When making a stew, I of course brown the cubed beef before removing and continuing with next steps. But sometimes the meat starts to shed liquid and is really more braising. The stew comes out fine but I would prefer that tasty brown crust on the beef and in the pot. What’s going on here?
Pan is not hot enough is my first guess. You’re not getting a sear.
I’ve noticed this as well. It can help to brown cubed meat in batches, not “overcrowding” the pan.
You’ve either got the pan too cool or too crowded, possibly both Don’t let the pieces of meat touch each other in the pan
Kenji from the Food Lab suggests cutting your stew meat first into steaks or slabs, searing them thoroughly on both sides, then cubing for the stewing step. This way, you could even brown it on a grill or similar. If you do use a pot, make sure it has a thick bottom to hold the heat well, and crank it up high.
…and don’t worry if bits stick to the bottom or it gets a little crusty down there. That makes your gravy all the better.
Both of these. Get the pan nice and hot (I usually heat up a cast iron pan for about 5-7 minutes at 8/10 on my burner, but this will vary depending on your burner–you may have to do it full blast) and do it in batches. Do not crowd the pan and they should not be touching.
Maybe it’s overkill for stew, but I use paper towels to dry my steaks and pork chops before I season them and put them in the pan, so they get a nice, dry sear. Also, it might go without saying, but get your searing done before adding onions, celery, etc to the pan, or else the water from the veggies will stop all further searing from occurring.
Thanks for the advice. I think crowding is the problem.
I have a magnificent cast iron dutch oven, and this is what I use for the stew I make about once a year. Every time I use it I wonder whether browning the meat in it is a bad idea, since the escaping water is bound to be somewhat contained within the pot even with the lid off. Is this a real thing to worry about?
I sometimes flour my meat cubes before browning. That also absorbs water, and adds something to the soup. Well, a little more stew-like with the added thickening power.
You mean along the sides of the pot? No, not really a problem. I brown half the time in my Dutch oven.
Seconded. I do stews more than once a year and brown in the enameled cast iron dutch oven every time.
Some tips I’ve learned over the years:
- Many have mentioned over-crowding, and this is very true. Take the extra 10-20 minutes to do additional batches.
- Be frugal on the oil. One is not frying. If your cut of meat doesn’t render additional fat, you can top it off between batches as long as you allow time for the new oil to come to temperature (which won’t take long).
- Some meats might shed too much liquid, water and/or fat. Don’t be afraid to sop up some of the liquid between batches with a paper towel.
- Drying the meat before seasoning, as suggested by DrCube, can improve the process. I’ve made stews both with lightly floured meat and with plain meat; personally I won’t flour the meat anymore, but there is nothing wrong with it.
- Place the meat in the hot pan, and let it brown. Don’t stir, move, check or anything for at least 3 minutes on the first side, and `~2 minutes on each additional side. Use a timer because…
- As Ukulele Ike said, brown, even dark brown, bits stuck to the bottom are good, but black bits stuck to the bottom are bad. If the meat is browning too fast, either reduce the time or even better, reduce the heat slightly (which will prevent brown from turning black between batches).
I’ve made many, many stews with various meats, and at some point I’ve screwed up on each of these steps, sometimes more than one in the same cook. I just keep trying and try not to make the same mistake a second time (because there are too many new mistakes to try before going back and repeating myself). Good luck, and I expect a serving!
This works very well. In fact, I don’t even make small cubes, but rather cut the slabs into manageable chunks after browning and let it simmer until it falls apart.
Thanks again for the feedback. I do use a Dutch oven for stew and love it; I feel quite certain that I’m overcrowding when I’m browning, as this is one of the classic cooking mistakes I can’t help making. In fact it is especially useful to have reinforced in this case because the results are so tangibly different. If I throw too many chicken chunks in a pan, they stick together and take longer to brown. With beef, it stops the browning process. A good lesson to learn, finally, after a lifetime as a decent cook.
Chefguy, I worry about over-simmering. In other words, I want the carrots/parsnips/potatoes/mushrooms/whatever to have some structure and not be mush; would be concerned about over-cooking the veg to get the beef done. Advice on that?
I do make stews with sweet potatoes which my wife prefers to regular; they do disintegrate but I find they make a nice rich stewy broth, even if a bit sweet for my taste.
I don’t like mushy veggies as much either. Try precooking them. Simmer them till almost done in a separate pot, then set them aside and pour the stock you just made into the stew pot with the browned meat. Add the produce back in when the meat is shreddable and cook a little longer. You’ll basically be making a stew without the meat, then making a stew without the vegetables, then finishing it all together.
Now that I think about it, you could also oven roast those vegetables in a single layer on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Give them a light char and get those onions caramelizing. That’s got to add a rich layer of flavor to a stew, don’t you think? In this case, your liquid will have to come from somewhere else, like those leftover containers of vegetable or beef or turkey stock in your freezer. You do have those, right?
Either way, it’s more steps and more dirty dishes, but your diners shouldn’t complain.
I’m not Chefguy, but a very, very simple way to do this is to add the vegetables (and potatoes) later in the process. This won’t work with an unattended slow cooker, but if using a dutch oven in the oven (you are doing this in the oven, right - if not, you should), don’t add the root vegetables and spuds until there is only ~45 minutes left to the cook. I love pearl onions and peas in my stew - those only need 10-15 minutes.
Also, if you want the veggie flavor to be more infused with the stew. Braise half the veggies and the meat (after browning) for the first half of the process. Remove the the meat then puree the veggies (I use an immersion blender). Then add back the beef. When you should all the other half of the veggies all depends on just how crisp you like your veggies to be.
If memory serves correctly, I usually throw them in about an hour before the stew is done.
Yes, my standard approach with stews is to generally get the meat and onions (which is my usual base) until they’re almost tender (can be 2-2 1/2 hours with something like chuck roast–I just test it as I go along), and add the root veggies, like you said, about 35-45 minutes before the stew is done, then anything delicate like peas and mushrooms within 10 minutes of it being done (basically, just enough to warm them up and cook them through. Use your judgement.) Grrr! suggestion of doing it half & half also works.
That’s part of the reason why the dump-everything-in-a-crockpot-for-8-hours stews end up tasting “crockpotty” (see the previous thread on this subject) because everything just ends up pot of meat and mushy veggies in the end. If you like this sort of thing (and some people do seem to like it when the veggies just disintegrate into the stew) go for it, but typically, you need to cook the meat and onions (or whatever vegetables you want to basically become part of the sauce) for a couple hours (assuming beef chuck or pork shoulder/butt; something like chicken thighs you can do with minimal or no precooking of the meat) before adding your vegetables.