Try this Slow Cooker Beef Stew recipe.
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 pounds beef stew meat cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth
- 1 stalk celery chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 potatoes, diced
- 4 carrots, sliced
- Carbohydrate 58.2427775160341 g
- Cholesterol 598.7419284 mg
- Fat 156.684500577388 g
- Fiber 2.67043838585439 g
- Protein 175.629982937673 g
- Saturated Fat 63.0093552008954 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (1201g)
- Sodium 1599.42420020175 mg
- Sugar 55.5723391301797 g
- Trans Fat 20.0292649728094 g
- Calories 2386 calories
Step-by-step
- Place meat in slow cooker. In a small bowl mix together the flour, salt, and pepper; pour over meat, and stir to coat meat with flour mixture. Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, potatoes, carrots, and celery.
- Cover, and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours.
Twelve hours of continuous heat demands a cut of meat that contains sufficient collagen to withstand breakdown without drying out completely. Chuck roast cut into one-inch cubes works best here because the connective tissue dissolves into gelatin, yielding a rich mouthfeel rather than a chalky texture. Direct incorporation of raw flour into the liquid inside the slow cooker can sometimes produce lumps if not thoroughly distributed, so coating the beef cubes directly with the dry mixture before adding liquids ensures proper starch dispersion.
The Danger of Extended Heat
Cooking tougher cuts for ten to twelve hours on low creates meltingly tender muscle fibers, but root vegetables like potatoes and carrots follow a different chemical timeline. Starch cells in potatoes rupture fully around 205 degrees Fahrenheit, and prolonged exposure past twelve hours turns diced spuds into a disintegrated mush that thickens the broth past the point of palatability. Monitoring the lower end of the cooking range at ten hours preserves distinct vegetable shapes while still achieving tender beef.Liquid Management
Evaporation behaves differently in a sealed ceramic crock than in an open Dutch oven on a burner. Zero steam escapes through a tight glass lid, meaning the initial one and a half cups of beef broth will remain entirely in the pot alongside the moisture released from four carrots and one onion. Resisting the urge to add extra liquid prevents the final stew from tasting watery, keeping the starch-and-fat emulsion balanced throughout the long simmer.
