Oven or Hob for Stew/Casserole

tanith

I am about to start preparing a beef stew for tonight and was wondering which is more cost affective, I suspect its the hob though...

So do I casserole it in the oven or as I usually do in a large pan on the hob... I will be adding dumplings at the last minute but I guess you could do that in a casserole also... any thoughts peeps...:T

MATH

I always cook in the oven becuase I'm much more comfortable leaving things slowly cooking there but never go out and leave things on the hob. Add the dumplins 30 ins before you wish to eat, leaving the lid off and they will be fine. When I have cooked a stew on the hob I find no matter how gentle the simmer you always get an inch welded to the bottom of the pan. HTH

Pink.

I tend to use the slow cooker for casseroles but if for some reason I can't (usually because I've left it too late) I would use the oven and as long as it's covered it will be fine. I always feel that that way the heat is surrounding the casserole rather than just coming from the bottom so it's less inclined to stick and need stirring repeatedly.

As Math has said, just add the dumplings about half an hour before you're planning to serve it. To make it more economical, could you put something else in there, like a cake or biscuits too?

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hotcookie101

Hi, am making a stifado and need to cook it for 3-4 hours
I have a ceramic hob, which tends to keep pretty hot (ie hardto simmer very gently in a le crueset) and electric oven.
What do you reckon would be more energy efficient-one ring for 4 hours (not the halogen one) or 150 degrees for same time? (i know the oven will be much easier with stew less likely to stick!
Thanks

Pink.

Hi Hotcookie,

I would use the oven but cook something else in there to make it more efficient. There's an earlier thread on this so I'll add your post to it to keep the replies together.

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