To brown or not to brown?

[Thunderduck]

I'm making a beef stew for tomorrow, and the recipe says to coat the meat in flour and brown it.
However Jamie Oliver's books, though the recipe isn't one of his, states that he finds stews taste better if the meat hasn't been browned.

What should I do with it? I'm rather cautious as the meat cost a small fortune.

Up to you, I never thinks it makes much difference to brown the meat, the flour helps to thicken though

Always brown as it can stop the mean being 'slimy' in texture I think. Also get some nice juices out to brown your onion in.

Not convinced it actually tastes bettwe however.

Don't brown any more, will never get back all that wasted time.
I do soften onions first though just to get a bit of that caramel colour and flavour, then add flour to make a roux like lumpy mess, meat,veg and liquid of choice.

And don't use expensive meat, the cheapest beef shin/lamb etc makes the best stew.