What went wrong with my stew?

yummymummy85

Hi everyone,

I made a stew for our dinner this evening and it went horribly wrong! I used stewing steak from the butchers (have just found a local butchers so we're trying it out!), carrots, parsnips, an onion, mushrooms and beef stock. I bunged it all in my slow cooker at lunchtime. We ate at around 7.30 and the 'juice' looked disgusting like it had separated somehow and had no taste to it. The meat was really tender but again had no taste to it.

It's kinda put me on a downer because it's our first week of meal planning and proper shopping and it's the second meal out of 7 I've cooked that's gone horribly wrong!! (the other was spaghetti carbonara)

Anyone got any advice??

Finefoot

Did you put any other seasoning in it? I usually brown the meat first, it seals it, and also brown the onoins and garlic before putting them in. Add a little tomato puree, and some worcester sauce. good luck.

BitterAndTwisted

Did you trim the meat properly before you cut it up? Sounds like there was too much fat. In my opinion, one of the main faults with meat these days is that it's not hung for long enough, so the flavour's not the same. Or maybe you were not heavy-handed enough with the seasoning but good meat shouldn't really need that much

LeeSouthEast

Go easy on the liquid you add next time - you need very little at all. I normally just add half a glass of red wine.And some herbs...

yummymummy85

The meat was pre-diced by the butcher (didn't ask for it, just came like it)
there didn't really seem to be hardly any fat on the meat, I do normally brown the meat and onions etc. first when I'm doing meals like this using the cooker, was under the impression (not sure where from!) that I didn't need to if using the slow cooker??

I don't really use red wine in cooking because a) we never have it in the house so would have to buy it in specially and b) neither me or DH particularly like the taste of it!!

I will try browning everything off first next time and adding some tomato puree!

Thanks for your advice!

esmf73

If you Mail me I'll give you the recipe that I use (and it's Weight loss too!) and also the chicken casserole that I use. I've cooked these in the slow cooker or in the oven or on the hob and they usually turn out OK - childrens tantrums depending!

Mands

yummymummy85 wrote: »

It's kinda put me on a downer because it's our first week of meal planning and proper shopping and it's the second meal out of 7 I've cooked that's gone horribly wrong!! (the other was spaghetti carbonara)

Anyone got any advice??

Not an answer to the question you asked, but what went wrong with the carbonara? It's one of our favourite fast meals but it does help to have everything lined up and ready to go as it's so quick. Maybe with some tweaks it could be back on the menu plan for next week?

Mands

tandraig

i dont have a slow cooker so may be wrong about this - feel free to correct me if I am slow cooker owners! its just that when i make a stew I always brown meat first then bring all ingredients up to boiling point in saucepan before simmering gently.

debtmuncher

i would have browned the meat too, i have seen stews where the cook hasnt done it and just thrown the raw meat into the pot, the end result didnt look very appetizing nor did it smell great.

Chris25

if there was very little fat on the meat, then perhaps it just needed a bit of thickening. How many mushrooms did you use - sometimes, they seem to give out an enormous amount of liquid

Salster278

The meat def needs to be browned first, I always brown stewing meat and mince but never brown chicken and my chicken casserole is always delicious!