The Basics of Braising Meat
January 18, 2012, By Josh Ballard 0 comments
Braised dishes find their way onto chic restaurant menus and use the same complex chemical reaction associated with some degenerative eye diseases. But you don’t need to be an iron chef or biochemist to braise, because it’s actually a surprisingly easy cooking method that requires very little hands-on preparation.
In fact, with a little ambition and some tongs, you soon could be uttering bon appétit to the unveiling of beer dogs and kraut or zinfandel short ribs and garlic mashed potatoes. And don’t worry—you won’t go blind in the process.
What Is Braising?
Braising is like striking a match. The match-head rapidly ignites in a short blaze, then slow burns all the way to the wick. Applied to meat, that rapid ignition is called searing, or quickly browning the outsides with intense heat (the browning indicates a Maillard Reaction, the complex chemical process mentioned earlier). The slow burn happens in a covered pot with an added liquid at a milder heat.
What Can You Braise?
Simply put: anything. Even fruits and vegetables. Cheaper and tougher meats work best, because braising is specifically intended to break down the collagen and sinuous fibers that render a low-quality cut hard to chew. If cooking were alchemy, then braising would be the coveted secret to transforming lead into gold.
Here are few choice candidates for braising:
- Roasts
- Ribs
- Shanks
- Brisket
- Steaks
When selecting a meat, don't be afraid to go cheap. Tender cuts will fall apart during the braising process anyway, so for these purposes they’re a waste of money. And always buy on the bone. Bones retain all of the savory juices and flavor that will seep in and tenderize the meat.
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