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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?

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    Interesting question. I've always understood "pot roasting" to be a type of braising. I find it odd that that table calls them out separately.
    – Sobachatina
    Apr 4, 2012 at 16:32
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    They definitively used be considered differently. But know they are pretty much considered the same. If I remember correctly it had to do with the liquid being added. The differences obviously didn't seem to be that big a deal to me to remember how exactly it was classified. But basically they are both a combination dry and wet cooking process.
    – jeffwllms
    Apr 4, 2012 at 20:21
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    come to think of it I think I remember what I was told the difference is. It doesn't have to do with the liquid at all. It is the cut. Full roast are pot roasted, steaks and similar cuts (short ribs) are braised, cubes and dices are stewed. Anyway, I am pretty sure that was one of the differences but again, not a big deal for me to use two terms.
    – jeffwllms
    Apr 4, 2012 at 21:40

3 Answers 3

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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.

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  • that alone doesn't mean that they are in fact the same thing. Some people do still consider them as different. An example is that rouxbe.com considers them different in their courses.
    – jeffwllms
    Apr 4, 2012 at 21:33
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My Fanny Farmer recipe for pot roast does not submerge the roast in the liquid. So I would interpret the two words like this:

  • braised: cut into pieces (perhaps bite-sized, perhaps serving sized) and submerged in simmering liquid for a long time, probably with lid to prevent liquid loss
  • pot roasted: left whole and put into a lidded pot with an inch or so of liquid, held out of the liquid by a trivet or saucer or just a lot of vegetables at the bottom of the pot, simmered on the stove or in the oven

Both ways are moist heat, but there are differences.

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    I think this is more accurate than the accepted answer, but it should be noted that all of these definitions are very loose and open to interpretation. Pot roasts are not always held out of the liquid, but are always left whole. Braises are not always cut into pieces, but are always (if not submerged in) sitting in liquid. Lids are usual for both processes but not always...etc etc
    – canardgras
    Mar 3, 2017 at 15:17
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pot roast and braising are the same method of cooking.the only difference is that for pot raost we use a whole piece of meat like chuck eye roast.on the other hand for braising we use 1 and 1/2 inch thick steaks like osso buco(cross cut shank).we cut osso buco this way I mean their thickness- in order to keep the steaks from breaking up during cooking.cause if they break up then they will be served as stew.therefor the differences between pot roast,braising and stew are the type of cuts we are going to cook and serve.

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