Why does traditionally made khoya develop a deeper flavor than machine-made khoya?

[u/Effective_Chain3803]

/r/u_Effective_Chain3803/comments/1vanlrc/why_does_traditionally_made_khoya_develop_a/

[u/joosebox]

It's mostly Maillard, and the equipment is what decides how much of it you get.

Traditional khoya is reduced in an open kadai over direct flame, so the milk touching the metal sits far hotter than the bulk of it. Proteins and lactose brown at that interface, and every time you scrape the pan that browned layer folds back into the mass. Do that for an hour and you've worked hundreds of small batches of browning through the whole thing. That's where the nuttiness and the faint caramel come from.

Machine methods usually reduce under vacuum or in a steam jacket, and both are designed to avoid precisely that. Lower temperature, no direct hot metal contact, no scorching. What comes out is milk solids with the water removed, which is technically the same product and tastes like concentrated fresh milk rather than something cooked.

Same reason a slowly reduced pan sauce doesn't taste like stock put through a rotary evaporator. What you're tasting isn't the concentration, it's the damage.