Unnecessary things.

Greyduster, so that's why school stew always looked so unappealing! The cook (where I worked a few years ago) must've just thrown the horrible, cheap, tough, fatty, sinewy meat in with everything else, boiled it up briefly and called it pork marengo! There were always greyish white bits floating about in the watery stuff. No wonder there was so much waste. Children with their milk teeth couldn't chew it or swallow it. No disrespect to school cooks in general, btw. I've had some excellent food in school canteens. This particular 'cook' was pretty bad though.

We don't all use low fat mince. Just saying.

I used to brown mince and still would do this for a dish that needs added caramelisation like a shepherds pie. But if I'm adding strong tasting ingredients (well browned onions mixed with spices, or a sauce) I probably wouldn't bother cooking the meat first.
I do agree with an earlier writer that unbrowned mince disintegrates a bit (she suggested that it looks curdled) but in a sauce this doesn't really matter to me.
The lower fat content of the lean mince that we all use now means that it does not brown very well anyway, so in my opinion it is really a bit of a waste of time.
The exception for me is Moussaka, the only dish for which I use lamb mince which I prefer to fry and drain as it is always so fatty.

I hate waste too, I think our age group is more likely to find a use for left-overs and not just throw them in the waste. I never get to feed eight at once though!

Sounds nice jack unfortunately there is never any leftovers in our house lol.
We have lamb shanks for lunch today and yes I did brown them first coated with flour followed by the onions then veg finally deglazed the pan with red wine added stock and the whole lot went into the slow cooker over night it smells lovely can't wait to tuck in so yes I will be browning my meat still. don't like Jamie Oliver much anyway I prefer James Martin

Hear! Hear! Smithy. But it's fun to have a light thread occasionally. Just for the record I brown onions, then add mince and don't add anything else until all the meat is brown. I made a cottage pie for eight last night and the verdict was "fantastic". We were feeding five oldies (well, my age) and three teenagers, so I must have done something right. PS: There is a little bit of pie left over so I shall mix it up and create a couple of rissoles for tonight's supper. I do the same with leftover fish pie to make fish cakes. Works every time - and no waste.

Can't believe you could have a debate - about mince????

My mum used to brown the mince, I only do it, if I am making a Shepherd's pie or a Spag bol otherwise, I just put in the slow cooker as you buy it, I don't think it makes much difference,it's with watching your parents etc x

Browning any meat, especially red meat, seals the outer protein, thereby sealing in the natural flavour instead of losing it in the stock. For the same reason you should always put a joint of beef in a very hot oven for 25 mins, seals in the flavour.

I never want to reduce the fat content of meat. It's part of meat's nutritious value.

I always brown mince to reduce the fat content. I also seal the braising steak with seasoned flour for flavour. I've worked in kitchens a long time & it is the way I was taught

Am I the only one who cooks their mince (and I prefer half lamb mince to half lean steak mince) in the microwave? I then add seasoning, depending on whether it's for a cottage pie, lasagne or bolognese sauce. Seems to taste just as good - fast & less mess & smell ...

I am veggie but remember using mince. From what I remember it is a way to get a lot of the fat out. I think that, as with many foods, caramelizing would add flavour.

Sometimes I brown the meat, especially mince, but sometimes I do what DM did which was to 'scald' it with boiling water instead of browning in fat when she was in a rush and her casseroles etc were always lovely.

Browning meat adds colour and flavour- through the process of caramelisation, but adding stock in the shape of cubes/powder does very much the same thing. Our grandmothers of course didn't have access to instant stock so tended to use browning more. If you doubt what browning does try cooking mince without browning or stock-resulting flavourless pale mess is terrible. I prefer to brown and use a small amount of stock powder because commercial stock also adds a lot of salt.

I remember (just) when i was at school, our first actual cookery lessons were brown and white stew. For brown stew, we were required to brown cubed beef of some description a few bits at a time so that the temperature of the fat didn't drop, allowing the meat to leach its juices and create steam. I can't quite remember what we did for white stew, except that it was horrible. Come to think of it, so was the brown stew!?

Does the look not depend partly on what other ingredients one includes, if there is enough variety, for instance? Stews with more ingredients generally do taste and look better than those with few. At least, that's my experience.

I brown meat not really to seal but to look better. In a slow cooker it can look a bit unappetising especially mince if not browned.

I agree with your DH's onion base for curries; it's what i do with mine. And yes, the flour does thicken the sauce, though not significantly, and you could just brown the meat without it; but browning, IMHO, does give the stock a richer flavour.

That makes it sound more like a sauce thickening exercise than anything to do with the meat itself, gd. DH informs me that the only proper way to thicken curries is to use onions. If they are properly fried first, they disintegrate in the curry and have a thickening effect. There's also boiling down to reduce stock/sauce. That happens naturally in a slow-cooked stew.

Perhaps browning with flour was originally done to speed up the cooking time?

The only reason i brown, and this doesn't apply to mince (browning mince is a waste of time), is that browning adds flavour to casseroles and stews. Tossing meat (especially beef and lamb) in seasoned flour and then browning on a high heat will enrich the sauce that it is cooking in. The only thing i have noticed is that, if i have added chicken or pork that hasn't been 'sealed' to a sauce (curry or something similar) it does leach out the juices which can make the sauce look sort of curdled. It doesn't seem to affect the flavour, but it doesn't look nice.

Rarely have steak except braising/stewing sort - just put it straight into the slow cooker overnight without worrying about browning it first! I love onion gravy but grandkiddies won't eat it if there is onion in it so don't add it unless just cooking for me and daughter. When my kiddies were little and I was cooking a roast at the weekend I would do a tray of caramelised onions, the little ones you get to pickle, pain to peel but tasted so nice!

The theory is, you brown the meat to seal in the flavour, but as some TV cook pointed out if browning really did seal in the flavour then as the piece of meat heated and the moisture within the meat expanded as it heated up, sooner or later the piece of meat would explode, much as a baked potato can if there are no breaks in the skin when it is put in the oven.

I always thought the idea was also to caremalise the outside of the piece of meat to enhance flavour, which of course works well if you are cooking a steak or chop, but with a stew or casserole, once you add the liquid that will dissolve the caremalisation into the gravy.

Having said tthat I have always been far too lazy to brown meat. I put all the ingredients into a pan bring them to a boil and put them in my slow cooker. I doubt anybody can tell the difference.

@tanith - I don't use anything under 20% fat, since that's where the flavour is. If I do get stuck with some lean mince I have to add oil anyway...

Like others here I have iong been suspicious of the instruction to 'seal' the meat - I can't see how that could work... must give the un-seared version a try.

No, I never brown meat, it goes straight into the slow cooker, and I don't do onions either unless they're a side dish or trimming to a meal eg with steak.