Can I make stew on the hob?

[SeaSaltandLime]

And if so, any tips?

My casserole dish just broke and I was planning on a beef stew for dinner.
Can anyone help? Please?

I'm guessing I can't put the saucepan in the oven? Or can I?

Having a total brain fart at the minute.

I make a stew on the hob sometimes, I use the bottom of my steamer on a low heat with a lid on.

I always do on the hob. Leave to simmer on low

Yes I make stews on the hob just slow simmer it for a decent chunk of time.

Yes, no probs

Yes, it's totally normal to make stew on the hob. You can use a normal saucepan, but unless your stew is very liquid, you'd better stir it occasionally. You can put some saucepans in the oven if they have metal handles, but I wouldn't unless you kniw your saucepan is ovenproof.

I always understood it was stew on the hob, casserole in the oven, so the answer is yes.

I would brown the meat, chuck in vegetables then liquid and seasoning before sticking a lid on it and leaving it over a low heat.

It’s fine to do on the hob just keep the heat low and make sure you keep stirring. I have ended up numerous times picking burnt black bits out of mine as it’s caught on the bottom!

Yeah. Just brown the meat off first, then add any veggies, then stock/gravy, then simmer for a couple of hours. It's the only way I make it. Otherwise it's a casserole.

You can put your pans in the oven as long as there are no plastic bits. Not sure about glass lids.

I have stainless steel pans and always put them in the oven to simmer the stew on low and then whack it up high with the lid off to crisp up the dumplings.

Be careful when taking out of the oven though as it will be bloody hot and there's always someone who sees a pan handle and wants to touch it. I tend to drape the oven gloves over the handle as a visual reminder.

Barbara very wise words! I never trust myself with a cooling saucepan, it's so automatic to lift the lid!

Ah you're all so helpful!

Thank you, just saved my comfort dinner!!

Hob = Stew
Oven = Casserole

😂

Choose a pan with a tight-fitting lid. I use cast iron.

People keep saying oven = casserole..
What?!

My mum always did her stew in the oven, I'm sure!
I'm trying to recreate her recipe.

No way.

Yep, I'd say it's a stew if done on the hob and a casserole if done in the oven, but appreciate that the ingredients and outcome can be just about the same and the terminology could be regional.

And is the word casserole of French origin and used in the UK by people trying to be posh? Whereas stew is considered a bit more downmarket?

It's also just occurred to me that stew might be the cooking process and a casserole the vessel that it is cooked in.

I did not know that about oven- stew, hob - casserole. For me it’s a casserole if we are eating it at home but the same dish becomes a stew if I am sending it to my elderly MIL who would mistrust a casserole as ‘fancy foreign food’ and notmeat it n

A stew is on the hob and a casserole is in the oven.

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.

I thought that a casserole had thicker sauce than a stew - a stew is more like a gravy?

And both can be cooked in the oven or on the stove-top - or in a pressure cooker or slow cooker.

I've always done stew on the hob- never browned the meat first though. Put it on in the morning, stir throughout the day and is ready by dinner time. Day 2 stew is better than day 1 stew though.

Oh wow. I never knew.

Everyday's a school day I suppose.

I thought a casserole was a totally different recipe to a stew.
For me stew is hearty and warming and casserole is a bit lighter.

Don't forget some dumplings if its a beef stew!

Just simmer on the hob, low heat

To stew is to cook on a low heat.
A casserole is done in the oven - hence casserole dishes.

I remember trying to find a link to it before, but I remember studying in history class how 'stew' came about. I think it was vikings or cavemen or something. Basically they used to have a pit in the ground, where they'd keep the meet under water to keep it fresh or something. Somehow, they'd also cool the stones from the fire in the same water pit. They eventually discovered that the cooling stones in the water, heated the water, which slowly cooked the meat. this is from memory so do not ask for a source to this notion or an article on it as I've searched before to no avail.