Braising
Slow-cooking food partially submerged in liquid in a covered vessel.
What You're Doing
Combining dry-heat searing with slow, moist cooking in a covered vessel. The protein is partially submerged in liquid and cooked low and slow until tender.
Visual Cues
Look for these signs to know your technique is working:
- Gentle bubbles breaking at surface of liquid
- Meat becoming fork-tender
- Liquid reducing and thickening naturally
- Aromas becoming rich and complex
Why It Works
The combination of dry searing and moist, low-temperature cooking breaks down collagen in tough cuts into gelatin. This transformation requires time and temperatures around 85-95°C, yielding fork-tender results.
Failure Modes
Avoid these common problems:
- Heat too high - liquid boils and toughens meat
- Too much liquid - dilutes flavor
- Not searing first - missing depth of flavor
- Lifting lid too often - releases moisture
Requirements & Guidelines
- Sear protein first for flavor development
- Liquid should come halfway up the ingredient
- Low and slow — maintain a gentle simmer
Recipes Using This Technique
Technical Details (CKL)
pan "dutch oven" 30cm
heat pan to 180C
apply "oil" to pan
apply "protein" to pan
wait 3min
deglaze pan with "stock"
reduce 90min until melded