Coating meat in flour before browning, bad idea?
For a long time, before browning meat that would then braise, I've coated it in flour as to ensure the right consistency for the resulting sauce. Are the downsides to this method? Should I just brown the meat for braised dishes without the flour coat, then thicken the simmering liquid with a slurry?
Best Answer
I have done it both ways successfully. Flouring the meat before browning does give a little extra flavor, plus the flour continues to cook while the meat is braising. I personally think it gives a richer, deeper flavor and ensures that you won't have any raw flour flavor. If you are happy with your results using this method I wouldn't change it. :)
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Quick Answer about "Coating meat in flour before browning, bad idea?"
Flouring the meat before browning does give a little extra flavor, plus the flour continues to cookShould you flour meat before browning?
The idea behind coating meat with a sprinkling of flour before browning in a hot pan is pretty simple: Flour is full of starch that will caramelize quickly and give a deeper color and flavor. You most often see this technique called for in stews, where flour is used to thicken the cooking liquid.Why do you put flour on meat before frying it?
The reason you dredge chicken or any other food before pan-frying is to help give it an enticingly brown crust. A food that you dredge in flour or another coating will also gain flavor and texture from the coating and absorb extra flavor from the oil or butter in which you've cooked the food.Does flour help meat brown?
Tossing the raw meat in a starch, like flour, will increase the rate of browning, but browned flour just doesn't taste as good as browned beef. Eventually, that liquid will evaporate again, and your meat will start browning, but the problem is that the entire time the liquid is steaming, your meat continues to cook.Why do you coat beef in flour before cooking?
But traditionally coating the beef with the flour is the way to go and there are several reasons for this: The flour helps brown the meat better, the browned flour enhances the flavor of the sauce, and it also enhances the surface texture of the meat.How To Tenderize ANY Meat!
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Answer 2
One potential downside to this method is that with a thick coat of flour, you're mostly browning the flour, not the meat, and thus possibly creating different flavor compounds than if you were searing the meat directly. Maillard reactions are complicated stuff. If you're doing this, you should probably shake off excess flour to leave a very thin layer so that you still get browning on the meat itself.
The related problem is that you're less able to accurately measure the amount of flour, less able to make sure it's easily browned, and thus less able to control the overall balance of thickening power and flavor it contributes. Roux (flour cooked in oil as a base for sauces) gains additional flavor, but loses some of its thickening ability as it cooks. You could monitor this over the surface of your meat, but that goes against the typical wisdom of not moving meat around the pan as it browns - that is, you can't see how browned the floury surface is getting when it's face-down.
Personally, I'd prefer tighter control over both of these processes over the convenience gained by browning the meat and flour together. You can easily brown the meat, remove it from the pan, then add the flour and some additional oil to create a separate roux without losing much time. A slurry will work too, but takes plenty of cooking before it loses its raw, grainy flavor.
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