Cooking Meat - How to Braise Meat
Braising is one of the classic cooking techniques, often used for 'second class cuts' of meat which require long slow cooking. They are called 'second class cuts' because they are tough and chewy if cooked using the 'fast' methods like pan frying, barbecuing or roasting. They are tough because of connective tissue which becomes difficult to cut or chew when cooked quickly, or with dry or radiant heat. The good news is that these meat cuts come into their own when braised or stewed very gently for a long period of time in liquid, as this style of cooking breaks down the connective tissue to be juicy, gelatinous and delicious.
Braising is almost the same as stewing - braising is normally canada goose online applied to larger or whole cuts of meat slowly cooked in a liquid, whilst stewing is used when referring to cut or smaller pieces cooked (wholly immersed ) in a liquid. Notice I didn't say 'boiled' or 'simmered' That's what we call it when you see a visible bubbling of the cooking liquid. In fact braising is best done at a low temperature of around 85 degrees C / 185 degrees C with an almost imperceptible shimmer - not a rolling boil. Braising refers to this cooking in liquid, so technically you can braise anything. Vegetables, fruit, chicken, fish.
For stewing, cut into smaller pieces, like a dice. When cutting things to stew (or generally ) look at the size of the mouth or the spoon to eat it with. Always cut your items into a size that's easily picked up with a spoon and eaten. A stew should have enough liquid to totally cover (immerse ) the meat.
You can braise medium to large pieces of meat. Medium means cuts like spare ribs, short ribs, tongue, "steaks" (cut from the lower left or shoulder ) or osso bucco.
You can braise by immersing in liquid totally, or you can put into a braising dish or casserole with a tight fitting lid, and cover halfway to three quarters up the meat with the liquid. Cover with the lid. Bring to a simmer on the stove top, then put in a gentle oven at 150 degrees C (302 degrees F ) with the lid on, until the meat is tender all the way through.
