Stew too runny!

[fruitstick]

I've put some bisto in but it's made no difference. Plain flour?

Help. Very watery

I'd tend to use cornflour, easier to do at the end than normal flour without getting lumps. Also, can you strain off most of the liquid into a pan and boil it to reduce?

Do you have root veg in it? I always give mine a very rough stir with a wooden spoon to start breaking it up a bit - that thickens it nicely.

a. Pour off as much of the watery stuff as you can into a saucepan, and boil until it reduces. You will have a fantastic tasting sauce, as long as it's not too salty.

Or B. Mix some cornflour with a little cold water - just enough to make it liquid. Pour into stew and bring back to the boil, stirring all the time. This can be a bit tasteless.

Can you boil it on the hob with the lid off to reduce the sauce a bit?

Not plain flour, but cornflour would thicken it. But if it's watery, you'll need to condense the flavour too, not just thicken it.

Ive added instant mash before to thicken mine.

Porridge oats will thicken it without altering the taste - sometimes find that adding cornflour will alter the taste and make it a bit bland

lentils.

Or pearl barley, but you'll have too cook it first if your stew is nearly ready.

Or Smash.

Kneaded butter - mash together about half tablespoon of flour with a roughly equal quantity of soft butter, drop it in an stir until it's melted in. Bit of a faff but does work!

You could also put dumplings in. They'll soak up some of the juices

Thank you for all of these - some really good tips.

I poured off some of the liquid and whipped up some dumplings

(must remember to keep cornflour in the house)

It tasted lovely in the end, although probably more liquid left in the bottom than normal.

Hurrah for Mumsnet.