why was the beef in my goulash so chewy?

[mum199]

obviously want it to be soft, so what did i do wrong?

i fried an onion, browned the meat, added tin of chopped tomatoes, then straight away added cut up potatoes. Brought to the boil and let simmer for...oh um..should have been two hours but was three on the lowest heat.

But dd wouldn't eat it becuase th meat was too tough.

suggestions welcome!

Hmm, was the meat covered by stock??

what cut of meat did you use, mum199?

Are you missing a hamster?

marthamoo!

Agree with Skyler, it doesn't sound enough liquid on the face of it. I have a slow cooker recipe for beef that always results in chewy horrible beef, I think because it isn't covered with liquid. I would try again with twice as much liquid, either potato water or stock.

lol martha!

i added water so that it was quite liquidy. when i switched it off it was quite thick

When I use my slow cooker I have to stir it a couple of times as the bits on the top get dried out. They are fine again once mixed in and cooked a bit longer.

Lol Martha

Did you stir it at all?

I always find the meat in goulash and other beef stews is quite chewy - think it is the beef because whenever I use lamb it is much softer and melt-in-the mouth

Did you brown the meat for too long? It can go tough if it starts cooking on the high heat

Ah but with Delia's marvellous Boeuf Bourguignon the beef always works out v tenderly.

I bought organic stewing beef from sainsburys and it was vile, yuck. Really dry, tough and sawdust like, in fact we just ate the rest of the stew and chucked the meat away.

I used to buy supermarket beef slices (whatever bit of the cow that came from?). Looked great, nice and lean, 2 for £5 but was tasteless and chewy.

I then started to go to a local butcher and they recommended top rump. Bought out a giant lump and sliced it off to the thickness I wanted (stroganoff) and it was cheaper than the supermarket rubbish! Its melt in the mouth, never chewy and actually tastes of meat.
Try a proper butcher, you will be surprised that some items work out cheaper and its definately better quality.

wow! i popped out for a bit, and there are so many replies. It was covered in liquid, but maybe i did brown it too long? i thought that would 'seal in the juices'. It was from a proper local butcher, and the cuts looked so lovely deep red - if that makes any sense?

maybe the biggest mistake was not looking in on it for such a long time?

tribot - that sounds like alot of work, yoir much more dedicated than me