Hokey smokes.

Here's my thinking:

There are many cuts of beef that are quite lean. Use them and cut them yourself into beef stew pieces.

Dredge them in flour and seasonings and sear them "fast and furious" in a good vegetable oil.

Pour in some good low-fat beef stock/broth and simmer for an hour.

Throw in the veggies (potatoes, onions. rutabagas, and carrots are nice but everyone has their favorite combo) and simmer another 1-1/2 hours.

Thicken with a cornstarch slurry.

This works.

The only two downsides are that the overall taste lacks the "umami" that we love in a succulent beef stew and the stew meat is a bit on the dry and firm side. The umami comes from the beef fat (or bacon fat, which is what I often use, heaven forbid!). The tenderness and moistness of stew beef comes from the melting beef fat, as well.

But it does minimize the work as you spelled out in such nice detail in your original post.

Joe

haus proud -

"Stew" is as varied as the folks who make it and you've covered the many options very well.... Here's my take on it after doing some testing and looking at some of the science (probably after a reading session of "On Food and Cooking" - The Science and Lore of the Kitchen - by Harold McGee). I personally made it the traditional way forever and always and when I tried a different recipe and method, I fell in love with stew all over again and never returned to the traditional method.

Traditionally, you wanted a bit of fat on stew meat, or the finished meat would be dry. Traditionally, stew meat is dredged. It seemed to take a lot of extra fat in the pan to brown dredged meat. I don't follow either of those methods and like my stew much better now that I don't. But as we all know, all taste is subjective and cooking is about choices.

I use chuck, because a good butcher will tell you there is a little more fat (even though it's considered a lean cut) and more connective tissue, which add both flavor and tenderness during a long, slow cooking process, as Joe pointed out. When you purchase a package of "stew meat", it can be cut from almost anywhere - more of a mystery meat.

I cut my own stew meat and avoid as much visible fat as possible, and cut it into 3/4- to 1-inch cubes. It's a personal thing - I don't like to wrestle a large 1-1/2-inch cube of beef in my stew.

I never dredge the meat because I think it interferes with the browning process and tends to make the bottom of the pan a sticky, disgusting mess. But as with most cooking, dredging is a choice - it's neither is right or wrong.

I also don't salt the meat before browning. Salted meat exudes more juices and dries out. Adding the salt to the stew after the meat is browned produces jucier meat.

I use a small amount of fat for browning the first batch of meat (probably less than a tablespoon), fairly high heat, and brown only in small batches, removing each batch from the Dutch oven and setting it aside, until the entire 2-pounds of meat is browned. Not a lot of fat in the pan, but if there is, I'd dab it out with a paper towel, careful to leave the "flavorful cooked-on goodies". I don't constantly stir the meat while it's browning, but let it sear well, then turn or stir it, until all sides are well-browned. I usually don't add any fat for the subsequent batches of meat I brown, so that saves some added fat.

If you brown the meat all at once, you end up stewing the meat pieces because there's too much moisture from the large amount of meat pieces. Browning, without dredging, will render a darker, richer, brown stew with more flavor.

I also add a t. of lemon juice while simmering the meat, which is a tenderizer.

I remove some of the potatoes and a cup or two of the liquid and blend it in a blender or food processor and return to the pot to avoid the starchy taste of flour/water slurry, which congeals when refrigerated and separates when frozen and reheated.

So, to each their own, for whatever reasons...

-Grainlady

Like Grainlady, I cut my own stew beef, mostly from chuck. However, I also grow the beef, LOL. My grassfed beef is very low in fat, so even chuck doesn't have much of that fat "mouth feel", and I don't dredge in flour either, because there's virtually no fat to "soak up" the flour.

Unlike other people, I dislike the flavor and consistency that fat gives to stews and soups, so I'm happy with my ultra lean beef, browned in a bit of olive oil if I need it. My kids like it that way too, but for other people I'll add fat (usually butter) to get that rich gravy.

As mentioned, I brown the beef a bit at a time, to avoid boiling the beef in its own juices. I don't add flour or thickener to the broth either, unless I'm trying to thicken the broth from my homecanned beef, I just puree some of the vegetables and use that to thicken the broth/stock.

Of course, to make up for the beef tallow I avoid in my stew, I usually make biscuits to go along with the stew, and I make my biscuits with butter. I guess that pretty much negates any benefit I get from the lean beef, LOL.

Annie

I prefer lean beef for stew as well. Unless I'm using Short ribs and then I like the richness that the fat adds.

I don't like my stew in a thick gravy. I prefer it with just a rich broth, so I never thicken with either flour/butter and definitely not cornstarch. I don't like the texture or flavour of gravy made with cornstarch. I usually top my stew with dumplings which helps to give the broth just a tad more body, but still not be thick.

Annie, I guess dumplings pretty much negates any benefit too. But then again, somethings you don't make if you are worried about the calories or the fat content.

Ann

I guess you're right Ann, but I justify the calories in the biscuits by trying to convince myself that I saved the fat grams in the stew. (grin)

Annie

I think you're totally right about dredging producing fattier stew. The fat just isn't removable once it's umm...flourated? Rouxed? Not to mention one might have to ADD fat to do the browning.

I guess leaner cuts and not dredging would be the healthiest.

i have a quick recipe for stew..I had a roast with carrots & potatoes,oions,I added peas. in the oven once my fathernlaw came to visit ,unexpededly,My hubby wanted him to stay for dinner.I freaked then decided to cut apart roast,chop veggies,added a packet of dry lipton onion soup mix,mixed a little flour,water poured over beef cooked till thick just few minutes.mmmm

Here's how you brown the beef to get the "fond" without using flour to trap the fat. Needless to say, you will have already trimmed the beef as much as possible - start with a whole, thick slab of 7-bone chuck ROAST (boneless costs more, but saves waste).

Dry it with paper towels. Salt and pepper it. Brown this slab of beef in good olive oil, turning only once, medium-high heat (medium if you have a pro-style range) 3-4 min each side.

Take the roast out, and cut it into cubes for stew. Proceed with your onions, celery, etc., as usual, cooking it the same way you always do.

Either skim off the fat when done, or refrigerate to harden the fat and discard before reheating. Thicken with a cornstarch slurry: cornstarch mixed with some cold water to the consistency of Elmer's Glue.

Be careful when reheating a cornstarch-thickened gravy: you can bring it to a boil, but don't let it boil too long because it will break down the cornstarch thickening. Cornstarch thickened stews also will liquify again if frozen; it does not stand up to freezing well. I usually freeze unthickened, then use the slurry when I'm reheating.