The Cutting Mistake That's Giving Your Stew The Worst Texture

Beef stew offers a special kind of nourishing magic. Although the dish reaches for affordable cuts like round or chuck, savvy technique and patience transforms the meat into a tender creation. Of course, there is more to the dish than tossing in the meat and turning on the burner. Several common mistakes when making beef stew can ruin the creation.

One such pitfall can occur when cutting the meat. Too often, cooks break down beef very small, thinking it aids tenderization. However, such a move instead inspires an overly dry result. Over several hours of simmering, smaller chunks of beef more rapidly lose moisture, thereby turning chewy. As a result, it's essential to slice the beef into uniform inch-by-inch cubes to ensure your stew attains a desirable melt-in-your-mouth texture. Combine with avoiding timing mistakes and the dish turns out richly flavored yet ideally tender.

Cut beef into uniform cubes for delicious stew

In addition to turning more tender, cubing is a great method to ensure consistency: Beef pieces cook evenly and sear easier, with no bites unexpectedly tough in comparison to the rest. You can get Maillard and caramelization reactions going, thereby benefitting stew flavor, and it's easier to remove scraps of unwanted fat and tissue while slicing by hand, thereby elevating stew texture.

To ease your cubing technique, purchase a cut that eases the process. Although pre-packaged stew packages may seem tempting, they can actually worsen the dish — it's better to carefully cube yourself. Varieties such as the large top round or a hefty chuck roast come in a block shape that's easy to break down. Simply slice off harder patches of fat, then cut the beef into long strips. Cube the larger pieces, and you're ready to stew to completion.

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