No doubt the liquid softened the breading to the point where it stopped adhering to the meat. I'm not sure why anyone would recommend breading and browning meat before putting it in a stew in a slow cooker.
I've seen, and used recipes, which call for lightly flouring meat before browning. The flour soaks up some of the meat juices, and itself browns - becoming quite tasty - and then that finds its way into the braising liquid, thickening it. (That makes sense.) ;o)
From what I’ve learned in cooking, the main (and maybe only) ways a breaded coating unifies around a piece of meat is through frying. Either shallow frying, for something like cutlet or a schnitzel or deep frying, as for pieces of chicken. Maybe other members will report other techniques. As Serious Eats reports, even meat coated in flour. that id sautéed before adding to a stew don’t retain their coating in a stew (that is, cooked in liquid). So success for futures - maybe use a frying method to cook breaded meat or another recipe to cook meat in a stew.
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I've seen, and used recipes, which call for lightly flouring meat before browning. The flour soaks up some of the meat juices, and itself browns - becoming quite tasty - and then that finds its way into the braising liquid, thickening it. (That makes sense.) ;o)
Maybe other members will report other techniques.
As Serious Eats reports, even meat coated in flour. that id sautéed before adding to a stew don’t retain their coating in a stew (that is, cooked in liquid).
So success for futures - maybe use a frying method to cook breaded meat or another recipe to cook meat in a stew.