Slow cook stew - Cooking temp?

Rony

Hi there,

This is more of a cooking question than money saving, but I couldn't be bothered making an account on a cooking forum so I'll just ask here in the hopes we have some knowledgeable cooks here.

So I have started making stews, and for some reason my meat came out really tough and dry yesterday. I realised afterwards that the beef cuts box instructions said that it needs to be in the oven at 160 Celsius for 2.5 hours, when I actually put it in at around 100.

I had been watching vids online and reading some articles, and pretty much all of them say to cook around 100 Celsius and so when the instructions say 160, I am thinking is this not a bit too high for a slow cook?

Maybe thats why it came out tough. I will try it again at a higher temperature.

Thanks,

GeordieGeorge

Can you link to one of these articles? I’ve never heard of anyone cooking at 100 degrees for such a small amount of time.

I slow roasted a corner cut of topside yesterday, for 5 hours at 140 degrees, which seemed to do it just right. If I roast beef for a shorter time, say an hour and a half, then it’d be up at 180.

Rony

Now looking at the articles I realised I started off with lamb, and then just did the same with beef. 

https://www.thedailymeal.com/cook/dont-have-slow-cooker-you-can-still-make-these-15-slow-cooked-meals

Maybe that's why, is beef cooked at a higher temperature than lamb?

This gives me hope, as it's a quick fix! 

GeordieGeorge

Rony said:

Now looking at the articles I realised I started off with lamb, and then just did the same with beef. 

https://www.thedailymeal.com/cook/dont-have-slow-cooker-you-can-still-make-these-15-slow-cooked-meals

Maybe that's why, is beef cooked at a higher temperature than lamb?

This gives me hope, as it's a quick fix! 

Yes, lamb and beef are quite different. I’d suggest 140 degrees for four hours to start with.

joedenise

I tend to slow cook at about 150 for at least 2.5 hours sometimes longer.  I just check the meat after 2.5 hours with a fork and if it doesn't feel "done" then do it for another 30 minutes and check again.  I always cook it a day before we are going to eat it as it always seems to taste better when it has been reheated!

maman

I did beef (diced cubes) at the weekend and 2.5 hours at 170 was just fine or lower if you have a fan oven. 

GSDMum

Why not put it in the oven just before you go to bed, letting it cook at a very low heat overnight, taking it out of the oven when you wake up. I do something like this at Christmas, I pop the turkey in the oven at around 50, and when we wake in the morning the house smells gorgeous and Chrismassy, the turkey is super moist and tender. Obv protect the food with lids, tin foil, etc. 

JIL

joedenise said:

I tend to slow cook at about 150 for at least 2.5 hours sometimes longer.  I just check the meat after 2.5 hours with a fork and if it doesn't feel "done" then do it for another 30 minutes and check again.  I always cook it a day before we are going to eat it as it always seems to taste better when it has been reheated!

Just how I do mine.
The cooking dish also has an effect. I was making the pie base for the inlaws and husband. Mil doesnt like kidney but husband and fil do, so I did two dishes. The enamel denby dish was ready after 2 and a half hours, the pyrex dish with the mil smaller portions was 3 hours. 
I remember the cookery lessons at school, the meat has to release the collagen to go tender, a minimum of two hours.

The science https://www.scienceofcooking.com/meat/slow_cooking1.htm

joedenise

 I also learned how to cook with cookery lessons at school, although most of what I learned wasn't really cooking at all!  It was really Domestic Science and had to do things like boiling handkerchiefs and ironing them!  The first "cooking" was making a cup of hot chocolate, LOL!  I really think that schools need to reintroduce cookery lessons - I know when my girls were at school there was nothing like that.  I suppose they were lucky that I taught them to cook but only the younger one does much cooking the other one really hates it but fortunately her partner is a chef so she doesn't go hungry!  She'd live on pasta and cheese if it was left to her .