Tougher parts of beef are made into succulent soup dishes such as beef stew. The procedure is pretty straightforward. So tips on how to cook beef stew are a favorite topic among homemakers in many parts of the world, including the United States. Slow cooking in a pot or casserole may be the traditional way of doing it – but for people who are living a fast-paced life, the use of a pressure cooker to soften the beef is a good alternative. Here’s how to cook a delicious beef stew, whichever your preferred technique:

1. Prepare the basic ingredients, composed mainly of a pound of stew meat cut into moderate cubes measuring about half an inch long each, all-purpose flour for coating purposes, seasoning, salt, and, of course, carrots and potatoes, the two important stew vegetables sliced into small cubes.

2. Place half a cup of flour in a mixing container and add some salt to taste. Add the slices of beef and roll them one by one to coat them well in flour. Shake the excess flour off and leave the coated meat to the side while you prepare for the next step.

3. Use butter when frying the beef. It will make the beef stew tastier. Find a spacious pan in which you can melt the butter at low heat. Dip the beef cuts in, and keep on turning them until all sides are brownish.

4. Pour a substantial amount of water into a casserole or pot and boil it on high heat before letting it simmer on low heat. Spice up the boiled water with herbs and fresh spices. Add the browned meats. They normally start to become tender after an hour of simmering. Make sure to cover the pot to ensure that the meats are tenderized by the intense steam or heat.

5. Prioritize the slicing of the compacted vegetables such as carrots and potatoes so that you can add them first to the almost softened meats. Add them when you know you will need only forty minutes more to simmer the stew. As they start to tenderize, you will notice the soup thicken also. The flavors of various ingredients will distinctively contribute to the overall taste of the soup. Scrape off excess fat or oil when you see it floating on the surface.

6. Consider adding some homemade dumplings to your beef stew. Buy some dumpling wrappers. Mix minced meats or horseradish, grated cheese, and oregano. Add a teaspoon of this mixture to each dumpling paper and seal the top by moistening it with water. Do this final step shortly before finalizing the cooking process.

7. Add any ingredients that do not need to be softened with long cooking. This should happen around twenty minutes before you finalize cooking. Leafy vegetables should be added just before you put out the flame because the steam from the stew will be enough to cook them. This is important. Overcooked leafy vegetables lose their nutrients and do not look enticing when served.

Cooking in generous amounts of water in which the meats are completely soaked is called stewing. So always pay attention and make sure to cover the stew most of the time when learning how to cook beef stew. The moist heat is responsible for tenderizing the meats when you are not using a pressure cooker. Tenderizing is necessary. The dish cannot be called a stew if the meat pieces are too large and intact. This is mainly the case for braised meats. While they are also cooked in water, parts of the meat chunks are not totally submerged in the water. It helps to know the difference.