To dredge, or not to dredge:...

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buckytom

Chef Extraordinaire
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that is the question:
whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer
the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
and by opposing end them? to die: to sleep;
no more; and by a sleep to say we end
the heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
that flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
devoutly to be wish'd. to die, to sleep;
to sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;

ok, umm, i'm not realy wondering about a rub, as a going concern, but i do have a question about flouring boneless short ribs.
i'm going to make the short ribs in red wine gravy this weekend. they'll be braised in reduced red wine, stock, tomato paste, root veggies, and herbs.

i was going to sear the meat before it was put into a crock pot for a few hours with the other ingredients, but i was wondering if you flour your ribs first, or do you sear them directly? do you use a particular oil? oil and butter? do you reduce your wine or use it straight? do you carmelize any veggies first, like garlic or onions?

there are about 7 strips of nicely marbeld beef, each about an inch thick, two inches across, and six inches long.

TIA for your help.
 
I flour cubed beef for stews and such. It helps with the thickening process. As far as the veggies, I also brown those for more flavor. Treat it like a stew. Brown the meat, then remove, add the veg, once the veg is nearly done add the meat, then the wine, reduce, then the stock and herbs, etc. If you need to thicken it, you may want to use a corn starch slurry instead of more flour.

I mentioned this in another thread: When I use a crock pot for stews/sauces, I first cook everything in a stock pot on the stove. This way I can get good color and flavor that you would from cooking on the stove. Once the stew is set and just needs to simmer, that's when I transfer it to the crock pot. It sounds retarded, but it works. I don't have to watch the pot cooking so long, I free up the stove for other things, no burned spot if I forget, I can go do other things around the house while dinner is cooking away.

If you try to just add the ingredients straight to the crock pot, your food will taste like poo.

Edit: The browning process will create some of the fat needed for the roux. I use olive oil primarily.
 
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I recommend not flouring the ribs. Just brown them using a high temp oil and add to the CP. If you caramelize the veggies forst, it's extra flavor. Not a bad idea. Add the wine and any other liquids.

When it's done, try to skim off the fat and thicken as needed with a flour slurry or a buerre manie.
 
Is there any real difference, besides looks, between searing in a pan with oil and tossing the meat on the grill to get it going?
I've been tossing country style ribs on the grill before putting in a PC, then back on the grill to sauce them. I was thinking that next time I make a chuck roast in the slow cooker I might give it a couple of turns on the grill, rather than searing it in a pan.
Does the oil help give a better sear?
 
If I am cooking on top of the stove, I flour first. For the reasons Jeekins stated.

However, if I am using the crockpot, I don't brown anything first, or otherwise dirty another pot. Seems to defeat the purpose of the easiness of using the crock. I toss everything in there as is, all at once. If I need to thicken gravy before serving, I stir in some Wondra. Yep, I'm lazy.

And my crockpotted food does NOT taste like POO (you doo-doo head!) :-p

Lee
 
I used to use my crockpot that way, Lee.
Now I sear the meat in a pan before adding to the crockpot and the color and outer texture is soooo much better. Tastes the same though. And yes, I hate to dirty another pan and you've got all that sizzling oil splattering everywhere, so I put the pan to good use and add my cooking liquid to the pan, deglaze, and dump that into the crock.
 
an update: i dredged the chunks of meat in whole wheat flour, browned in evoo, then they went into the crcok pot. next, garlic and onions were browned, and in they went.
i deglazed the pan with a liter of cheap burgundy, scraping up the fond, and then cooked the wine down a few minutes. the result was poured into the crock.
finally, i added baby carrots, chopped swiss chard, cubed turnips, thyme, parsley, and basil, all from my garden.
i set it on low for about 6 hours.

the final stew was fantastic. the meat was unbelieveably tender, and the gravy was rich and hearty with a really earthy quality from the veggies. it was perfect with buttered noodles.

thanks to everyone for their advice! :chef:
 
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