutamate in MSG. Learn more about Salt.
Chinese Grilled Duck Breast with Fried Rice
A pinch of MSG would elevate this already umami-rich dish to whole new levels. Try this easy Chinese-style Duck Breast Fried Rice for dinner tonight.
Share your Umami-filled Recipes with Us!
Learning about the science of BBQ, about the why and how you cook the way you do is amazing. It can increase your knowledge of the foods you eat and how you are preparing them. You may already be creating umami instinctively; however, did you learn more about how to build a better umami bomb when cooking? Share your umami-filled recipes for the grill, photos, and stories with us on social pages like Facebook and Tiktok pages using the hashtags #NapoleonEats and #NapoleonGrills.
Show us what you are grilling
Join the #NapoleonEats Community on Social
#NapoleonEats
@NapoleonProducts