When browning meat for a roast, stew or braise, there are the timid among us, the cautious and the bold. (Watch for a great quote tomorrow about browning boldly.)
Some like just a quick golden sear, afraid of drying out the meat. Others go to a dark golden caramel color. Some like to brown to a blackened, nearly burnt crust. Which are you? Read on for some tips to get the most flavor out of your meat browning...
First, some general tips:
• Start with a heavy, non-nonstick pan. You can brown in a nonstick pan but they tend to brown unevenly and less effectively.
• Heat the pan up hot before you try to brown anything at all. The meat should sizzle and smoke immediately when you put it into the pan. Test by flicking a few drops of water in first and seeing if they dance and sputter.
• Oil and butter are usually not necessary when browning meat. Sometimes with a very lean meat I will grease the pan lightly with olive oil. But if the pan is heavy and hot the meat should not stick too much.
• Leave plenty of space between the chunks of meat. Or, if you're browning just one large piece, make sure you use a pan that leaves several inches of space between the meat and the edge. If you crowd the meat in it will steam instead of brown, and steamed meat really defeats the purpose here.
• Don't brown too long; you want the surface dark but the inside uncooked.
• Remember that the flavor of your stew or braise is going to come, largely, from the quality of your browned meat. So be bold and let it get dark for some flavor.
How would you characterize your browning? Light, pale, golden, tan, or dark?
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This year I've finally started to treat myself to some real cookware (replacing the $30 nonstick 15-piece set from college), and browning meat is where I REALLY see the difference. Going from a cheapo stockpot to the Le Creuset dutch oven was like night and day.... it's definitely important to get that nice golden sear. I usually brown until the point where you're worried it's going to burn... and then go a little further!
I'm definitely in the brown boldly camp. Contrary to what some might think, proper searing actually seals in moisture by creating that caramelized charred surface.
Pat the meat dry with a paper towel before browning, so it starts searing and caramelizing right away. Otherwise, the evaporating moisture creates a low-temperature barrier between the meat and the heat of the pan. If that happens, the meat does indeed start to cook deeper within.
If the recipe calls for flouring the meat beforehand, this will also absorb the moisture and help the searing start right away.
I want to learn how to be a bolder at browning. Sometimes I worry that I'm cooking the meat too much and I stop before it gets that nice golden brown. Any tricks for telling when to stop the browning? I'm noticing that many recipes give time indicators (6 minutes on a side, that kind of thing) for browning. Is that the best way to gauge it?
I am a BOLD BROWN, almost BLACK BRAISER. I have found actually the best thing is to sear it until the smell is so captivating you almost can't help but cut a piece off and eat it - then I take it off and make the reduction or stew or whatever else I need the drippings for...
Better than an appetizer, sometimes I do it when I am cooking with other people jsut to tantalize them ;)
best with lamb!
When braising, deep golden! With the braising technique, you are browning your meat to create a crust. Therefore, there is no need to have it brown. I put oil and /or butter as it stimulates the browning process. This is a step done to create flavor. Butter and/or oil are essential in my views, in fact I never seen done another way used by exceptional cooks. When you use both, the butter creates a blending flavor and you put some oil to avoid the burning of the butter. You always remove the liquid fat from the pan after your meat has browned. Thereafter, it is a good idea to pour some wine to deglaze the flavor out of the pan. This will create a nice sauce in no time.
The key when browning (that really mean deep golden) the meat is to use medium high heat to high heat, a temperature higher that you normally do so you cook only the outside. It is crucial that none of the inside start to cook. In this cooking technique, the inside must cook through the slow cooking process. My mother was an expert on the heart of braising. My French Canadian heritage tells me that browning 6 minutes per side is a little too much.
I love eating my meat before it gets medium rare. Rare is a bloody meat. I just want to get rid of that blood. That is how meat should be served. One trick when cooking a grilled steak is to cook it at a high temperature. Touch it, with time you will know just by feeling it when it your steak is perfectly cooked less cook means tender taste. The rule of thumb is that no meat should ever be overcook.
One exception is a stew. Stews are made by slow cooking at very low temperature for a long time. The meat cooks very slowly, which soften its texture. Cooking an hour or two more will not make a difference with the stew technique.