I've read this over and over. Do you and Jeekinz have any tips on how to braise properly?
.... Watch for too much salt too early if you reduce your liquid to a sauce. Been there, done that.
Thanks, IC. This helped. My first real successes with meat were through braising in a slow cooker, but I have yet to manage a good result braising on the stove or in the oven. Also, you crystallized the vague idea in my head that my seasonings and braising liquids and vegetables have the greatest impact on the results. So I'm going to focus on that, since I haven't ventured much past onions, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. But do you have any pointers on braising in the oven vs the cook top? Also, covered or open? How do you decide which?This is a really simple explanation here, but it gives you the basic idea. You control the final outcome of the dish depending on what you add, beit the stock, herbs, aromatics, etc.
Yep, I did use too much salt once and as a result, I'm pretty sure I undersalt now. Does it taste the same if you wait to add the salt until the braising is done?My DO came with a few recipes, but there's like 500 ingredients for each one.
For example: Last night, I seared some chicken leg/thigh quarters in a saute pan and rendered out most of the fat from the skin. Turned them once and continued to cook until slightly brown on the bottom. Removed them to a bowl, and removed about 95% of the fat. Sauteed some thick sliced onion, and deglazed with about a cup of white wine. Added garlic, thyme & rosemary sprigs, bay leaf, a can of whole tomatoes that I sliced in the pan, some tomato paste, chopped roasted red pepper, frozen artichokes. Mainly just ingredients I had laying around. Put the chicken back in kind of burying them in the sauce. Lid on, and simmer until done. I remove the chicken and reduce the sauce checking for seasoning and removing leftover herb pieces. I serve it over white rice.
No muss, no fuss. You would have to try real hard to screw that up. And theres a huge window for the meat to be done, so you don't have to worry about over/under cooking.
Just think bold flavors, low and slow. Watch for too much salt too early if you reduce your liquid to a sauce. Been there, done that.
Thanks, IC. This helped. My first real successes with meat were through braising in a slow cooker, but I have yet to manage a good result braising on the stove or in the oven. Also, you crystallized the vague idea in my head that my seasonings and braising liquids and vegetables have the greatest impact on the results. So I'm going to focus on that, since I haven't ventured much past onions, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. But do you have any pointers on braising in the oven vs the cook top? Also, covered or open? How do you decide which?
Thanks again, IC. When you say parchment paper, do you mean instead of a lid or under a lid?
I forgot, yes I usually add red wine when braising a roast. But I have never actually made stock before. I've saved up a bunch of bones in the freezer so I'm going to try that next. I didn't think about using it as the braising liquid but it sounds like it would be great. I'll let you know how I do.
Its not the price difference, the idea is to buy one gallon of whole milk then add a gallon of water to it, thus giving you two gallons of milk that is thinner than whole milk and thicker than skim. Probably close to your 1% or 2% milk.
We pay $2.70 for whole milk right now at ALDI, so that works out to $1.35 per gallon when watered down.
Its not the price difference, the idea is to buy one gallon of whole milk then add a gallon of water to it, thus giving you two gallons of milk that is thinner than whole milk and thicker than skim. Probably close to your 1% or 2% milk.
We pay $2.70 for whole milk right now at ALDI, so that works out to $1.35 per gallon when watered down.
Originally Posted by Maverick2272
Its not the price difference, the idea is to buy one gallon of whole milk then add a gallon of water to it, thus giving you two gallons of milk that is thinner than whole milk and thicker than skim. Probably close to your 1% or 2% milk.
We pay $2.70 for whole milk right now at ALDI, so that works out to $1.35 per gallon when watered down.
There have been two posts dismissing this idea out of hand, but someone correct me if I am wrong. Whole milk is 3.25% butterfat, so if you retained one half and mixed the other with water 1:1 then you would have half a gallon that is still at 3.25% and one gallon that is 1.625% butterfat. So Maverick is right about percentages. So the only problem remaining are the vitamins and other things in milk. This method only really stands up if whole milk has more (by percentage) of the vitamins, etc. then its lower butterfat counterparts. I don't know if it does or not.
-Josh hart
There have been two posts dismissing this idea out of hand, but someone correct me if I am wrong. Whole milk is 3.25% butterfat, so if you retained one half and mixed the other with water 1:1 then you would have half a gallon that is still at 3.25% and one gallon that is 1.625% butterfat. So Maverick is right about percentages. So the only problem remaining are the vitamins and other things in milk. This method only really stands up if whole milk has more (by percentage) of the vitamins, etc. then its lower butterfat counterparts. I don't know if it does or not.
-Josh hart
I can answer your question regarding the different milks (whole vs 1%) and the vitamin and mineral content. There is negligible difference in the vitamin, mineral and other components of milk, among the different fat levels of milk. In fact, there are slightly more vitamins and minerals in 1% butterfat milk than whole milk. That is because the fat is displaced by more whey in the lower butterfat milks, and the whey is where the vitamins and minerals are. So the only difference in the milks are the butterfat levels, not the vitamin and mineral levels.
And I do not follow this sentence..
Whole milk is 3.25% butterfat, so if you retained one half and mixed the other with water 1:1 then you would have half a gallon that is still at 3.25% and one gallon that is 1.625% butterfat.
Do you mean 1/2 gallon that is 1.625%?
Did I answer your question?