3 Reasons Why Braising Food Is a Smart Choice
Sometimes it's tough to make healthy food choices. With news frequently releasing about the harmful effects of one ingredient after another, sometimes it can all feel a bit overwhelming. Sometimes, we're also hampered by considerations of cost, time, and availability of ingredients.
Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to combat the onslaught of negativity.
By braising your food, you can make a simpler and healthier option out of almost anything you cook.
3 Reasons Why Braising Food Is a Smart Choice
Reason 1: Retaining Nutrients
The way in which ingredients are prepared, particularly the cooking methods, can have a huge impact on the nutritional content of the food we consume.
Heat can break down and destroy 15 to 20 percent of some vitamins in vegetables — especially vitamin C, folate, and potassium (Time).
Since cooking at high temperatures has been known to reduce the nutritional content in certain foods, braising is a smart option to create a delicious dinner without cooking the goodness clean out of it.
Reason 2: Simple Meals
When you braise food, especially meats, you are often able to turn your entree into a simple, one-pot meal. Since braising is a wet cooking method, throwing some onions, savory vegetables, and herbs into the mix to cook in the rich sauce is usually a choice you will not regret.
Reason 3: Reduced Risks for Cancer?
Some cooking methods, such as pan-searing and grilling, have been linked to possible increased risks for cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, certain chemicals found within meats are at the root of this issue.
Heterocyclic amines (HCAs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are chemicals formed when muscle meat, including beef, pork, fish, or poultry, is cooked using high-temperature methods, such as pan frying or grilling directly over an open flame. In laboratory experiments, HCAs and PAHs have been found to be mutagenic—that is, they cause changes in DNA that may increase the risk of cancer.
While we acknowledge that these links to cancer are less strong than some other poor food choices you could make, people who are already at risk might want to consider limiting the amount of high-temperature-prepared meats that they consume.
Fortunately, they have other options.
Braising is a simple and delicious one!
We Can Help
Here at Thermodyne Foodservice Products, Inc., we have spent the last thirty years providing quality food warmers for commercial, industrial, and institutional kitchens. If you have questions or comments about braising food, or if you would like to hear more about our product lines, please feel free to contact us at any time.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Posted in: Cooking Tips & Recipes