Tips for Successful Stews

Packaged stew often contains random scraps from cuts that are not well suited to stewing. The pieces are generally too small and not uniform so they cook unevenly. Buy a good roast (generally from the shoulder) and then cut it at home to ensure top quality. You can also make the chunks large (for stew, we generally like 1½- to 2-inches pieces) and uniform.

Classic French stews start by browning the meat in a skillet to develop flavor. This process often takes a considerable amount of time because the meat must be browned in batches. In addition, browning on the stovetop generally makes a mess. We have found that browning can occur during (rather than before) the stewing process if you move the cooking pot to the oven and don’t use the lid. It’s also essential to prop meat up (often on vegetables) so that some of the meat is sticking above the liquid where it can brown. Depending on the recipe, a roasting pan and Dutch oven can be used this way.

When chunks of meat are heated in water or other liquids, the meat often releases water-soluble proteins at the start of the cooking process. These proteins form a layer of foam (or scum) at the top of the pot that can otherwise mar the appearance and appeal of a stew that relies on a clear broth. We find it best to skim away this foam with a Chinese mesh skimmer or large, shallow spoon. After the meat has cooked for several minutes, it will stop releasing proteins so you won’t need to skim the foam.

A little flour is often added with the aromatic ingredients during the flavor building stages in a stew recipe. The flour will help thicken the stewing liquid to a saucy consistency. It’s important to cook the flour for a minute or so to remove any raw flour flavor. Once the flour has been cooked (and this often happens at the same time garlic or tomato paste are being cooked to develop their flavor), the broth or other liquids can be whisked into the pot.

While flour can thicken liquids, it doesn’t give them the silky texture that you get when you simmer bones in liquid for hours. Many classic stews rely on homemade broths made by simmering bony cuts. The bones in beef shanks, for instance, release a lot of gelatin into the broth. When you use commercial broth, you miss out on the gelatin and the texture of the sauce component won’t be as unctuous. But there’s an easy workaround—just bloom some gelatin in cool tap water for a few minutes and then add it directly to the pot.

The all-encompassing heat of the oven can keep a stew at a steady but gentle simmer without any heat adjustments. On the stovetop, however, where the heat comes from only the bottom, a pot requires careful monitoring and burner adjustments to maintain the right level of simmering. Also, you run the risk of scorching the bottom or uneven cooking. For all of these reasons, we generally cook stews in the oven.

When the meat is done, the stew might not be ready to serve. In some cases, we like to strain and reduce the liquid to concentrate flavors and develop a silkier consistency in the sauce. Once the meat has been reserved in a bowl, strain the liquid through a fine-mesh strainer, making sure to use a spatula or spoon to press on the solids and extract flavor. At this point, the strained liquid should be defatted and then simmered until it reaches the desired consistency.

Whether straining the liquid or not, it’s best to defat it before serving. Let the stew rest for a several minutes—just long enough for any excess fat to float to the surface. Use a wide, shallow spoon to skim off this fat. Don’t worry if you don’t get all the fat—the idea is to remove the excess so that the final dish isn’t greasy.

The final step in any recipe is to taste it and adjust the seasonings. This might mean more salt or pepper, or a squirt of lemon or splash of vinegar. This step is especially important in long-cooking stews. Because flavors concentrate during the cooking process, we generally use salt sparingly in the early part of stew recipes. (Also, ingredients like canned tomatoes or commercial broth can vary considerably in salt content.) But that early light hand with salt means that many stews will require considerable adjustment at serving time.