One of the worst mistakes in cooking is one of the easiest to fix. Don't overcrowd your pan when you're browning meat for a stew or braise. If your meat is all bunched up together in the pan, that liquid doesn't hit the bottom of the pan to evaporate, it pools around and on top of the meat and all that meat in the pan steams instead of browns. So give it some room and let it sit there searing away and you'll have upped your cooking game like a pro.