Braising has never been something I've done well. But I have studied the braising seminar and I am working on trying to improve my methods. Tonight has not been a good night.
I started with a good size white onion, a nice lamb shank, some home grown tomatoes, garlic (lots of garlic), cannellini beans, rosemary, bay leaves, chicken stock and an inexpensive tannic malbec. Not really a recipe.
In a Le Creuset dutch oven I browned the lamb shank in olive oil, removed it, sauteed the onion, added the cannellini, garlic, tomato, rosemary, and bay leaves. I put the browned lamb shank on top and poured in roughly equal amounts of stock and malbec to the level of about an inch. Then I inserted a temperature probe in the shank (maybe too close to the bone) and covered the ingredients with parchment paper. I put more parchment at the top so that hopefully the full weight of the lid was not resting on the cable for the temperature probe. Finally I placed the pot in a 200 deg F oven.
After two and a half hours the temperature of the meat was not quite 172 deg F. I turned off the oven, cracked the door, and allowed the temperature to slowly fall over the next hour. When I went to eat, after three and a half hours in the oven, the lamb was pink and hard, and the beans were soupy.
Figuring I could not make matters any worse, I put the pot back in a hotter oven, 250 deg F this time, and brought the temperature of the meat up to just over 181 deg F. I reduced the oven temperature to 225 deg F, and that's where I am now.
I believe I have undercooked the meat, but I may have overcooked it. Any advice would be most welcome.
Edit: I hope I have done the right thing in starting a new thread, rather than posting in an old one.
Braising help needed
in Cooking
Posted · Edited by JoNorvelleWalker (log)
Braising has never been something I've done well. But I have studied the braising seminar and I am working on trying to improve my methods. Tonight has not been a good night.
I started with a good size white onion, a nice lamb shank, some home grown tomatoes, garlic (lots of garlic), cannellini beans, rosemary, bay leaves, chicken stock and an inexpensive tannic malbec. Not really a recipe.
In a Le Creuset dutch oven I browned the lamb shank in olive oil, removed it, sauteed the onion, added the cannellini, garlic, tomato, rosemary, and bay leaves. I put the browned lamb shank on top and poured in roughly equal amounts of stock and malbec to the level of about an inch. Then I inserted a temperature probe in the shank (maybe too close to the bone) and covered the ingredients with parchment paper. I put more parchment at the top so that hopefully the full weight of the lid was not resting on the cable for the temperature probe. Finally I placed the pot in a 200 deg F oven.
After two and a half hours the temperature of the meat was not quite 172 deg F. I turned off the oven, cracked the door, and allowed the temperature to slowly fall over the next hour. When I went to eat, after three and a half hours in the oven, the lamb was pink and hard, and the beans were soupy.
Figuring I could not make matters any worse, I put the pot back in a hotter oven, 250 deg F this time, and brought the temperature of the meat up to just over 181 deg F. I reduced the oven temperature to 225 deg F, and that's where I am now.
I believe I have undercooked the meat, but I may have overcooked it. Any advice would be most welcome.
Edit: I hope I have done the right thing in starting a new thread, rather than posting in an old one.