Biscuits on Beef Stew - not cooking. help!

Cafe Society
1

I’m trying to replicate a meal my aunt made. She always layered biscuits on top of her stew (chicken or beef). Hers cooked pretty well. Juicy on the bottom, but not raw dough.
like this
http://www.bigoven.com/pics/rs/256/beef-stew-with-biscuits-2.jpg
Mine are still raw on the bottom. :dubious:

I’m heating the stew first in a pot. Then transfer it to a baking pan, Layer canned biscuits on top. bake until brown at temp on biscuit can.

Any ideas why the bottom is still raw?

Are the biscuits too thick? Should I cut them thinner?

This thread inspired me to make my aunts dish. I made a pretty decent stew this time thanks to these posts.

2

The way I’ve done it is to mix up some biscuit dough, then layer it on top of the stew during the end of the cooking process, maybe 10 minutes uncovered and 10 minutes covered. That’s usually called “dumplings” though and doesn’t brown on the stove top. Did she use your method or did she use an oven-safe stew pot?

Consider trying it with an oven-safe stew pot, or bake until brown then cover with foil and bake a while longer.

3

Thanks. I’ll give that a try. I hadn’t thought about covering them after they browned.

4

Now that I’m thinking about this, I wonder if steam under the foil might make the biscuits a funny texture? Try a test batch split into two pans, and alternate the “cover first/cover last” method between the two.

5

Are you layering the biscuits so that they cover the whole top, or leaving spaces between for the steam to escape?

Regards,
Shodan

6

The biscuits are touching after they cook. Not sure if steam can get out or not.

This lady suggests cutting the biscuits in half. Maybe thinner biscuits cook better? I’m getting hungry looking at these pictures. :wink: I always loved this meal at my Aunts house.
http://kathyniemer.tripod.com/kathysillustratedrecipes/id26.html

7

Thinner biscuits should cook through faster, yes.

8

I’ve done this before, but only with a) chicken and dumplings and b) bisquick mix. (Yes, I know. It’s still pretty good.)

So, I make the chicken part (chicken chunks dredged in flour and browned for a bit, then simmered with a bunch o’ chicken stock and cut up veggies - usually carrots, celery, and potatoes cut small) in a giant skillet. Then I mix up a small box of Bisquick mix (I think 1 cup’s worth?) per the directions, adding chopped parsley to the mix. Drop the biscuits by heaping serving spoons onto the simmering chicken mixture - there’s usually 5 or 6. They’re biggish, but they don’t usually touch. The edges just might at the very end of cooking. Cover and simmer for 10 more minutes or so.

Like Ferret Herder said, my dumplings don’t brown, really, but they are done all the way through. No doughy-ness.

I’ve never tried it with canned biscuits, though. Luck to you.

9

Was the stew boiling when you put the bisquits on? It should be. Cover first, until they start to rise and then open to allow browing.

It might also work to just flip them after five minutes. The tops wou;dn’t come out as clean, but they might be yummier. . .

10

The reason is because the stew is insulating the bottom of the biscuits. The air over the biscuits is 350F or so, but the stew under the biscuits is only going to be like 130F or roundabouts. It’s just not going to transfer heat like a metal or glass baking tray. Thinner biscuits will help.