The Ball recipe has been tested with the proportions provided in the recipe so you don't need to go half-and-half. Thicker (i.e. denser) mixtures aren't prohibited if they have been professionally tested as given. The soup proportions are designed to provide a safe product with latitude for various ingredients. So I guess it's apples and oranges. If you want a beef stew with stock you might check out the recipes at the link. They are similarly safe-tested and reliable. There's a beef stew with stock on page 23 of the document. Just be sure the meat is lean and well-trimmed. Carol Here is a link that might be useful: Wisconsin Extension Canning Meats and Game

I didn't do them last night since I let DD stay up late to watch a Halloween special and then didn't want to be up til 11PM canning. Took me a little while longer to prep and pack the jars (I'd cut up the meat last night and left in a ziploc bag in the fridge). Prepped 4 jars but then needed another - and I hope I didn't pack them too tight, I didn't have enough for a 6th pint so I opened the first 4 jars, put the lids back in hot water (Ball demo on green beans they said not necessary but some of my lids were older) and kind of pushed down the cubes where I saw a big space (first couple of handfuls were just dropped in) so I could fit a little more in each jar, then wiped rims and put the lids back on. I know this is usually frowned upon, you don't want to pack too tightly, but since Dave said about 1 lb per pint and I got 0.8 lbs (4lbs 1 3/4 oz, including weight of gallon bag, packed into 5 pints with 1" HS) I figured it was OK. If I had had 5 lbs I would have gone for 6 jars. Venting now - since I'm at 997ft I'm doing 10lb weight for 75 minutes. I'll post pix when they're out of the canner so you all can let me know if they were packed correctly. And since I haven't processed anything for this long yet, and my burner cycles, I'm going to stay in the kitchen and keep checking the gauge (as an indicator - it seemed to be accurate, read 10.5-11lbs for 10 lb weight) as well as listening to weight rock. I've got the burner set on 8 so it might take a little while to vent/come to pressure but I don't want to be adjusting it, even with the weight set, since if I turn it too low I'm afraid the burner will cycle and it will drop below 10 psig.

The trick is to let your flavoring vegetables cook down with the meat from the beginning, and to put your "eating" vegetables, the ones that you want to have large pieces of which retain their identity, into the stew to cook for their appropriate times. That way they take on the flavor of the stew, and add some of their own to the stew, and are correctly cooked to serve. My very favorite carrots are the ones cooked in beef or lamb stew. :) This does require enough experience to know how long the meat takes, how long the vegetables each take, and how much added time you'll need because of the additions. The reason restaurants cook the vegetables separately and add them at the end isn't because it's better--it isn't!--but because it works best for restaurant management where you have different people eating at different times and requesting the stew on demand (service within 20 minutes). That's the only way to keep the veg from going mushy over three hours of dinner service. The veg are par cooked. The stew is cooked and held at keep warm temperature. A portion of each is added to a pan over high heat and brought to temperature and finished. Made in the pot and served family style is superior but only the occasional auberge or outsider place is set up to do it that way for serving the public.

When pressure cooking beef, you want something with a little fat in it like chuck; eye of round, for instance, might come out dry. Also, when pressure cooking beef, do NOT release the pressure with a valve or by putting the PC in the sink and running cold water over it; allow the PC's pressure to come down by itself after you turn off the heat. Releasing the pressure too quickly can make certain meats (especially beef) somewhat stringy. I posted this recipe in the past from Lorna Sass; it's a good starting point for timing for pressure cooking meats. It's for a curry, but if you leave out the curry paste you essentially have stewed beef. Here's a post for a great pressure cooker curry which uses Patak's curry paste. I find a equal parts of the mild and hot paste suits my palate just fine, but if I'm having a real yearning for hot-as-hades food I'll use all hot paste: CURRY IN A HURRY This recipe from Lorna Sass's Pressure Perfect is a quick and easy way to make a pretty tasty curry. You can make it with chicken, beef, lamb or pork, and vary the hotness by using mild or hot curry paste. 2 tablespoons of mild curry paste makes a pleasant-but-wimpy curry; 4 tablespoons of mild paste makes it pleasantly zingy; 4 tablespoons of hot curry paste makes it very hot, near my limit of tolerance (and I really like hot food). I generally use 2 tablespoons of hot and 2 tablespoons of mild curry paste. This is a recipe that's ridiculously easy yet produces delicious food. If you don't want to mess with the yogurt, peas and cilantro, don't bother--the dish will still be very tasty, but the sauce won't be as rich or velvety-smooth. ( I personally don't like cilantro, so I don't use it.) The recipe calls for 3 pounds of bone-in chicken; I find it easier to use about 2 or 2.5 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs. --Once you get the pressure cooker up to pressure, make a pot of rice. By the time the rice is done, so is this. 1 cup water 4 tablespoons Patak's Mild Curry Paste 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped 3 pounds bone-in skinless chicken thighs or breasts, or 2-2.5 lbs boneless skinless thighs, or 2 lbs. other meat (see chart below) 1 cup plain yogurt 1 cup frozen peas 3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped (optional) Pour the water into a 4-qt or larger pressure cooker and blend in the curry paste. Place on high heat and add the onion and meat of your choice. Lock the lid in place. Over high heat bring up to high pressure. Reduce the heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for the time indicated in the chart. Turn off the heat. Allow the pressure to come down naturally. (If cooking chicken, release any remaining pressure after 4 minutes.) Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow steam to escape. If the chicken or meat isn't tender, cover again and simmer until done. If necessary, skim off the fat that rises to the surface or degrease the broth in a fat separator. Blend the yogurt into 1 cup of the broth. Stir the peas into the curry and simmer until they are defrosted, about 1 minute. Turn off the heat and stir the yogurt mixture into the curry. Stir in the cilantro and salt to taste. Serve in bowls over rice. Meat choices Cooking times Chicken (see notes above) 8 minutes high pressure, 4 minutes of natural release, then quick release Beef (boneless chuck, 1" cubes) 8 minutes high pressure, then natural release Pork shoulder (1" cubes) 8 minutes high pressure, then natural release Lamb (boneless, 1" cubes) 12 minutes high pressure, then natural release