Browning meat doesn’t somehow seal the meat and keep in the juices and flavor while braising. That was news to me who, for the last more than 40 years, has carefully browned little cubes of meat (on all sides, without crowding the pan) for stew or goulash. What a pain! You have to cook the meat in batches, and that’s difficult when you’re browning lots of meat for a big stew for a crowd.

That’s why it was great news to hear it’s a completely unnecessary step. You still have to brown the meat, but you can brown it in big “steaks” on two sides, and then cut it into chunks. The browning does add umami, but that’s the only reason you do it. It doesn’t “seal” the meat, and you don’t have to do it on all sides.

After hearing about this in a cooking video, I gave it a try for last week’s cholent and it was amazing! The meat was absolutely delicious, even without having been browned on all sides. Browning the meat in large pieces is therefore a highly recommended technique for all serious cooks.