I haven't browned the lamb for my casserole - will it be ok?<worried now>

[BendyBob]

I always brown meat first. It's just how I do it.

But I needed to get my slow cooker on in a bit of a hurry so it gets a good 6/7 hrs before we eat it. So I've just bunged it all together and put it on.

Now I'm worried. Will it be ok?[bconfused]

Lol though - if you say 'no' there's not a lot I can do about it really now[bgrin]

It may not taste quite as good but it should be cooked fine

I think it will be ok as in safe to eat. But it might look a bit horrible. (sorry)

Can you not pull it out and then give it a quick fry?

It will be fine.

The only time I bother browning meat for the slowcooker is sausages, otherwise they can look a little phallic.

Yikes. No can't really it's got other things in with it now - it's got tomatotes and peppers in it too and it's all mixed up now. Oh well, they'll cover up the meat.

Jamie oliver reckons he has done many tests and browning makes no difference... i never brown beef, never use lamb though...

I think it would just be a bit greasier maybe a different texture.

Oh well, looks like it's my day to experiment. Will report back on whether ok or not later. I've often wondered but never been brave enough to try.

How was it ?

interested to find out how it went. i never brown beef, certainly.

We never brown in our house (obv except sausages as bitterandtwisted is right they are too rude for the plate)

Browning just adds another step and more washing up.

Also scientifically speaking browning meat does not "seal in" juices. Take a look in your roasting pan on a sunday, pretty sure that stuff your making gravy out of is the juices that supposedly sealed in earlier.

Anyway soz for mini rant... I really hate washing up and go to great lengths to ensure there is as little as possible.

Ok reporting back! It was lovely.
Better in fact I'd say wrt flavour and texture. The meat seemed softer somehow and more tender.

I don't think I'll be as quick to automatically brown meat in future and it's great that it cuts out some of the preparation and washing up.

Unless it's for cosmetic reasons ie the meat is more visable and looks more appealing browned first (like the sausages mentioned) I'm not going to do it so much.

I would say though that the colour of the meat in the casserole I made last night wasn't really a factor because it was quite tomatoey and had peppers in it, so it had lots of colour anyway. The lamb looked nice though, cooked and meaty not grey and horrible or anything.

I'm going to have another go next week with beef.

my grandmother stopped browngin meat in the war because she said it shrunk it, and they didn't have meat to shrink. so we don't do beef in our family. i only tend to do lamb shanks or an oven recipe, so it's good to know if i do a casserole i wouldn't need to brown that either.