Braising Catastrophe

[Bruschetta]

A few weeks ago, I had the most amazing meal ever at Hugo's, in Houston. Not living in Houston, I thought I'd try and recreate the smoky braised osso bucco I had there. It was delicious--falling off the bone, deeply flavored with smoke, with melting marrow in the bone. I thought I could surely deconstruct the thing and make it at home. But my version was HORRIBLE! Tough, dried out, leathery, awful! Where did I go wrong?

Since it was going to be braised within an inch of its life, I took beef shanks instead of veal (this may have been the fatal error). I cold smoked them for about an hour. Then I braised in beef stock, sangiovese, and mirepoix for five hours at 350. I served it with braised kale, polenta, and red pepper coulis.

I love the concept of the dish, but boy, my execution was terrible. Where did I go wrong? Bad cut? Did the smoking toughen the meat? Overbraising? Underbraising? I love this dish, and I'd love to develop a good recipe for it.

[amccomb]

I am not an expert at all! But, I think 350 may have been too high for a braise. Also, what temp did you smoke at? Maybe the heat was too high while smoking...

[Anna N]

. . . .

I love the concept of the dish, but boy, my execution was terrible. Where did I go wrong? Bad cut? Did the smoking toughen the meat? Overbraising? Underbraising? I love this dish, and I'd love to develop a good recipe for it.

My first guess would be that braising temperature! At 350F my oven boils whatever I have in there. I think you need to drop that temp to where you are seeing only a few lazy bubbles. No one can really tell you what temp your oven needs to be at to accomplish this as it depends on such factors as the pan you use, the tightness of the lid, etc. etc. I am sure others will offer their advice but that would be where I would start.

[Chris Hennes]

Right: beef shank should braise just fine, but your oven temp likely should have been closer to 250°F (as Anna N says, it's not an exact science, I set mine to 235°F for most braises).

[JBailey]

I concur that lower and slower will deliver a better product via braising. May I also ask if you had an oven thermometer to make certain your '350' oven was '350'...perhaps, you were running a bit hotter and accelerated the drying out of the beef shanks.

[heidih]

I agree on the braising temperature. I did, however, only once, try to substitute beef for veal shank and it was not good at all. The texture was too chewy and it lacked that melt in the mouth quality of the veal.

[barolo]

Braised beef and braised veal are two completely different things - both good, but different. I also agree that 350 is too high. I don't know anything about smoking, so I can't comment on that aspect.

[Paul Bacino]

Braise to doneness first, then cold smoke, then reheat the ribs in the oven, then pour the warm braising liquid over the ribs, and serve. This was told to me .. as I tried it your way first.

I found that if you smoke first.. the sauce develops way to much smoke ( kinda washes off ), or at least for me.

I cold smoke on my electric Brinkman!!

[Blether]

350F doesn't sound outrageous to me - though it is too hot for a 5-hour cooking time. Did you braise covered or uncovered ? Did you replenish the liquid at all ?

[Bruschetta]

Hi---yes, I did braise covered, and I did replenish the liquid. But I agree, the temp may have been too hot. I'm going to try it again this weekend, doing a much longer braise at 250!

[Paul Bacino]

5Hr@250 might be just right!!

Paul

This is what I'd try.. first bring the liquid to a simmer on the stove, then into the oven@ 250 or turn the oven to 350 for about 45 mins or less just to a simmer then reduce to 250.

Good luck

Edited February 11, 2011 by Paul Bacino (log)

[Alex Parker]

I have braised at 350 before but for a maximum of 2 hours. It turned out fantastic (it was also osso bucco).

Braising is obviously lid off cooking (put a lid on there and its no longer braising, its steaming), so I would either lower the temp to get a 5 hour duration, or keep your 350 and pull it after 2 hours. Give it 10 minutes to reconstitute the juices, and it should be delicious!

Alex

[mkayahara]

Braising is obviously lid off cooking (put a lid on there and its no longer braising, its steaming)

Oh, I'm not sure I agree with that. To my mind, in steaming, the food shouldn't be in contact with the liquid, whereas in braising it is. I would say braising involves several different aspects: some heat transferring directly from the liquid to the meat, some through steam, and some through the condensation that collects on the lid and drips back down.

[Pierogi]

Braising is obviously lid off cooking (put a lid on there and its no longer braising, its steaming)

Oh, I'm not sure I agree with that. To my mind, in steaming, the food shouldn't be in contact with the liquid, whereas in braising it is. I would say braising involves several different aspects: some heat transferring directly from the liquid to the meat, some through steam, and some through the condensation that collects on the lid and drips back down.

Total agreement with Matthew. All classical references to brasing that I've seen are lid on, over (or in) low heat, so the condensation drips back down into the liquid to enhance the braising stock. Steaming is absolutely elevated above the liquid, so that the food only cooks from the steam generated (and trapped) by the pot and lid. I would never, ever, ever braise short ribs or brisket with the lid off. That's a sure ticket to tire treads, IMO.

Edited February 12, 2011 by Pierogi (log)

[MarkIsCooking]

The 'drip down' comment is interesting. I was taught to braise covered, but with parchment covering the product, then foil, then the lid (all this designed to creates good seal and minimize air/drying of the meat). The parchment barrier is meant to avoid direct contact between the foil and the product. We were told that if there's acid in your braise (from tomato, wine, etc.), it could bring chemicals from the foil into your food. Anybody else have thoughts on these nuances?

[Paul Bacino]

Interesting Mark,

I just use foil, and never have thought about the parchment first.

[mkayahara]

Foil can definitely react with acidic foods; I generally try not to store anything with tomatoes in contact with foil in the fridge over long periods. (Lasagna, I'm looking at you...) But I generally don't use foil with my braises, so it's never come up in that context for me. I just use the lid that came with the pot or a parchment cartouche. I don't know that I'd ever bother with both.

[Chef Jonny]

Cold smoking definitely gives a powerful smokey punch..... Perhaps try hot smoking over hot coals? You could get a good sear AND some nice flavor - one I prefer over cold smoking.

[ChrisZ]

Just thought I'd remind everyone that the eGCI conducted a comprehensive seminar on braising a few years ago, with enough information to keep you busy reading for a few evenings. Many of the issues discussed above are looked at in greater detail and tested thoroughly. If you're interested in braising then it's definitely worth a look, and contains a lot of very useful information and opinion that would be a shame to neglect.

Here is the link to the 'course' introduction and overview.

Here's the link to part 1, which has the links to part 2 at the bottom (and so on...)

And Here's the link to the overall Q&A sessions.

[Pierogi]

I'd never use al. foil as a cartouche. I've only ever used a cartouche a couple of times, when a recipe called for it. I frankly couldn't tell much difference between the dishes I used one in, and similar ones I'd made without one. But never al. foil, because of the reactivity issues. Most braises I do use tomatoes of some form, or wine, or both, and I'd worry about the foil dissolving into my yummy broth.

[k43]

In the braising topic, Paula Wolfert wrote that she crumples a sheet of parchment paper under running water and lays it directly on top of the meat, which keeps the liquid in and improves the flavor. That also makes foil unnecessary.

Most recipes say to brown the meat thoroughly, often coating it with flour first. However, the topic author said, after many experiments, that browning makes no difference. The key is keeping the amount of liquid small -- only 1/2" deep -- which lets the surface brown during the braise. That's worked well for me.

I use a Le Creuset Doufou, which has a super-thick bottom. It works perfectly on the stove-top and has a concave reservoir on top of the cover, which holds a quart of water and keeps the temperature even.