GRRR. Bloody beef stew.

[winnybella]

Been 3 hours in the oven and the meat is still very hard. Impossible to bite into. Did everything as usual.

Guess must be the meat that's at fault, but it was sold for a stew.

Is there any chance it will soften eventually? Poor DP is on his way home and there's no dinner.

Can anyone give me some hope?

leave it in the oven until bed time and hope it softens down for tomorrow? Some meat is just chewy regardless of how long it cooks for!

It might suddenly go from hard to soft- this can happen! Keep cooking it!

What kind of meat did you buy? Best meat for stewing is shin, usually labelled stewing steak. Braising steak, or anything labelled lean/good for you/better for you does not soften as there isn't enough fat in it.

Do you have a pressure cooker? If you have, ten minutes in there on high might help.

Really?

I do seem to remember a few times where it took ages for it to soften, but 99% of time it's edible after 3 hrs.

Wasn't cheap, either

BecauseImWorthIt- haven't got a pressure cooker. I'm in France- the meat was labeled for 'boeuf bourguignon'- a stew, basically. No clue which part of the cow it used to be.

And it had lots of fat on it.

It will soften! Shove a glug of wine in and keep cooking! I had to cook some for 4hrs once!

The oven might be too low? Try putting it on the hob and boiling it on high for a bit (keep stirring to ensure it doesn't burn at the base and make sure it has plenty of liquid)

The oven's been on 160-170 degrees Celsius. The stew's been simmering- thought that was the point ie lowish heat over a few hours?

Not puuting any more wine in- I need it to soothe the irritation! Unless it will help softening it?

soften

Oh by all means drink it instead!

I was presuming you have litres of the stuff (my own personal living in france fantasy...)

Nah, I just go to the supermarket everyday whenever we run out.

Some meat pieces seem to have softened a bit, others still hard. Will leave it on til bedtime.

Thanks all for your help.

How was it, winny?!

Hmm. Don't know yet. Left it on til 1am, then in the oven overnight. Was still hardish in the morning. Smells v.good, though. DP will be happy to eat it anyway.Will let you know in the evening.

But methinks it was a very old cow. Will go to the butcher next time instead of the supermarket.

Well, it was delicious-made dumplings to go with it- meat a bit stringy, but edible-sauce was great-it was the BBC recipe for Irish stew (with beef).

Yum! Thanks all for telling me to not give up

what a happy ending .

clicked on this post as my beef is often too tough, i too will persevere in future.