FoodBanter.com - View Single Post - Pre-searing--yes or no?

Alan wrote in
:

> On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 07:53:09 -0400, Harlan Messinger
> > wrote:
>
>>An article in this month's Gourmet discusses Harold McGee, author of
>>"On Food and Cooking", which many restaurant kitchens, reportedly, use
>>as a bible, and which is coming out in an entirely reworked edition
>>next month. According to the article, "the original [edition] is
>>renowned for having destroyed the myth, popularized in the mid-1800s
>>by German chemist Justus von Liebig, that searing meat would seal in
>>its juices."
>>
>>I've made any number of current recipes that call for browning meat
>>before braising or stewing it. Is McGee mistaken? Are the authors of
>>these recipes out of touch with modern science on the subject? Is the
>>pre-searing being done for some reason other than to seal in the
>>juices? Or can I safely skip the inconvenience of the browning step
>>from now on?
>
> I've always thought that was an old wives' tale.
>
> For me, searing gives the meat better color, and I think,
> better flavor.
>
>
>

You can skip the browning if you desire. But it does add flavour and visual
appeal. It doesn't keep the juices in, but it does caramelize the sugars
so-to-speak, which gives a better flavour to the dish and more eye appeal.

--
Starchless in Manitoba.