Stewing beef tough, any tips?

fussyonion

I bought some stewing beef (diced) from my local butcher today and I made a casserole tonight, but it was really tough.

I had put the meat in a casserole dish with sliced carrots, onions, tinned tomatoes, beef stock, red wine, mushrooms and put it on 160c for an hour and a half. (The casserole dish had a lid on it too)

I was a bit surprised the meat was tough, I had left it on a low heat and covered the dish so it would stay juicy, but it wasn't.

I don't often buy stewing beef because I don't know what to do with it apart from make stews, so any tips on how to make the meat tender next time?

oscarBravo

I cook stewing beef for a looong time. I don't think I'd be happy with braised beef unless it had been cooking for like four hours or so. I don't think an hour and a half is long enough.

nompere

Most recipes for beef casserole (I've just looked at a couple, one from Jamie Oliver and one from James Martin) reckon that two hours is the minimum time, and sometimes the meat might take more than three hours. There's no real substitute for trying a bit from time to time while you're cooking. There's no real precision in this sort of cooking as the meat varies, and so do ovens.

Zeek12

I would'nt go less than two hours either. Also if there are any larger pieces of meat, I always cut them up into segments before I start.

The other alternative is to use a slowcooker (if you have one). It usually takes 7-8 hours, so you'd need to put it on in the morning, but the meat is always really tender:)

oscarBravo

Another approach is a pressure cooker for a shorter time, but that quite neatly indicates the time/temperature gradient. Lower temperature, longer time - and 160⁰ is quite cool.

Martyn1989

Yep as above cook it longer, even sitting in the juices as it cools will make a massive difference so when you attack the leftovers tomorrow itll be much better.

Dizzyblonde

I cook mine for 3 hours at 160c and you can cut it with a spoon. Anything less than 2 hours really isn't enough.

Cedrus

I agree, you need a lot more time at 160, or more heat over 1 1/2 hours.
Cutting the "dices" smaller often helps too, (sometimes you'd wonder what the fella who diced it was thinking people were planning to do with it!) but unless you can cut it across the grain you won't tenderise as much. Sometimes I get a chunk of steak or a joint and cut it up myself to make sure I get it down to how I want, but it does take a bit of time with a bone in the way.

I generally do a stew/casserole for 20 minutes in the pressure cooker, 9 hours in the slow cooker and 3ish hours on the hob or in the oven.

Seaneh

I usually use a slow cooker and leave it in there for the guts of the day or over night.

fussyonion

Thanks for the replies everyone, I've taken all your advice on board and next week I'll do what you said-leave the meat on a low heat for a few hours.
I'll let you know how I get on.

I knew joints of meat needed long hours, but I never thought diced stewing beef did..but anyway, now I know!

Thanks again