What differentiates a stew from a casserole?

[Ihopeyourcakeisshit]

Only asking as an acquaintance was most keen to inform me that she has never served her kids stew.
She drops into conversations how she reads The Guardian and listens to radio 4, so I wondered if it was a snobbery thing as I did establish that she will serve a casserole.

Now you've lost me?

I always s thought they were the same thing
Anything that’s cooked in liquid, long and slow in a pot with a lid in my mind is a stew or a casserole.

From wiki

A distinction can be made between casseroles and stews: stewing is a cooking process whereby heat is applied to the bottom of the cooking vessel (typically over a fire or on a stove), whereas casserole is generally baked in an oven, where heat circulates all around the cooking vessel. Casseroles may be cooked covered or uncovered, while braises are typically covered to prevent evaporation.

What's a hotpot then?

I thought a hot pot had sliced potatoes layered on top. That is how I do mine.
Then of course we have shepherds pie and cottage pie. Not anything like a pastry topped pie.
It is a minefield.

If I’m cooking stew it’s usually beef. If I’m doing a casserole the only acceptable type is a sausage casserole topped with potatoes. I cook them in exactly the same way- in a cast iron casserole dish in the oven with a lid. Sometimes I brown the meat first, sometimes I don’t, sometimes I slow cook it in the bottom oven, sometimes I use the top oven (although in fairness stew would usually be done in the bottom oven for days and days to go super tender). I’m sure there’s probably some fancy definition of them both but if I said “stew for tea” my husband would assume beef stew with dumplings and if I said “casserole for tea” he’d assume sausage casserole with potatoes.

I’m from the north west of England and we only ever had stew.

I’m a chef now though and while I class them both as the same I would say stew for beef and casserole for chicken 🤷🏻‍♀️

Oh and I’ve been known to serve cassoulet. Although in my defence that’s just because the recipe I saw once was called that. It’s just a sausage casserole with bacon and bits of chicken in. And beans but I put them in a normal sausage casserole

I always thought stew was made out of mince and casseroles were made out of larger cut up pieces of meat.
Perhaps I just made that up in my head though. 😂
I cook them all in my slow cooker.

Casserole is cooked in the oven, stew is cooked in a pan on the stove.
My casseroles can't be cut

I'm also in the gang of stew is cooked on the hob whilst casserole is cooked in the oven.

I can't really taste the difference.

Stew: gristly bland crap my mother made in the 70s.
Casserole: slightly tastier crap my mother made in the 80s when she discovered Colmans packet mixes.

Trouble being with the 'stew on the hob and casserole in the oven' division, I cook my one pot meals in the slow cooker

What am I cooking then ?

Is there ANYTHING that cannot be used to denote class and classiness in the UK?

Stew v Casserole?!

I have never made stew or casserole from mince. Doesn't it just disintegrate?

I can't really taste the difference.

^

What sainsburys should have said

DS1 wouldn't eat stew so I told him it was casserole which he would eat so there's obviously a difference.

Haha @HelmutFrontbut that made me laugh

My DH thinks it's just a regional thing and it can be exactly the same thing just called whichever one depending on where you are from. I disagree, i think

A stew is a meal by itself (no Sides ) that's cooked on the hob ( with thick buttered bread obviously, I'm not an animal lol )
A casserole would be in the oven and you add maybe potatoes and veg on the side to serve
I agree a hotpot has sliced potatoes on top

Also when I think of casserole it's more red/orange colour than stew ( just how I have encountered them)

One is baked the other boiled. I can taste the difference. I hate stew.

I am Irish ergo we always had stew which was cooked on the hob in a pot.

We never had casserole as my mother never gave in to notions.
She may also not have known how to use the oven though...

I might suggest she treats herself to a pan of scouse.

Both horrible (and basically the same thing).

Either is an excuse for DM to chuck any old crap in a pot and call it dinner. Cucumber in a stew anyone ?

What I call beef casserole, DH calls 'brown stew'. I think mine sounds more appetising

Does she ever cook a daube?

Stew is beef, potatoes, carrots and onions cooked in stock served with bread and butter
The only acceptable casserole is sausage, with a red sauce with lots of veg in and beans (usually haricot). I make mine in a slow cooker.

Otherwise there is chilli
Or pies
Shepherds pie/cottage pie
Fish pie
Or the kind with pastry which is the only way to eat chicken in sauce that isn't curry

I think I have some kind of food OCD