Slicing a pot roast after chilling overnight gives you uniform, tatter-free slices Constant Heat Versus Constant Temperature You may wonder why many braised recipes call for cooking in the oven instead of simmering on the stovetop Here’s the deal: a stovetop maintains a constant heat output, while an oven maintains a constant temperature This means that on the stovetop, the same amount of heat energy is being transferred to the pot no matter how much stuff is inside it, and no matter how hot that stuff already is A pot of stew that’s barely simmering at the start of cooking over mediumlow heat might be at a rapid boil toward the end of cooking, when some of the liquid has evaporated and the volume of the stew has diminished In an oven, no matter how much or how little food there is in the pot, the temperature of the food remains the same Moreover, an oven heats gently from all sides, while a burner focuses the heat on the bottom of the pot Move all your braises to the oven, and you’ll get better results—guaranteed When I made the pot roast, after about hours the meat was at just the point I wanted it—tender enough that a knife or cake tester could slip in and out of it easily, but not so tender that it had lost its structure (The broth, by the way, smelled awesome.) The problems arose when I tried to slice the meat While hot, it was so tender that it was nearly an impossible task—it shredded and fell apart even with the sharpest knife and the gentlest touch The best way to slice braised meat is to allow it to first cool completely Originally I thought it’d be best to allow the meat to cool down in the air of the kitchen instead of in the hot liquid inside the pot But I tested identical halves of the same roast cooled in the air versus in the liquid and here’s what I found: RETAINED WEIGHT VERSUS COOLING METHOD ...of the pot Move all your braises to the oven, and you’ll get better results—guaranteed When I made the pot roast, after about hours the meat was at just the point I wanted it—tender enough that a knife... Originally I thought it’d be best to allow the meat to cool down in the air of the kitchen instead of in the hot liquid inside the pot But I tested identical halves of the same roast cooled in the air versus in the liquid and here’s what I found:... with the sharpest knife and the gentlest touch The best way to slice braised meat is to allow it to first cool completely Originally I thought it’d be best to allow the meat to cool down in the