Slow Cooked Oxtail Ragu (2023)

FAQs

How long does it take for oxtails to get tender on the stove? ›

Fill with enough water to cover oxtails and place over high heat. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to medium. Cook oxtails until tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

NOTE: If you desire a thicker sauce, stir the cornstarch/water mixture into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high heat for an additional 30 minutes and allow to thicken.

Ingredients in this oxtail ragu recipe.

It calls for oxtail cut into pieces, onion, carrots, lots of celery, peeled tomatoes, pine nuts, raisins, bitter cocoa powder or grated dark chocolate, cloves, white wine, guanciale (pork cheek) or pancetta and parsley.

Season the oxtail and let marinate for 6 – 8 hours (if possible) before cooking to infuse flavours into the meat. 'Brown' or sear the meat on both sides to 'lock-in' the juices and flavour. Cook the oxtails until soft and tender then add another layer of fresh seasonings.

Add the oxtails into a large stock pot filled with water and 1 tsp salt, make sure they are submerged. Soak for 1-2 hours. Discard water used for soaking. Return to cooking pot and refill it with 12-15 cups of water, broth, or half and half.

Yes, there are scientific reasons to back up the fact that slow cooked meat is better. Tenderness in meat comes from the melting of collagen – the connective tissue protein present in meat. When collagen melts, it turns into gelatin, a rich liquid that gives meat a lot of flavour as well as a silky texture.

It's almost impossible to overcook the ragu unless you are using very lean meat. I salt almost all my food, except for pasta cooking water, at the very end. Adjust salt to taste accordingly and serve with your favorite pasta.

It's because you haven't let the collagen break down. Extend the cook time, make sure there's enough liquid and keep an eye on the dish.

Adding too much pasta water to the spaghetti sauce is often the root cause of a watery sauce. Other causes include excess water from the noodles themselves or inadequately cooking down the sauce.

They're not the same. In Italian, “Ragù” is a hearty meat sauce made of ground meat, vegetables, wine and some tomatoes. “Bolognese” is also a meat sauce, but it's a regional variation prepared in the style of Bologna hence the name: Ragù Bolognese.

What cuts of meat are good for ragu? ›

The best cut of beef for beef ragu is boneless beef brisket or roast beef (such as chuck roast or rump roast). The slow cooker, it breaks down perfectly into tender, shred-with-a-fork beef, which is exactly what you want for beef ragu.

Oxtail (occasionally spelled ox tail or ox-tail) is the culinary name for the tail of cattle. While the word once meant only the tail of an ox, today it can also refer to the tails of other cattle. An oxtail typically weighs around 3.5 kilograms (8 pounds) and is skinned and cut into shorter lengths for sale.

Admittedly, searing isn't strictly necessary for the cooking process. Technically speaking. The meat will cook just fine without searing. (And any surface bacteria will die during cooking anyway.)

If the oxtails burns in the pot, the soup will taste bitter. Trim excess fat from the oxtails before adding them to the soup. Skim fat from the top of the soup if you find it too oily. Take the oxtails out of the soup when it's done cooking, remove the meat from the bones, and add the meat back to the soup.

Fortunately, you can tenderize the meat by boiling or braising it for several hours. Braising oxtail is strongly recommended because it adds flavor to the stock and the low and slow cook will tenderize the meat and cartilage and bring out flavor from the bones and marrow.

Oxtails contain a lot of collagen that can turn tough and rubbery when dry. The best way to process this is to first boil it in order to hydrate the connective tissues. Place the cut in boiling water for about 5 minutes. Then add some lemon juice, which will help to tenderize the connective tissues.

By soaking and blanching the oxtail before cooking any impurities are removed. To cook: Oxtail requires long, slow cooking to produce tender, succulent meat. It should be cooked for a minimum of 3 hours for the best results.

To clean oxtails with vinegar, use white distilled vinegar to rinse oxtails. Soak oxtails in the vinegar for approximately 5 minutes. Drain oxtails, then rinse with cold water. This helps remove any blood from the oxtails while tenderizing them simultaneously.

Besides velveting the meat prior cooking, the meat in restaurants may be marinated with chemical meat tenderizers. The active ingredients are usually papain or bromelain, which are enzymes extracted from fruits.

Can you overcook something in a slow cooker? Slow cookers are specially designed to cook food for long periods of time, but yes, you can still overcook in a slow cooker if something is left on the wrong setting for longer than it's supposed to be.

What cooking method makes meat most tender? ›

Simmering and stewing are used for less tender cuts of meat while poaching is used for tender cuts.

Lid on for the first half of cooking marries the flavours and doesn't let the sauce dry out. Shifting the lid during the second half of cooking reduces the sauce without – hopefully – having to add too much extra stock. So for me it's 1 1/2 hours lid on, and 1 1/2 hours lid off. It's that simple.

The key to a good bolognese is simmering it very slowly over low heat for several hours. This long simmering makes the beef incredibly tender and turns the sauce into something that will make your eyes roll up in your head.

You cook this for hours uncovered so that the sauce reduces and the flavors really intensify.

According to our Food Director Amira, not only does milk add a rich flavour to the bolognese, but it also helps cut through the acidity of the tomatoes and red wine. It also makes the mince meat nice and tender, creating that melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness.

Taste the sauce once it's warm and add some seasoning. Maybe it needs a touch of salt, red pepper flakes, or some fresh garlic to liven it up. You could add dried or fresh herbs too: oregano, basil, thyme, tarragon, parsley—they're all great!

Making Ragù Bolognese Even More Flavorful

There's already parsley in the cooked the vegetables, but fresh parsley thrown in after cooking adds another dimension of herbal flavor. (Fresh sage added at this stage is overpowering.) Grated Parmesan also increases the sauce's umami, while helping to bind it.

A proper ragu should be the consistency of a thick and hearty sauce. Another mistake many recipes make is that they add too much balsamic vinegar that overpowers the dish. One tablespoon is the perfect amount that creates a unified dimension of rich flavors.

Add ¼ cup water to a small bowl and add cornstarch to the water. Whisk the two ingredients together until the cornstarch is dissolved. Whisk the cornstarch slurry into the pasta sauce (be sure the pasta sauce is warm). Bring the pasta sauce to a gentle simmer, the pasta sauce should thicken quickly.

Method: Take 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and mix it with one tablespoon of cold water in a bowl. Stir the contents to ensure they blend well and form a smooth paste. Then pour the mixture into your hot sauce as you stir, and allow it to simmer until the sauce doesn't have a starchy taste.

What is traditional meat ragù? ›

One of the most popular and beloved recipes in Italy, ragù is a sauce made from tomatoes and ground or chopped meat, which is cooked for a long time. It is normally made with tomato sauce, celery, onions and carrots, ground beef and/or pork, some white wine and aromatic herbs like basil and bay leaf.

Ragù is a meat-based sauce, typically served with pasta. Traditionally, pieces of meat (often beef, pork, game, or even horse), are cooked on a low heat in a braising liquid (this is usually tomato or wine-based) over a long period of time.

Here's the gist: the two ways Italians say “sauce” in Italian are salsa and/or sugo. Both words translate as “sauce” but never as “gravy.” Ragù doesn't even translate as “gravy” but comes close enough since it involves meat which is what people really mean when they say “gravy” (my personal opinion).

Ragu alla Bolognese or Bolognese is a variation of Ragu and the most popular version of Ragu. Bolognese sauce originated in Bologna, Italy and dates all the way back to the 15th century. It uses white wine and less tomatoes. Beef, soffritto, pancetta, onions, tomato paste, meat broth, white wine, and cream or milk.

For every pound of meat, you'll need a total of 3 cups liquid, which you should mix and match from a few different sources: You definitely want some wine—choose red wine for a deeper earthy flavor, and white for a brighter one.

This is the essential base flavour for nearly all Italian stews, soups, sauces and ragù. It is made from gently fried tiny cubes of celery, onion and carrot. Sometimes parsley is chopped with it or a couple of whole garlic cloves, rosemary sprigs or chilli are added to the pan.

Oxtail is rich in Collagen, a vital protein for our body's growth and repair. Oxtail is high in fat so an ideal energy source for a Ketogenic, Paleo, or Carnivore Diet. With over 70% fat, Oxtail is Ideal for anyone on a high fat / low carb or no-carb diet. Oxtail must be slow-cooked to break down the connective tissue.

Oxtails don't come from every part of the animal, so it's difficult to source them without ordering them online from a vendor who specializes in them. Because of these factors, oxtails are generally considered a luxury item.

The tail is skinned and cut into sections; each section has a tailbone with some marrow in the center, and a bony portion of meat surrounding the tail. The meat is gelatinous, and is best used for stocks, soups, and braises. It's common in Italian and Korean cuisine to see oxtail used as an ingredient.

"Browning, or caramelizing, meat before putting it into a slow cooker isn't 100 percent necessary, but it is well worth the effort for the most flavorful and full-bodied end result," he says. "The caramelized surface of the meat will lend rich flavor and color to the finished dish."

Why do you have to flour meat before slow cooking? ›

Browning Is Better

And if you dredge the meat in flour before you brown it, your sauce will thicken up to make a gravy. You should always brown ground beef or any ground meat in a skillet before adding it to your slow cooker to prevent the meat from clumping up or from adding excess grease to your cooked dish.

How Do You Sear a Roast Before Slow Cooking? You heat olive oil in a skillet or Dutch oven on the stove, then sear the roast for about one minute per side before transferring it to the slow cooker.

What does using too much browning sauce do? Adding too much browning sauce may ruin your finished dish due to its slightly bitter flavor profile. A teaspoon of this seasoning is enough to add flavor to your dishes.

Stir in the browned oxtails. Cover the pot and place it in the preheated oven. Bake until the meat is tender, about 2 hours.

Oxtail is delicious because it has a fatty coating between the meat and bone. The cartilage-laden interior of the oxtail is also high in fat. Unfortunately, oxtail fat is saturated fat, which isn't healthy for you [13, 14].

In Chinese cooking, proteins like beef, pork or chicken are velveted first before stir-frying them. There are several ways to velvet, but at its most basic level, it involves marinating meat with at least one ingredient that will make it alkaline. This is what tenderizes the meat, especially cheaper, tougher cuts.

Velveting is a Chinese method of marinating which keeps delicate meat and seafood moist and tender during cooking. The velveting technique is very easy and gives amazing results.

This is how to tenderise beef with a Chinese restaurant method called “velveting beef”. Also used for chicken, it's a simple, highly effective technique using baking soda that transforms economical beef so it's incredibly tender in stir fries and stir fried noodles.

Simmer the covered oxtails for 2 to 3 hours.

Bring the liquid to a boil and then turn the burner down to medium or medium-low so the liquid bubbles gently. Place the lid on the pot and cook the oxtails until they're so tender that the meat begins to fall off of the bone.

Depending on the quantity, size and the cut of meat you use, the beef should be fully cooked at about 30 minutes in total. NOTE: You do not need a lot of water for this recipe, meat produces its own liquid, adding too much water would just water down the flavour of the overall dish.

Why won t my oxtail soften? ›

If your oxtails have not become tender already in the 5 hours you have already given them, perhaps your slow cooker's low setting is not hot enough. This is of special concern because you also want it to be at least 140 F (60 C) for safety.

Cook it low-and-slow

When braising tough cuts of meat, the collagen breaks down in the cooking liquid and really lets those tough muscle fibers separate. Make sure you give yourself enough time to let those cuts break down, which could take four or more hours in a Dutch oven or slow cooker.

Velveting is a simple process of using baking soda or a mixture of egg whites, cornstarch and oil to marinate and tenderize economical cuts of steak, chicken and other meats before cooking. Velveting meat softens fibers to reduce toughness and enhance juiciness for maximum flavor and tenderness.

The higher the cooking temperature, the tougher the muscle fibers become, and the more they shrink in both length and width. It's no wonder that stewing beef becomes incredibly chewy when cooked in a boiling broth!

However, when meat is cooked for too long, all of the fat and liquid render out. Without them, all that's left is a bunch of tough, flavorless protein. Very unappetizing.

After browning the meat and adding liquids, bring to a light simmer then reduce the heat so that it is just bubbling every now and then. This will give you the most tender meat; true, hard boiling will make meat stringy and tough. (Too much heat!)

Oxtail needs slow cooking! With all that connective tissue, cartilage, and bone marrow in Oxtail, you need to slow cook Beef Oxtail in a moist heat such as braising to break these down. Oxtail just needs time, a braising liquid and requires very little work.

In Chinese cooking, proteins like beef, pork or chicken are velveted first before stir-frying them. There are several ways to velvet, but at its most basic level, it involves marinating meat with at least one ingredient that will make it alkaline. This is what tenderizes the meat, especially cheaper, tougher cuts.

160°F/70°C -- Connective tissue collagen begins to dissolve to gelatin. Melting of collagen starts to accelerate at 160F and continues rapidly up to 180F. Well Done Slow Cooked Meats: Falling apart tenderness collagen turns to gelatin at 160/70.