Braising Steak/Braising beef - difference???

[Mottie]

Also suggest you try my quick budget healthy spaghetti Bolognese (ish)
Fry mince and chopped onions together (fat from mince cooks onions) until mince is just brown.
Stir in two cans can of chopped toms

I do that at first but also add some chopped garlic, a couple of oxo cubes, dried mixed herbs and a bit of sugar to take the sharpness away. Occasionally I might add some tomato ketchup, tomato purée and a splash of red wine if ever there’s any left but one thing I always do is add is a finely diced carrot or two - diced bits no bigger than a match head to give the sauce some bite. I always do a batch cook and freeze two or three double portions to be eaten at a later date. I did one only last week.

 

[JonathanM]

I bunged it in the slow cooker for 8 hours, with a couple of diced onions, a sliced carrot, mushrooms, a spoonful of mustard and a couple of red wine stock pot

I’ll be interested to know how it turns out. My personal preference is not to cook decent meat in a slow cooker as it always ends up incredibly soft. I only really like super soft meat when there is a reason it has to be soft, like cheap stewing cuts, which obviously need long slow cooking to break down the connective tissue. My sister does her brisket in a slow cooker for eight hours and it’s almost mush by the time it’s done. And a lot of the flavour disappears into the gravy. Lovely gravy, though!

Different meats require different cooking techniques. But most supermarkets seem to put the same instructions on the back whether you are buying a silverside joint or a sirloin joint. I think good braising steak is meant to be cooked wet and covered, at a low/medium heat, for a couple of hours maximum. That way you will keep more of the texture and flavour in the meat.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I’ll be interested to know how it turns out.

It turned out OK, other than a bit too much gravy, with two more helping left in the freezer. Not bad at all for a first attempt. The meat fell apart, though the meat fibres were slightly chewy. I have two electric slow cookers and used the older, smaller, smaller 1L one, which I think has no temperature control, just on or off. I found that adding some insulation around it, old towels, makes it run a little hotter, so it just holds a very gentle simmer. I plug that into a plug-in 24 hour timer, set to run for what ever time I want, in this case 8 hours. I've only ever used it before, for my regular sausage casseroles.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I was under the impression that 'steak' merely denoted the type of cut, i.e a slice ~1cm thick ?

This single steak, was a bit over an inch thick.

 

[Alec_t]

over an inch thick.

Almost American!
Thickness varies quite a bit, depending on the shop/butcher.

 

[Dork Lard]

I don't have the time to explain why I decided to take over control of what I eat & how it's cooked, but I now do most of the food shopping & cooking in Dork Towers.

If your food doesn't taste as good as you'd wish & you not enjoying it as much as you should . . . then you doing it wrong.

 

[JonathanM]

Whilst having a quick nosey at supermarket braising steak, I noticed that Asda are still telling people that browning the meat first will "seal the meat and lock in its flavour and juices." Browning adds additional colour and flavour from the maillard reaction, but it's not possible to seal in the juices, short of dipping your steak in yacht varnish first. This braising steak recipe from Delia sounds nice and has her usual sensible cooking times and temperatures. With many instructions I wonder whether they've actually bothered timing it.

https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes...an/french/braised-steak-au-poivre-in-red-wine

 

[Brigadier]

Whilst having a quick nosey at supermarket braising steak, I noticed that Asda are still telling people that browning the meat first will "seal the meat and lock in its flavour and juices." Browning adds additional colour and flavour from the maillard reaction, but it's not possible to seal in the juices, short of dipping your steak in yacht varnish first. This braising steak recipe from Delia sounds nice and has her usual sensible cooking times and temperatures. With many instructions I wonder whether they've actually bothered timing it.

https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes...an/french/braised-steak-au-poivre-in-red-wine

Do you honestly think Asda would do any better by its customers, by explaining the Maillard reaction though?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Do you honestly think Asda would do any better by its customers, by explaining the Maillard reaction though?

I had to google that, and it led to fried dumplings, which I have never heard of before, so those are something worth trying with one of the remaining frozen braised steak meals in the freezer to help soak up the gravy.

 

[securespark]

If you're stuck on a tight budget, lentils are good.

You can make pasta sauces, chilli non carne or curries.

Cheap and filling.

 

[Dork Lard]

Whilst having a quick nosey at supermarket braising steak, I noticed that Asda are still telling people that browning the meat first will "seal the meat and lock in its flavour and juices." Browning adds additional colour and flavour from the maillard reaction, but it's not possible to seal in the juices, short of dipping your steak in yacht varnish first.

You don't know what you don't know & if your taste buds are already fubar'd then the taste of your food from different cooking methods can be very subjective/objective.

Searing or suateing certain meats is a very important process that separates a "chef" from a "cook".

 

[JonathanM]

Do you honestly think Asda would do any better by its customers, by explaining the Maillard reaction though?

For many customers, I actually think it would be helpful to say something simple along the lines of "browning the meat first will give a richer colour and flavour" rather than that it will magically stop the meat from drying out.

 

[JohnD]

If your food doesn't taste as good as you'd wish & you not enjoying it as much as you should . . . then you doing it wrong.

Or you might have had COVID

Or you might be a smoker

(Other ailments are available)

 

[Brigadier]

I had to google that, and it led to fried dumplings, which I have never heard of before, so those are something worth trying with one of the remaining frozen braised steak meals in the freezer to help soak up the gravy.

Re: Maillard reaction, think of toast(ing bread).

You can't make toast by leaving a slice of bread on a window sill (cill?) in full sunshine: it just doesn't get hot enough for the Maillard reaction to happen.