Low and Slow cookery comes in many different forms including braising, roasting, stewing, and smoking - but all forms share the same principle : low heat, for a long time. It’s generally reserved for tough cuts, which tend to be tremendously flavorful and inexpensive.
As a rule, we prefer meat to be tender and juicy rather than tough and dry. Unfortunately, these two qualities tend to be at odds. We’ll talk about this below, but first, let’s take a moment to discuss the main forms of low and slow cooking:
BRAISING: Item is cooked in a sealed pot or dutch oven with some liquid. Heat is transferred through air, water, and steam.
ROASTING: Item is cooked in an oven exposed on a roasting rack or tray. Heat is transferred through air.
STEWING: Item is cooked covered or uncovered, in the oven or stovetop, submerged in water. Heat is transferred through water.
SMOKING: Item is cooked over a grill. Heat is transferred through air (smoke provides flavor).
There is no “best way” to cook all proteins. To understand how to cook any cut of meat, it’s best to understand its characteristics. Is it Tough or Tender? Lean or Fatty? Big or Small? Skin on or Skin off? Sometimes knowing how you want to cook a cut is the most helpful information you can give your butcher when asking for advice on what to select.
Grilling and pan frying are best for tender cuts, whereas low and slow cooking tends to best serve tough cuts, fatty or lean.
These tough cuts tend to be very flavorful and generally come from areas of the animal that are doing the heavy lifting and moving; i.e., legs, butts, shoulders. These cuts generally have a significant amount of connective tissue called collagen, which if cooked for a long enough time at a low temperature (below boiling point, 212°F) will melt into gelatin. Collagen is gelatinized much more effectively with braising than in other forms of low and slow cooking, but given a long enough time at a low temperature, all low and slow cooking has the potential to turn collagen into gelatin. If this doesn’t sound tasty to you - trust us, it is.
Whether we cook meat for a short or long period, moisture loss is inevitable - this is why meat steams or splatters oil when it is cooked (water released from the meat hits the oil in the hot pan and quickly steams, leaving behind a pop or spray of hot oil that gets on our hands and, inevitably, our shirts (wear an apron!)). While these tough cuts might be drying out as we cook them, the gelatin produced by the melting collagen moisturizes the meat so it doesn’t taste dry. In braising and stewing, the meat will absorb some of the cooking liquid as it cools, reabsorbing some of its lost moisture.
Low and slow also gives us control over how “done” an item is. When braising, stewing, and smoking - we generally identify “done-ness” not by internal temperature, but by tenderness. However, when we are roasting, we may still want to reach an ideal internal temperature (think, turkey) and that’s much easier to do when we are cooking slowly (unlike when you forget about that flank steak under the broiler for an extra couple minutes and it shifts quickly from a perfect medium-rare to well and scorched…)
Cooking rules of thumb:
1) When possible, first sear your meat. Cooking over low temperatures, especially when braising or stewing, will never give you the same flavor development as searing, so it’s best to sear first (get that Maillard reaction!) and then braise or stew. With tough cuts like ribs, I like to cook them slowly in the oven with a bit of beer or stock until very tender and then grill them (reverse sear) to achieve the same flavor development. When roasting, make sure you rub the meat with oil or another fat to help the surface of the meat brown as it roasts (no need to sear first).
2) Avoid a boil. When braising or stewing, avoid letting the cooking liquid come to boil. If it is boiling, turn the temperature down, or if covered with a lid, keep the lid slightly ajar.
3) If burning, turn it down. If you’re roasting or smoking and the outside of the meat is browning before it has become tender, ignore your recipe and turn the heat down. Let the tenderness guide the cooking process, not the other way around.
4) Give it time. Be patient. These projects are best started a day in advance so they can cool fully in their cooking liquid before reheating and serving. The flavor and texture will be better this way.
As a cook, I prefer braising and stewing for my toughest cuts. I lean on these methods heavily because I love the infusion of flavor and moisture they provide. Sure, my pork shoulder is theoretically drying out as I cook it, but it’s also absorbing the liquid it’s cooking in to compensate.
Some of our favorite cuts to cook low and slow:
Pork shoulder
Pork picnic
Pork, beef, lamb shanks
Pork ribs
Beef chuck
Beef brisket
Oxtail short ribs
Any neck meats
Poultry legs
Wine-braised brisket with Turnips and Juniper
Yield: 4 servings
3 pounds brisket
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon juniper, finely ground
1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more to taste 1 teaspoon vegetable oil, plus more as needed
1 large onion
1 cup canned whole tomatoes, finely chopped with their juice 4 cups chicken or beef stock
1 bottle dry white wine (something you’re willing to drink!)
1 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons juniper berries, whole
Fresh thyme, rosemary, and sage sprigs
1 pound turnips, halved
1/4 pound carrots, washed and halved or diced
- Sprinkle the brisket with black pepper, juniper, and salt. Rub the seasoning into both sides of the meat. Leave to marinate and rest for at least 30 minutes at room temperature, or up to 8 hours (place in the fridge if seasoning for more than two hours). Before moving on to the next step, bring the the brisket to room temperature.
- Preheat an oven to 250°F.
- If the surface is very moist, dry the brisket thoroughly with paper towels. Preheat a dutch oven or a deep cast-iron pan over high heat. Add in 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, and add the brisket to the pan. Sear, over high heat, getting all sides a deep golden brown. Remove the brisket from the pan and set aside.
- Turn the heat down to medium high, and add the onion to the pan, along with a big splash of the white wine. Cook the onion for 8 - 12 minutes, until softened.
- Return the brisket to the pan, and add the chopped tomatoes, stock, remaining wine, juniper, and herbs. Move the brisket to the oven and place a lid on top. Keep the lid slightly ajar, this will prevent the liquid inside from going above 212°F (boiling).
- Braise for 2 to 3 hours, or until almost tender when a butterknife is inserted into the brisket. Add in the turnips and carrots, and continue to cook until a butterknife can be easily inserted into the tender brisket.
- When tender, allow the brisket to cool in the remaining braising liquid before slicing.
- Once sliced, place back into the braising liquid to reheat slightly before serving.
