Slow-Cooker Beef Stew

So you're telling me the only added liquid for this "stew" is 1/3 cup beer, 1/3 cup maple syrup, and 3 tsp vinegar. Am I missing something? No broth? No water?

I’ve got a lot of slow cooker recipes which use very limited liquid. More comes out of the veg and even to some extent the meat and if it’s covered when it goes in, it ends up with loads is liquid and this is when slow cooking seems to sap the flavour out cos it’s basically boiling the food in water. Any more stout in the slow cooker would also be very strong as there’s no alcohol evaporation in a SC. I haven’t made this recipe yet but these amounts correspond to many other SC recipes I’ve seen.

I cooked this in my Instant Pot for a dinner party yesterday and it was wonderful. I used this recipe, but adapted the instructions from pressure-cooker stew. I agree that there wasn’t a lot of liquid, but the flavors blended beautifully and it was done in 90 minutes. I browned the meat, then added everything but the vegetables and cooked it on high pressure for 30 minutes. Released steam after 10 minutes. Left it on warm for almost an hour, then added the veg and cooked on high for 3 minutes.

This is our new favorite Stew! Instead of the slow cooker, I made this in our Dutch Oven. I dusted the meat with flour before browning and used an entire 22oz bottle of Stout. I followed the other suggestions of adding the veg later in the cooking process and going a little shy on the maple syrup... I am glad I did!

I made this in the oven and modified accordingly. I browned the meat (wish I had tossed in a bit of seasoned flour first, which would have added some thickener). Added a sliced onion to the garlic and salted in the pan, then deglazed wth about 1 cup of beef stock + about 1/2 cup of stout. I cooked in a slow oven for abut 2 hours. The meat is wonderful, but all of the veg is breaking up. Next time, I might add the veg an hour into the cooking time just so they hold together a little more.

I salt and peppered the meat, dredged it in flour and browned it with the onions. Deglazed the pan with half a can of Guiness, scraping up the browned bits, and poured the sauce into the cooker. This made a nice, deep, glossy sauce. Cut maple syrup to a teaspoon (grade B) and meat to 2 pounds, fed 6. NYT recipes are very meat-heavy, IMO!

It would be helpful if slow cooker recipes such as this one included alternative instructions for instant pot cooking.

Definitely brown the meat like suggested in the tip before you cook in the slow cooker, the texture of the meat came out amazing. The flavors came out good. I’m used to red wine based beef stew but this was a nice alternative. The liquid portion was just right, I did not add any more liquid than suggested and as the stew cooked, the meat and veggies produced more liquid. You can follow this recipe exactly the way it is.

I browned the meat (floured) in my Dutch oven. Deglazed with 15oz of Guinness, and then added a teaspoon of mustard, a teaspoon of mushroom powder, onions and garlic (and everything else except the veggies in the recipe). Cooked covered for 2 hours at 350. Added the other veggies, some more beer (it looked dry) and let it cooked another 40 minutes. I cut the quantity of maple syrup in half too. It was delicious! Will make again.

Marvelous meal! I followed the advice to brown the meat before cooking, and also followed the advice to try a rutabaga in place of one of the vegetables (I substituted it for the potato). I used 1 (not 4) garlic cloves, but did not reduce the garlic powder. Less garlic lets the quality of the vegetables and herbs shine through! Used recommended ratio of stout and maple syrup and dish wasn't overly sweet. It was as if the vegetables were beautifully caramelized! Served with a 2012 Gigondas.

This was delicious! Here are my tweaks: A full bottle of Guinness Extra Stout, more maple syrup, some beef broth and a whole, sliced yellow onion. I roasted it in a dutch oven for about 4 hours. I seared the meat before roasting it in the oven, then removed the meat, and seared all the veggies in the same pot. I cooked the meat with the onions separately from the veggies, and added them toward the end. To finish, I splashed about two tablespoons of cognac into the a jus. Yum!

Based on others’ comments, I reduced the maple syrup by half but it was still too sweet for my family. The meat was very tender, veggies cooked nicely, so basic recipe worked well in my slow cooker, I will eliminate maple syrup next time.

EXCELLENT RECIPE! IMHO, this is what a good recipe is: a guide. Similar to others, I made changes based on what I had on hand ( and my limitations with a newly broken arm). I browned the meat, did not peel the vegetables ( didn’t have the hand strength), used 3 tsp garlic powder, 2 tsp dried shallots, about 3/4 cup beer, 1 tbsp black strap molasses (noting comments re: maple syrup), 1 tsp dried rosemary, 1 tsp dried thyme. Cooked 90 min in Mealthy Pot, high pressure, gentle fast release.

Not having a slow cooker, I followed previous commenters' suggestions and increased the stout to 1 cup, added 2 cups of beef stock (for 3 lbs. of beef) and braised in a 325-degree oven for 2 hours, adding the vegetables half-way through. Not the most complex flavor, but very satisfying. Do heed others' warnings about maple syrup -- 1/3 cup was perfect, but any more and it would have been cloying.

I’d make this again but would reduce the amount of syrup and increase the stout a bit. Loved all the herbs.