What is the difference between pot roasting and braising?

Question

I'm looking at this guide for cooking cuts of beef:

http://www.newworldfrontiersman.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/1288720744352.jpg

and some are supposed to be braised, while others are supposed to be pot roasted. As far as I can tell, both are seared and then partially covered in simmering water. What is the difference between these cooking methods?

Asked by Loren

Answer

Pot Roasting = Braising

This more recent document from the same association, Cattlemen's Beef Board and National Cattlemen's Beef, supports this by using them interchangeably: 3 Simple Steps For Braising/Pot Roasting Beef

I was trying to figure out what the document from your question may have been implying by the cuts the different cooking techniques were recommended for. And I'd guess, because Pot Roasting is applied to more connective heavy cuts, that braising would be a shorter cooking time. That's my best guess.

Answered by Sorax

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Why tie a non-stuffed beef pot roast?

Question

Recipes for beef pot roasts often include the step of tying the roast with twine prior to cooking, even for roasts without stuffing. Why? What difference in outcome can I expect between a tied roast and an untied roast, all other things equal?

Answer

Since ovens cook by heat radiation, you want to expose as high a proportion of the surface area as possible, which is why most roasts are vaguely cubic or cylindrical in shape. Any part of the meat that's pressed against the pan (i.e. the bottom of the roast) isn't going to get that nice brown crust.

It's also very important with slow-cooking methods that require you to put some liquid at the bottom of the vessel; obviously you want as little of the meat as possible to be in the water, so that most of the work is done by steam.

Tying (or more accurately, trussing) the meat is simply how you maintain the shape in the oven. If you don't truss it, then you'll not only end up with a very flat roast, you'll also end up with uneven cooking, and only the top will be browned since there are no "sides" to speak of.

It's similar with chicken and other birds; you truss the legs so that the oven has a chance to crisp them up on all sides, not just the top.

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