Authentic Slow Cooker Beef Stew

It’s that time of year again, a time to fill the house with beautiful aromas. Nothing beats a slow cooker and the wonderful smells it can create. It really makes a house a home. If you’re reading this in July, it’s not that time of year, we’re talking fall here and slow cooker beef stew is perfect for the fall. Although it’s a healthy, hearty, stick to your bones meal that’s good in any of the four seasons.

The Slow Cooker

The slow cooker was originally invented back in the 40’s to cook bean dishes. More women were entering the work place. The slow cooker allowed them to start dinner before leaving for work, requiring less prep time in the evening. I’m not going to get into a conversation about the supposed woman’s place in the home, just to say, I believe in equality. It wasn’t until the early 70’s that the crock pot as we know it came to be. Certainly a lot more user friendly. The removable ceramic crock allowed food to be transported to either the table or another location. Clean up was easier too. What once just had an on off switch, now had multiple heat settings. Today, even the basic models are computer controlled.

There is nothing better than walking into the house to be greeted by the wonderful smells a slow cooker can create. And it doesn’t have to be a weeknight dish made this way. Weekends work too. Set dinner to cook in the morning and go out to play or run errands and then return to a wonderful dish of slow cooker beef stew.

The stew

The idea of a beef stew has been around for millennia. Generally the tougher cuts of meat need more time to tenderize in the cooking process. The connective tissues that bind the meat together need time to break apart. Here’s what I do with a pork shoulder. So before the slow cooker there was a large pot on the stove with the lowest heat under it. This is how my mother made stew, and her mother before. Before that a cast iron pot over a wood stove or open fire. Please check out my post on cast iron. But now we have a slow cooker, and life is easy.

As with all good soups and stews, you have to start with the aromatics, it’s called mirepoix . In this particular case we’re not going to cook it first, we’re going to chop the onion, celery and carrot and put them straight into the slow cooker. They will cook in the stock with the beef and be a delicious base. When I make anything in the slow cooker, I like to preheat it a bit as I’m doing prep, kind of gives it a jump start. So, with the veggies add a couple of cups of the stock so they can start to heat up. In the meantime, let’s focus on the meat portion.

The meat

Chuck is the best meat for stew. It’s cheap and requires a long cook to breakdown the connective tissue. It also has some fat and gristle in it, these are all flavor components needed to make the stew. When you buy it, it’s packaged as uneven chunks. So cut it into about 1” cubes and also cut excess fat off it, not all the fat. Unfortunately for us health conscious people, fat equals flavor, just moderation is the key.

Put the cut cubes in a bowl and mix with the flour and some salt and pepper. Flouring the beef before cooking has a few purposes. Firstly, it will help to thicken the stew. Also, when browning the meat it will mix a little with the liquid in the meat and char a little adding more flavors. It’s called the Maillard Reaction, and it’s essential to giving us the colors and flavors we’re looking for in a dish

Preheat a pan with the oil, over medium high heat, add the meat and stir to brown all sides. Don’t crowd the meat, leave room in the pan for it to move and be in contact with the cooking surface. It may take a couple of batches, just add a little oil. Make sure to not throw away anything sticking to the pan, that’s flavor we’re going to collect in the next step. When the meat is browned, put in the slow cooker with the veggies.

Into the pot

Now for the good part. As usual, there are decisions to make. I deglaze my pan with wine. Let’s first talk deglazing, then the wine. Deglazing is adding a liquid to a pan after cooking to release any bits stuck not the pan, also, in this case, to help dissolve the tomato paste and mix in the herbs. So now the wine part. Firstly, wine is a tenderizer, the acids in the wine help the meat to breakdown. Wine adds an amazing flavor to the stew. I consider it to be important, however, it’s not essential, and can be substituted with stock. I respect that there are reasons for adding or not adding.

So deglaze the pan, stirring to release the stuck on bits, add the herbs and spices and tomato paste. Cook till the tomato paste is dissolved and all the bits are off the pan and pour into the slow cooker. Add sufficient stock to cover the ingredients, put the lid on and leave on high.

I will usually leave on high the entire cooking process, but realistically, 3 hrs on high and 3hrs on low works fine. So, after 6 hrs total time, turn off the slow cooker and wait 1/2 hr or so for it to cool down a bit. Now you have an absolutely delicious slow cooker beef stew. Serve into bowls, and save any leftovers, always good to reheat for a snack, thank you and enjoy