Skip frying step for slow cooking?

[gf2010]

Hi everyone, this is my first post and my first foray into slow cooking. I tried a Peruvian recipe last night (seco de carne - beef and xilantro stew) which I adapted for the crockpot and it was great. However, the recipe called for frying a chopped onion until transparent before transfering to the crockpot, and I see similar requirements in many recipes. Wouldn't it work anyway if I just put the chopped onion at the bottom of the pot? With 8 hours cooking on low, the onion should be thoroughly cooked in the stew without the prior frying.
Am I right? Can you in general skip these first steps and just pour the ingredients on the pot?

Thanks!

[Chubby Cook]

The pre-browning of meats and some vegetables is purely for added flavor and can be omitted if you are in a hurry, but often that extra step is the difference between a good tasting meal and a great tasting one.

[Rainbow - Chef 536866]

There are certain chemical changes that happen while sauteeing on high heat that don't happen in slow cooking or boiling. While this is great for some people, for others it doesn't matter, and for others it might not be so good for them. I would say that if you normally would sautee the onions separately in making a stew on the stovetop, then continue to do that, and if you normally just throw the onion into the soup liquid then continue to do that.

[Red Apple Guy]

I think the result will be somewhat different between sweating the onions and adding raw, but I can't see a significant difference. Browning meats, however, does add flavor from the amino acids formed, but cooking onions until transparent???? I can't see the point.

RAG