What Am Doing Wrong? (Batch Cook)

[EineReiseDurchDieZeit]

Every time I batch cook a beef dish, in the reheat the meat clumps together and takes all the sauce - doesn't matter if I hob heat it or microwave. I don't know if it's me, I seem to recall not having this problem in the past.

Does anyone know exactly what's happening?

is this beef mince or chunks?

Chunks of stewing steak

Always amazing first cooked, get in the bin on a reheat

At a completely rough guess, maybe it's the water or fat (lack of) content of the meat.

Yes it has low fat content.

Why would that cause clumping?

Have you added a load of flour/flour?

I've no idea, I don't eat meat, but I think supermarket meat often has a high water content (water is cheap, meat isn't).
From what I understand, you need some fat in the meat to cook it, and fattier meat is more tasty when cooked.

Probably not wording it right, but sort of abstracted from what a butcher told me.

I'd be tempted to go for better steak, or not use the ss for batch cooking.

** I'm not anti-meat eating

It's really good quality meat

Yes @Forestdweller11 I use Cornflour as a thickener - have you solved it?

Not sure what you mean by clumping? Do you mean the sauce goes very thick?
I find I often need to add some water to leftover stew. Particularly if it's been left to cool with the lid off as all the escaped steam is water.

I'd suspect the cornflour. If I brown I don't use flour/cornflour. Use it at the end. Else I tend to get a sticky lump.

Definitely add water when you reheat (if you don’t already!) Then heat slowly on the hob with the lid on the pan, obviously stirring periodically so it doesn’t stick.

Not sure what you mean by clumping?

In the reheat all the meat pieces basically become one lump

@Forestdweller11

I use the cornflour when making the batch but not in the reheat

@BrutusMcDogface

Thanks that make sense

Cornflour sets stuff solid if you have enough of it, needs to be whisked or stirred well to bring it back to original consistency which is impossible with a stew that has bits in it. Sometimes heating very well works enough so that you can stir it a bit, microwave would be worst option for reheating a cornflour thickened stew unless you keep taking it out for a stir. I toss the meat in flour before I start and leave it at that, not too much flour either as however thick it is when first made it will be thicker for reheat.

I’d definitely add a bit more water. Maybe use the hob option so you can work out how much to add.

It’s the cornflour.

Thanks Guys!

I've never used cornflour in a stew. Just use normal flour, toss in with beef or veg when sauteeing at the beginning. Add a bit of water when you reheat as it will need it to thin the sauce.