I'm making this recipe for a crowd on our next ski trip; the cabin will be at about 8000 ft (2400 meters) and I was wondering how this will affect the cooking time and oven temperature.

I was thinking taking the temperature down to 200 degrees and letting it cook for 4-6 hours so I can get in a good day of skiing before coming back! Is that reasonable?

As long as the stew cooks slowly at a very gentle simmer, you're good to go. Don't worry about timing so much, just let the stew cook until the meat is fork tender. If you can, make it the day before so the flavors can meld together. If you haven't watched the Stewing Lesson yet, it's a good one! Good luck, I'm sure it will be delicious.

Just wondering why can't the marinade be used in the dish?

Also, what if I used 3 parts good quality grape juice and 1 part red wine vinegar instead of the the red wine (both in the stew and marinade)?

Thank you,

Omar

Marinades are often discarded for food safety reasons. The marinade will be contaminated from the raw meat. If you were to cook it with the meat you wouldn't have to necessarily discard it; however, if you did use the marinade, the meat, of course, would just taste different. It would have a much a stronger wine flavor than the meat in this particular stew or recipe.

As for the grape juice and red wine vinegar, I have not tried this, but feel free to give it a try and see how you like it. That is the fun of cooking, you are free to experiment. Cheers!

Would a clear stock affect the taste much or mostly the color?

Another question: if I have a weak stock, can I throw in a few bones I since the meat is going to cook for a long time anyways, and thus add some more flavor?

No a clear stock would generally not make a difference in taste, as long as the stock itself was a good tasting stock.

As for whether or not you can add flavor to a weak stock...indeed you can. Basically you would just make a short stock. Cheers!

What I meant then is: can I make a "short stock" in the stew?
I put the bones in the stew and then remove them.

Omar I think that you must realize that with cooking you have freedom. There are not many "absolute rules" that you must always follow. Feel free to experiment and have fun in the kitchen.

Is putting bones into a stew something we would teach? No, not likely, but can you do it? Yes, I suppose you could. This is how we end up creating our own little tips and tricks that make us all unique. Cheers!

In the recipe it says to preheat the oven to 250 degrees. But in one of the related techniques "oven temperatures for combination cooking" it says to always cook at 200 degrees so that it never comes to a boil.

Which is correct in this instance?

The concept to understand is that with combination cooking, slower and lower is the way to go for the best results. You have the freedom to crank up the heat if you are short on time, etc. The main thing is to understand how the heat increase will affect the dish. It's all about being flexible and understanding the consequences by turning up the heat. At 200 or 250, the temperature is still quite low compared to 350 or 400. Hope this helps!

What kind of potatoes do you use in this AND won't the vegetables turn to mush after a while?

Shouldn't the veggies be added after it's cooked a while and if so, at what time in the process should they be added.

If I end up cooking this for four hours seems like they would turn to mush.

Thanks!

I guess I answered my own question by going through some lessons. No doubt you need to use those "Hard" potatoes like yukon and red.

As for them getting mushy the low temperature at 200 degrees will take care of them not getting mushy.

Sorry, I was in the middle of making this dish when these questions popped up.

If I do a good job on this dish, I'll report back. Made some mistakes but I think they will take care of themselves.

Thanks for your patience.

Is there any problem with increasing recipe by 1/2 to serve 10? Would I have to use two pots.
Thanks,
Nancy Taylor

There are no restrictions on how big or small a stew can be. Just use a large enough pot to adequately hold the amount you plan to make. Happy cooking!

I were were going out I decided to cook the stew at 210 degrees and it was in the oven for more then 6.5 hrs. I was afraid that I would have mushy vegetable but instead I had hard vegetables and tough meat. I am now boiling on the cook top trying to salvage it (after feeding the kids). I should also mention that I had doubled the recipe as we have a large family.

Man, that sounds terrible. Also sounds intriguing. Would like to hear more...

These are probably dumb questions but:

Was your pot covered?

Did your meat have a lot of marbling and fat or was it too lean? (but that wouldn't explain hard veggies)

Did you have the proper amount of juice in there--almost covering to the top of the meat?

Sounds like maybe your oven might be off? Do you have one of those oven thermometers to check it?

Can't wait to see what Rouxbe has to say about this one.

I'm really sorry this happened to you, I would have been devastated. I tried this same recipe and even though it cooked perfectly, still didn't like it. I just don't like stews.

Don't get too discouraged, the milk braised pork roast was unbelievably good along with everything else on this site!

The pot was covered and the meat was well marble, was bought at the local butchers. I covered it stock so 99% of everything was immersed. After posting I did considered inaccurate oven temperature so I will go out and buy a thermometers. I ended up finishing it on the stove and it was ready 2 hrs later. Needless to say we had a very late diner. Thank you for your response back.

When you checked under the lid while it was in the oven was it at a slight simmer?

That would be key in oven temperature.

Remember 212 is boiling at sea level, and 180 is just below a simmer, hence 200 being the perfect temp. Without a thermometer, you can check the temperature by checking what's inside your pot.

If it's at a small simmer, your oven should be fine. If not, then just raise the oven temp until you get that slight simmer.

I probably shouldn't be giving advise cause I'm just a student. But couldn't help myself :)

Honestly, you guys have asked yourselves the same questions I would have asked you. Nice work Jude on your feedback and questions. Dana, I also think it sounds like it could have been your oven. Other than that, I might suggest that you re-watch (or watch) the lessons on Stewing and Combination Cooking. Perhaps there was something else that you missed? Cheers!

I'm not much of a stew person. They always taste blah and samey to me. Rouxbe hasn't disappointed yet so I gave it a go. Yum. It was enjoyed by all. I used a dark ale on lees. Worked well. The only tweak for next time is slightly larger potato pieces. The other veg was perfect, but the potatoes were a bit soft.

I'm watching the stew simmer...on the stove top. I discovered none of my large pots are oven-friendly in the middle of the recipe! Will be shopping soon... but wondering what to do now?

Stews can be cooked on the stove top if that is all you've got. The oven and a heavy-bottomed, oven-proof pot with a tight fitting lid, just allows more more even and gentle heat distribution. Make sure to keep an eye on the stew so it doesn't scorch. Cheers!

I really wanted to serve beef stew at an hors d'oeuvre party, so I made skewers and served them on crispy potato skins. It was a hit!

I cooked the stew in my slow cooker which worked great. After the meat & veggies were cooked I removed them from the liquid and once cooled, skewered the pieces like little kabobs. I only used carrots and parsnips in the stew and then oven roasted pearl onions which I thought would skewer better than sliced onion (I did add a grated onion during the cooking process though). I left out the potatoes because each skewer was served on a potato skin. To reheat the skewers for serving I just put a single layer in a large pan, poured the liquid over them, covered and heated in the oven until bubbly. I served the first batch and loaded another round of skewers in the sauce and heated them. Everyone loved it. This recipe was delicious! Beef stew can be finger food.

Just out of curiosity, why do you brown the meat and onions in a separate pan instead of using a dutch oven and setting the meat aside to continue with the recipe?