dry tasting stew
 

I've cooked a beef stew a number of times over the past few months and a
couple of times the meat was "dry" and a little tough when eating it. does
the searing have anything to do with it? The question is did I not cook it
enough, or did I cook it too much. The recipes call for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2
hours.
Bill S


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dry tasting stew
 

"Bill" <wls%intac.com> wrote in message
...
> I've cooked a beef stew a number of times over the past few months and a
> couple of times the meat was "dry" and a little tough when eating it. does
> the searing have anything to do with it?


No but browning the meat adds a lot of flavor.



>The question is did I not cook it enough, or did I cook it too much. The
recipes call for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours.
> Bill S

The likelihood is that the meat you used was very very lean like a round
steak or bottom round roast. This type of beef tends to be as you say "dry"
as there is not enough fat in the beef to keep it moist. Next time try
using "Chuck" or a cut with some marbling.


Dimitri

dry tasting stew
 

Bill <wls%intac.com> wrote:
> I've cooked a beef stew a number of times over the past few months and a
> couple of times the meat was "dry" and a little tough when eating it. does
> the searing have anything to do with it? The question is did I not cook it
> enough, or did I cook it too much. The recipes call for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2
> hours.

What cut of meat did you use? It would help to know the full recipe.

dry tasting stew
 

Bill wrote:

> I've cooked a beef stew a number of times over the past few months and =
a
> couple of times the meat was "dry" and a little tough when eating it. d=
oes
> the searing have anything to do with it? The question is did I not coo=
k it
> enough, or did I cook it too much. The recipes call for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2
> hours.

My guess you be that you boiled it. Boiling it makes the meat tough and =
dry. Best
bet is to brown the meat, saut=E9 some garlic and onion, celery, diced ca=
rrots and
mushrooms. Add beef broth and let it *simmer*. Do not boil. I prefer to=
do the
simmering part in the oven at about 300 degrees for a few hours. If you =
want to
thicken the sauce, remove the meat before you add the thickener and boil=
, then return
the meat to the sauce.

dry tasting stew
 

at Thu, 08 Jan 2004 22:46:14 GMT in
>, wls%intac.com (Bill) wrote
:

>I've cooked a beef stew a number of times over the past few months and a
>couple of times the meat was "dry" and a little tough when eating it.
>does the searing have anything to do with it? The question is did I not
>cook it enough, or did I cook it too much.

You probably cooked it at too high a temperature, or with too much water.
Good stew really needs to be on a very low setting - so that it never
boils, and at most, simmers occasionally. Adding too much water also has
the effect, paradoxically, of drying out the meat - the water simply
leaches out liquid which then evaporates. I almost never add any water to a
stew - that from the vegetables and the meat is usually more than enough.
As for temperature, I put mine on the lowest burner on the stove at the
lowest setting. There's always one burner that has the least heat - find
out which one it is on your stove and use it.

As other posters have mentioned, it's also possible you were using one of
the super-lean cuts, like round (not a good choice for stew) or tenderloin
(an extravagant waste for stew). These dry out very easily. You can correct
for this, to some extent, by adding a fatty meat like bacon, but this only
goes so far and, of course, changes the flavour.

The times you quote I don't think of as nearly sufficient, especially at
the low temperatures I recommend, for a good stew. 12 hours or more is
better. I have a pot of stew on the stove right now that I started at
midnight last night, and I don't expect to eat it until after midnight
tonight. That gives it all sorts of time to develop and also to cook
thoroughly. In 3 hours, parts of the meat and vegetables were still almost
raw at the temperatures I use.

--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

dry tasting stew
 

dry tasting stew
 

(Bill) wrote
>
>I've cooked a beef stew a number of times over the past few months and
>a couple of times the meat was "dry" and a little tough when eating
>it.

All things being equal if you had some successes and some failures it was
likely the cuts of meat you used. If you are buying generic "stewing beef"
then there is no way to ascertain which cuts are in the mix as those are
scraps. You'd do well to purchase particular whole cuts (ie, various cuts of
chuck and round) and cut it up yourself until you find something you like and
that works for you... buying mystery meat is just plain ****ing stupid...
tantamout to drinking the dregs of left over drinks from the party the night
before... likely you'll drink what someone ****ed in a cup, no different from
mystery meat.


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dry tasting stew
 

in article , hahabogus at
lid wrote on 1/8/04 8:14 PM:

>
> Also over crowding the pan when browning the meat will cause the meat to
> sieze up and be tougher and dry tasting.

Overcrowding the pan will only serve to cause the meat not to brown. That
happens because too much meat in the pan gives off enough liquid to "water
down" the oil, thereby lowering the temperature and preventing it from
browning. But it won't prevent the meat from getting tender.

For tender stew meat, you need to brown it and then simmer it in plenty of
flavorful liquid (I like a combo of beef stock, tomato sauce and red wine)
for at least two hours.

If the meat is dry, it's because the meat was too lean to start with.
Personally, I am not a fan of round, I prefer cutting up a chuck roast or
even a chuck shoulder steak, since there is more marbling in chuck than in
round. Chuck comes from the front of the animal, round from the
hindquarters.

If the meat is tough, it's because it wasn't cooked long enough or with
enough liquid.