By “my stew” I mean the recipe I recently made. It came out great for the most part. Great flavor. The beef was great. The one problem I had was the potatoes were too hard. I want it to be halfway between mushy and crunchy. The recipe calls for one pound of Yukon gold potatoes peeled and cubed. They are added to the stew for the last hour of cooking. A different type of potato? Some pre-cooking? Get used to crunchy potatoes?
Just continue to simmer until the 'taters get to your preferred level of done-ness.
If you’re following a recipe, you don’t have to follow it precisely.
ETA: Or in your case, put the taters in earlier.
How much longer would it take? This recipe is cooked in a Dutch over in the stove. Leave it in the stove or put it on the burner and simmer? Does it matter?
I don’t know. I’ve never timed it myself. Once it’s getting close to being ready, I’ll just poke around with a fork every ten or so minutes until I get what I want.
You don’t have to worry about over cooking the meat or anything. Carrots might be an issue, if you don’t like mushy carrots.
ETA: The stove top is usually easier for this method.
I’m not sure about US-available potato varieties but I’m told (sorry if I’ve been misinformed) that the emphasis on different varieties is tiny over there by comparison to what we’re presented with here in the UK. Hopefully I’m misinformed, and hopefully you can therefore lay your hands on some Maris Pipers.
How long are you stewing for?
Try adding smoked salt. The real stuff, not some kind of artificial-smoke-flavor processed product. It is a great addition to stews of all kinds.
Cook the potatoes separately. Then mix in or serve separately as desired.
Depends on how big the potato pieces are. I’d guess that for “average” cubed potatoes, simmering for 30-45 minutes or so will get a reasonable level of tenderness without being mushy. I’d be quite surprised if an hour wasn’t enough.
Personally, I put everything in at the very beginning. Meat, potatoes, carrots, onions…all of it. I know most people like to brown the beef first, it’s never added enough for me to make it worth my while. My mom simmers the onions then leaves them out until near the end, I don’t see any reason to do so. For me, stew is about having as little mess as possible. I’ve never had any issue with the potatoes being overdone, but then it really wouldn’t bother me if they were so it’s possible they’re too done for others and I’m not noticing. Same for the carrots.
Stew is so easy to experiment with. In your situation, all you need to do is toss them in earlier. If adding them in the last hour of cooking is leaving them too hard (but I assume still cooked), put them in for the last 2 hours and see what that does. You’re not going to ever cook them. The worst that will happen is that they’ll disintegrate and the stew will be really thick, but plenty edible.
I wouldn’t recommend precooking them. I just don’t see that working out well, but I’ve never tried it.
Also, as someone else asked, how long are you cooking for and how high is the heat. If time affords it, use a crock pot.
About the potatoes: Don’t use Yukon Gold. My recommendation is to use small red potatoes instead.
If you want to boost the umami in your stew, add some cheap hearty red wine and a dollop of anchovy paste. If you need to brighten the flavors, stir in some red wine vinegar the last hour, or add some vinegar-based hot sauce like Tabasco. A sprinkle of chopped Italian parsley makes the serving bowl a lot more attractive, and a last minute stir-in of your featured herbs will take the stew from good to ohmygod.
Yukons go from hard to mushy quickly. Use red, white, or Russet (Idaho) potatoes instead so you can let them cook to just the right point.
You’re using a crock pot, right? Put potatoes in last and it’s done when they are.
That was my thought as well. Cut the potatoes up into smaller pieces and make sure when you add them that you bump up the heat until the stew comes to a simmer again. Adding the potatoes will typically stop the simmer.
I make stews a lot, but I don’t usually use potatoes. I do, however, add most of the vegetables when there’s about 30-40 min of cooking time left so they don’t end up dissolving into the sauce. I like some actual vegetables in my stews. I usually split the onions into about 1/3 added at the beginning (because I do want some of them dissolved into the sauce) and 2/3 added at the 30-40 minutes left cooking mark.
On a similar note, whenever I’m using garlic for anything (which is usually, when I’m doing any real cooking), I sautee half of it in with the meat, and add the other half near the end, because thoroughly-cooked garlic has a different flavor profile than near-raw, and I like both.
I do it a bit different - I simmer the meat by itself until it’s tender then I add in veg I’ve previously oven roasted (1" chunks of carrots, onions, celery and potatoes) and let that all just marry for 30 minutes. That way I can control the cooking of the meat and veg individually.
I do brown a little bit, but other than that, it all goes in together from the start.
And I use wine, not water. And I don’t skin the tators.
Turns out great.
I someimes add small diced potatoes to a crock pot chili (yeah, whatever, I like it) and the potatoes come out like you describe. Maybe try a crock pot cooking method.
I like east coast white potatoes for stew, rather than Yukon gold or western russets.
Also, potatoes cook a lot faster at a higher temp than at low temps. One problem I had with a crock pot was that the veggies didn’t properly cook to my tastes. I have no problems cooking on the stove top nor in the oven.
I don’t agree. The cooking in the stew adds much to the flavor of the potatoes (and the stew).
Instead, pre-cook the potatoes partially before adding them to the stew. Even just a few minutes in the microwave may be enough to get the texture you want.
And, as people have said, Yukon Gold are not the best potatoes for stew.
I’ve always just cooked them in the stew, and they were fine. I like using red potatoes or white new potatoes. Both hold their shape well and stand up to extended cooking. I’ve never had an issue with Yukon Golds, either, so I’m surprised by the nay saying here. They are definitely among the better taters to use for soups and stews. The ones I don’t like for stews are russets. Any waxy or low-starch potato is what I like.
As for them still being hard, the answer is simple: just cook them until they’re done. It’s not an exact science. The food will let you know when it’s done. An hour, though, is usually more than enough. If you’re using an appropriate stewing cut of beef like chuck or shank, the extra cooking is not going to hurt it.