Beef Stew Meat

Beef Stew Meat Instructions

1. Beef Stew Meat Instructions

   Select the chuck roast based on your liking.  Look for even marbling. I’m not too fond of a lot of fat on my beef in stew or soup, so I trim it, and I look for pieces where the veins of fat are very definable, so they are easier to trim away but don’t throw them, they are valuable pieces that I will show you how to use Cooking With Fat.

   Preheat the oven to 350 F.

   First, we’ll trim the beef and remove any large veins on the edges unless you enjoy fatty cuts of meat.

   Cut the beef chuck into 1-inch cubes.

   Coat the cubes of the beef chuck with a generous dredge of seasoned flour.  You can buy one of the premade flours such as Kentuck Kernal or House of Autry.  Or you can make your own seasoned flour, using all-purpose flour, salt, and black pepper.  Try my Seasoned Flour recipe.

   Render the fat you trimmed from the edges in a hot cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. If there wasn’t enough fat to trim off, you could use beef fat, lard, refined coconut oil, or avocado oil.

   When the fat is rendered out, remove the fat cracklins’ and add your dredged beef chuck cubes.  Keep space between them in the pan or dutch oven, so they can brown and not stew.

   Cook most sides until they are golden brown (about 4-5 minutes). When all pieces of beef are browned on all sides, place in the Dutch oven

   In the Dutch oven, sautee the onions or mirepoix in the beef fat.  I use one package of chopped onions or mirepoix that I purchase from Kroger.  They are chopped to the size I need, and frozen, and the package size is part of the module components for my recipes.  Season with a large pinch of salt, about .25 teaspoon. This helps draw the water out of the onions, so they caramelize more than steam. 

   Add three cloves of whole garlic and continue to saute. When the onions are translucent and golden yellow, be careful not to let the garlic burn.

   Add your favorite red wine.  Simmer this mixture until the wine is reduced by about half.  

   *Wine usage:  The use of wine is optional and adds a great flavor to the meat, but you can omit the wine and this step and replace it with 1 cup of water or low/no sodium beef broth.

   Add the seared beef to the wine reduction.

   Add the bay leaves, salt, thyme, oregano, and black pepper.  

   Add the lid and place the Dutch oven inside your preheated oven.

   Cook for 1 hour and reduce oven to 275 and cook for 3 additional hours.

    

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2. Batch Instructions

   If you are using this recipe to create batches for freezing, follow these additional instructions.

   When the meat has cooled, separate the meat from the gravy and vegetables.  Reserve the gravy on the side to divide it into 2 portions.

   Divide the meat into 2 equal portions by weight or sight. Next, place the meat portions into 2 food sealer bags.  Now add the gravy equally into the bags. To make sealing easier, you can freeze the sauce portion before sealing with the meat.

   Seal the beef portions in FoodSaver 1-Gallon DAM Bags using your FoodSaver.  Freeze any bags that you will not be eating within a week.

   To use it in the meal, remove the bag and thaw it in the refrigerator overnight before the day you are going to use it. Next, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Remove the bag's contents into a Dutch oven, cast iron pan with lid, or porcelain-coated cast-iron pot.  Heat in the oven for 30 minutes or until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 165 F.

   Mark as complete