Sometimes I get it right. Sometimes I don't. I use stew meat from a quality butcher, and they know not to give me too lean or too tough from the get-go.

I've tried different recipes, I've browned at different temperatures, I've simmered for different lengths of time, ... used a bunch of cookbooks ... and now I've got myself all turned around and need a little guidance so that I can get my stew beef (or game, for that matter) consistently tender and delicious. 'Cause clearly, when I get it right, it's an accident.

Some of you guys are natural-born cooks and I just know you can help me by sharing some of your tips for making sure those chunks of deliciousness are near perfect when they're dredged up out of the pot.

- Tom

I think the secret to tender stew meat is to cook it long and slow. Everything else is for flavor.

I think it was on the Hungarian Goulash episode of Good Eats that Alton Brown took the large chunks of meat and seared them well and cooked them in the pan to done and then set them aside overnight to cool completely. He saved the pan drippings and then the next day did all the other work and added the meat in to the dish. It was then very tender.

I tried doing that with some wild boar that I cut into stew sized and was amazed that it was fall apart tender after the cooling period. I did a big batch and then vacuum packed it into stew/chili batch sized and now just drop it in frozen and I've greatly sped up my stew cook time.

As you mentioned "game," Sunday I made a moose stew. I had a two pound roast from a cow moose my neighbor killed in the Fall of 2011. (I'd put it in the freezer last year and it became covered with other frozen meat before I ran on to it a few days ago.)

I cut the roast into chunks approximately 1�" cubed. I heated my cast iron pot to hot, put in a small amount of good olive oil and then seared the moose pieces in two batches.

I then added one can of Swanson's beef broth, four cups of water, three cloves of chopped garlic, covered it and let this concoction simmer at very low for about three hours.

Then I added a large onion chopped, a couple of large carrots chopped, two Idaho russet potatoes chopped into pieces about the size of the meat, one can of chopped tomatoes, a half cup of frozen green peas, some fresh pepper, and three bay leaves.

Added a bit more water, and let it simmer for another two hours. We had it for dinner last night, and tonight, and the meat was literally cut-it-with-a-fork tender. A great stew.

I've had the same results making both elk and beef stew using this same method and recipe.

I never salt until the stew is almost ready for the table as there is plenty of salt in beef broth and canned tomatoes. Salt is mighty easy to add later to taste: it's mighty hard to take out if you've added too much.

Hope this helps.

L.W.

Totally agree with this. I never bother with all the searing and such. When you get all the ingredients you want in the stew pot then just let it simmer as long as you dare. Save the salt, pepper, spices and what all for last just before you dish it up. Try not to boil it anymore than you have too. Makes some types of meat rubbery. Slow simmer is the trick.
Stew is better to me the second day anyway when all the flavors have blended.

Low and slow is all you need to know.


Travis

I often suspect that the reason my stew chunks are NOT tender is because I've overcooked them in the searing.

So what would be the optimum size of chunk if you're going to sear it well, and how far cooked should they be? Still bloody inside, or brown all the way through?

I get the idea of slow simmer, just south of boiling.

I'm also intrigued with the idea of not searing at all, and just throwing the raw chunks in for the slow simmer. I've never done that, because I've totally bought into the Maillard Reaction.

My wife and I have argued the "sear vs no sear" thing the whole time we've been married. Her mother taught her to dust the chunks in flour and sear until brown before adding broth and doing the low and slow. My folks didn't sear at all..they just dumped the chunks in the broth and cooked low and slow. Her way ends up with a thicker broth...mine is thinner. So, how we do it depends on who's cooking. I continue to like my way the best and she continues to like her way the best. We do end up with good stew either way...but mine is best. I'm sure this arguement will come to a head one day soon and we'll settle it once and for all...we've only been married for 40 years so still time to convence her that my way is best.

I have begun doing soups and stews in the pressure cooker for the initial cooking. It speeds up the process and the increased heat from the pressure cooker breaks down the connective tissue completely. The result is tender and very flavorful.

I will combine beef,barley, onions, celery, and carrots in pressure cooker for an hour or an hour and a half. Then I take the top off and add potatoes or rutabaga and cook low and slow for another hour....add bay leafe for the last hour too.

I do the same with chicken soup and bean soup. The pressure cooker gets everything tender!

Yeah...pressure cookers are good tools and probably not used as often as they should be. We have one somewhere...need to dig it out and give it a try.

Searing does add a layer of flavor that will be missed if you just throw the raw chunks in for the slow simmer.

Just get the outside caramelized, leave the inside pretty raw. It's the combination of low heat, time and moisture that will convert the chewy chunks into tender morsels.

All stews are better if you make them the day before and let them sit in the refrig over night. Everything seems to blend in. I just made a big batch of sausage gravey for biscuits and gravey in the morning. Will be much better then with the garlic, hot pepper and onion pieces blending their tastes.

I'm batching it this week and have my brother and a couple other guys coming up to the farm for the night. We are going to the local tavern for "Bacon Night". All you can eat bacon for $5. A bunch of different kinds cooked up different ways. Heart attack on a plate!

I grey rather than brown my meat. Always tender.

I make mine in a crockpot 8 out of 10 times. Almost like cheating, really.

How big a cube do you favor when you're cutting?

About an inch.