Braising, step by step
Dry heat for flavour, then moist heat for texture.
- Brown the meat hardIn batches, in a heavy pot. This is where the flavour comes from.
- Soften the aromaticsIn the same fat, lifting the browned residue.
- DeglazeWine or stock, scraping the bottom clean.
- Liquid to halfwayNot covered. The exposed top browns as it cooks.
- Low and slow140–160°C oven, or a bare simmer. Never a boil.
- Check for collapseDone when a fork twists with no resistance, not at a temperature.
Timings
- Beef shin: 3–4 hours
- Lamb shoulder: 4 hours
- Pork shoulder: 4–6 hours
- Beef cheek: 3 hours
Braises are better the next day. Cooling and reheating lets the flavours distribute and the fat set for removal.
Questions about the Braising poster
- What’s on the Braising poster?
- 6 numbered steps, with a full worked run-through. Dry heat for flavour, then moist heat for texture. Brown the meat hard — In batches, in a heavy pot. This is where the flavour comes from.; Soften the aromatics — In the same fat, lifting the browned residue.; Deglaze — Wine or stock, scraping the bottom clean.; Liquid to halfway — Not covered. The exposed top browns as it cooks.; Low and slow — 140–160°C oven, or a bare simmer. Never a boil.; Check for collapse — Done when a fork twists with no resistance, not at a temperature.. Braises are better the next day. Cooling and reheating lets the flavours distribute and the fat set for removal.
- Who is the Braising poster for?
- Braising belongs to the Kitchen section rather than to a school year, because food is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning technique can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the Braising poster?
- Brown, then liquid to halfway, then low and slow. Never let it boil. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Braising belongs on the wall where that food work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with Braising?
- Cooking Methods, Batch Cooking and Blanching sit alongside Braising in the Kitchen section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Cooking MethodsBatch CookingBlanching
- Is the Braising poster free to download and print?
- Yes. Braising downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Kitchen section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the Braising poster print at?
- Braising is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Braising loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside Braising on the same wall.
Browse every Kitchen poster, or start from the full catalogue.