Do I Need to Brown Beef for Stew

Many recipes, especially recipes for stews, kickoff by browning the meat in oil earlier adding the aromatics and the liquids. Why brown the meat? Surely, it will cook even if the browning process is skipped? Sure, it will. But you'll miss out on flavors.

Information technology isn't ever about "searing juices"

I used to believe all that crap about sealing in the juices if the meat is browned before it is braised or stewed — until I realized that there is a difference in the awarding of the browning and searing process vis a vis the retention of juices when cooking with large or small pieces of meat.

For example. Try putting a piece of roast or a whole chicken in an oven that has not been preheated and see how it cooks. And so, compare that with meat or chicken that was place in an oven that has been preheated to the correct temperature.

And then, when cooking large pieces of food, like a roast or a whole bird, at that place is some truth to the searing effect and how internal juices are retained in the meat during cooking. The intense rut will immediately sear the outside of the meat or bird and prevent the meat juices from leaking.

Maillard reaction and caramelization

But when cooking smaller pieces of meat as when making a stew, and especially when cooking the pieces of meatin liquid, the juice retentivity argument becomes illogical. The meat will simmer for a long fourth dimension in the liquid, information technology will miscarry juices into the liquid while, at the same time, blot the liquid in which it cooks.

Information technology'south a never ending give and accept process. And we know that because, past the time the dish is washed, the meat tastes of the ingredients in the sauce while the sauce has acquired a distinct meaty flavor.

So, why brown meat at all? Can nosotros just skip that part altogether? I wouldn't skip it because browning meat adds texture and better colour and flavour to it while adding flavor as well to the sauce in which information technology cooks.

Let'due south illustrate. How exercise we dark-brown meat?

We oestrus oil (I more often than not adopt a mixture of olive oil and butter) and add together the meat. Information technology helps to flour the meat pieces a footling to prevent them from sticking to the pan. We chocolate-brown the meat pieces in small batches to brand sure that the temperature of the oil does not drop every bit high and constant heat is essential to the browning process.

So how does that add texture, color and flavor?

Recollect in terms of sweetened condensed milk and dulce de leche. Dulce de leche is caramelized sweetened condensed milk but the color, texture and flavor are unlike from the uncaramelized milk.

Meat is just the same. The browning process caramelizes the natural sugars in the meat creating a richly-colored crust. That chaff will help the meat retain its shape during the long simmering hours.

And just how does that lead to a more flavorful sauce? At present, we come up to deglazing. The fat in which the meat has browned is so rich in flavor. Cooks sauté the aromatics and vegetables in that fatty then add a little liquid to scrape whatever browned bits and pieces are stuck at the bottom of that pan. The fatty and the browned bits create a wonderful base for a sauce.

But raw meat has very footling flavor — where did all the flavors come from? In chemical terms, it is a result of the Maillard reaction — a reaction between the amino acids and sugars in the meat that breaks down large molecules and produces smaller molecules which our senses perceive every bit flavors and appetite-pleasing aromas.

So, even when using a slow cooker, I notwithstanding adopt to brown the meat first. It may be an additional pace and more work just, in terms of results, the added step of browning meat makes the divergence between mediocre and succulent.

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Source: https://umamidays.com/kitchen/do-we-really-need-to-brown-meat-before-braising-or-stewing/

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