Method · Wet and slow
Braise
Make the cheap, tough cuts the best thing on the table.
A braise is a sear, a little liquid, a lid and a few hours. It is how short ribs, chuck roast and pork shoulder go from tough to falling apart, and it makes its own sauce while it cooks. It is nearly impossible to rush and nearly impossible to ruin.
This lesson is free, start to finish. So is every other one.
At a glance
- Best for
- Short ribs, chuck roast, pork shoulder, lamb shanks, chicken thighs
- Heat
- A sear, then a 300 to 325°F oven
- Time
- 1 to 4 hours, almost all hands-off
- Level
- Easy. It only asks for time.
What you need
- A Dutch oven, 5 to 7 quarts
- Heavy, with a tight lid. It goes from the stove to the oven.
- Tongs and a wooden spoon
- To brown the meat and scrape the pot.
- A fork
- Your doneness test.
Why it works
Tough cuts are tough because they are full of collagen. Held between about 160 and 205°F with moisture around it, collagen slowly melts into gelatin. That is what makes braised meat silky instead of dry, and what gives the sauce its body.
Lean, tender cuts have no collagen to melt. Braise a chicken breast or a pork loin and it only dries out. Braising is for the hard-working cuts.
The braise, step by step
- Salt the meat ahead, an hour at least, overnight if you can. Pat it dry.
- Brown it on every side in a little oil over medium-high, in batches. Don’t crowd the pot. Take it out.
- Pour off most of the fat. Cook onion, carrot and celery in the same pot until soft, scraping the brown bits off the bottom.
- Add garlic for a minute, then tomato paste. Cook the paste until it darkens.
- Pour in wine or stock and scrape the pot clean. If it’s wine, boil it down by half.
- Put the meat back. Add stock until it comes about two-thirds up the meat. Not over the top.
- Bring it to a bare simmer, put the lid on, and move it to a 325°F oven.
- Start checking at two and a half hours for short ribs. It’s done when a fork slides in and twists with no fight.
A braise is not a boil
Two things make the difference. First, the liquid only comes part of the way up. The tops stay out and keep browning while the bottoms go tender. Cover the meat and you have a stew, which is fine, but it is a different dish.
Second, the heat stays low. A hard bubble squeezes the meat dry before the collagen melts. In the oven the heat comes from all sides and holds steady, which is why the oven beats the stovetop for this.
Finish the sauce
- Lift the meat out and keep it warm.
- Skim the fat off the top of the liquid. A spoon works. Chilling it overnight works better: the fat sets hard and lifts off.
- Strain it if you want it smooth. Boil it down until it coats a spoon.
- Taste. Add salt, then a splash of vinegar or lemon to wake it up.
Make it ahead
A braise is better the next day. The meat soaks the flavor back up as it cools in the liquid. Cool it, chill it in the pot, lift off the fat, and warm it gently on the stove. That makes it the best dinner-party dish there is. All the work is done the day before.
When it goes wrong
- Tough meat
- It isn’t done. Tough in a braise means not long enough. Put the lid back on and give it another 30 minutes.
- Dry, stringy meat
- It boiled, or it’s a lean cut. Lower the oven, and choose a cut with fat and connective tissue.
- Thin, watery sauce
- Too much liquid went in. Take the meat out and boil the liquid down.
- Greasy sauce
- The fat wasn’t skimmed. Chill it and lift the fat off, or skim with a spoon.
- Flat taste
- No browning at the start, or no acid at the end. Brown hard, and finish with vinegar or lemon.
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