How long to cook a BEEF STEW in a CROCKPOT?

A slow cooker Oval Crock Pot (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

According to wikihow.com, “Beef stew is best cooked over low heat for a long period of time, making it a perfect candidate for crockpot cooking. Traditional beef stews are made from cuts of beef like chuck roast, but you can also make a slow-cooked beef stew using meatballs formed with ground beef. Keep reading for more information about cooking various types of beef stew in your crockpot.” 

Here are the ingredients for a traditional beef stew

2 Tbsp (30 ml) vegetable oil

2 lb (900 g) beef stew meat, cut into 1-in (2.5-cm) cubes

1/4 cup (60 ml) all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) salt

1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) ground black pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

1 tsp (5 ml) paprika

1 tsp (5 ml) Worcestershire sauce

1 onion, chopped

1 1/2 cups (375 ml) beef broth

3 potatoes, diced

4 carrots, sliced

1 celery stalk, chopped

“Heat the oil in a large skillet. Pour the oil into a large skillet and heat on the stove over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, make sure that your beef and vegetables are already prepared. The beef should be cut into 1-in (2.5-cm) cubes. You can usually find pre-cut beef stew meat in the butcher's department at the grocery store, but if not, you can trim and cut a chuck roast or bottom round cut.

The garlic clove should be minced. If using pre-minced garlic, use 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml). If using garlic powder, use 1/8 tsp (0.625 ml).

The onion and celery should be roughly chopped.

You can use 3 large baking potatoes or 6 to 9 baby potatoes.

Use 4 standard carrots or 2 cups (500 ml) baby carrots”

Here is another method from the same website, “Coat the beef with flour, salt, and pepper. Mix the flour, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add the beef to the mixture and toss to coat.

Make sure that the flour, salt, and pepper are thoroughly combined before adding the beef.

Stir the beef well so that all sides of each piece are covered. You should have little to no flour left once done.

Coating the beef in flour allows the beef to brown better and also makes the finished stew thicker.”

Here is the method of using a slow cooker, “Place all the beef stew ingredients in the slow cooker. Transfer the beef to the crockpot. Layer the potatoes, carrots, onion, celery, and garlic on top. Add the bay leaf, paprika, and Worcestershire sauce, then pour the beef broth over everything”

“The exact order of ingredients does not matter much, but for best results, the beef, potatoes, and carrots should make up the bottom three layers since these ingredients require the most heat to cook through. Note that the heating element of the crockpot is located on the bottom of the device.”

“Keep the crockpot covered as the stew cooks. A slow cooker needs to build up heat in order to cook properly, and the heat will be unable to build up if the lid is kept off or removed during the cooking process”

---

---