Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Quick Beef Stew (The Canning Version)



Maybe it's not better than Grandma's because I did have to cook it, but that is the only reason. Actually my grandmother was a pretty good cook, limited in what she could make, but pretty good nonetheless. Anyway, so I have shown you have to make your own 'pre-stock', white and brown stocks, and soup bases to create a variety of soups and stews. But I can hear the wheels turning in the back of your head and you want to know if there is a easier way to may great soup and stews without going through the whole stock and soup base making process.

Well of course there is, the flavor of the stew will not be as full bodied and have as great a depth of flavor as one made from a stock or soup base, but they are still quite tasty. Making and canning beef stew without using a homemade stock or soup base means that you will have to use either a powdered bouillon or canned broth. For the homemaker trying to save money there is really only one option and that is using the powdered bouillon. Using pre-made canned stock is simply to expensive if you are living on a budget and trying to stretch your food dollars. Powdered bouillon may contain some ingredients that some people may not like, I will be honest I use them all of the time, but you may not want to. For more information regarding using powdered bouillon, see my article 'Restaurants Use Them So Should You?'

The Recipe

The ratio of fresh chopped vegetables you put in your canning jars will depend on what you like. Generally what I do is estimate that I will need ¾ of a large onion, 1 large carrot, 1 stalk of celery, and ½ diced boiling potato per quart jar. The amount of beef you put in your stew, will determine if you need more vegetables or not. Not listed in this recipe are a few additional items I like to add when I have them available such as corn, tomatoes and even green beans. I generally add them fresh from the garden when I have them, but I have already canned all of my tomatoes and green beans for the season. As with many of my recipes, this is really more of a stew base, that you would add additional ingredients such as corn or tomatoes to once you open the jar as they are already cooked and only need to be heated. The potatoes, onions, and carrots of course cook in the jars while pressure canning.

4 to 6 quart canning jars
2 – 3 ponds roast or stew meat
3 large boiling potatoes (Yukon Gold or Red New Potatoes)
4 to 6 onions
4 to 6 carrots
4 to 6 stalks of celery


Ingredients Per Each Quart Jar

1 teaspoon chicken bouillon*
1 teaspoon beef bouillon*
½ teaspoon minced garlic
¼ teaspoon black pepper

* Because powdered bouillon tends to be high in sodium, I do not add any additional salt to the jar when canning soups and stews using this method. You can adjust the seasonings when you open the jars and heat up the contents.

As always when canning, you need to get your jars and all of your canning supplies ready before you start prepping for canning. This includes getting your pressure canner filled and ready, washing and sterilizing your jars and other equipment so that once your prep is down you can get down to the business of canning.

Once your canning supplies are ready, you want to trim all the fat away and cut up your roast in bite size pieces. If using pre-cut stew meat, trim any extra fat off, and cut the large pieces into bite size chunks. Then in a small sauté pan with a little olive oil you want to brown the beef just to give it some color and texture. You do not need to cook the beef until it is done, just brown it, again we are looking to add color and texture to the meat, the beef will finish cooking while it is being canned. Cook the meat in batches and place in a bowl until ready to layer into your jars.

When the beef is partially cooked, it is time to work on the veggies. Scrub your potatoes clean to remove any loose dirt, peel them if you wish, but I generally do not. Then dice your onions, carrots and celery and set aside. I cube my potatoes last as I do not want them to change color (start to brown) while I am doing my other prep.



Now that your 'mis en place' is done (everything is prepped and ready), it is time to start adding the dried ingredients to your sterilized jars. Once you have the bouillon, black pepper, and minced garlic added to the jars, then layer your vegetables and meat in the jars as you desire. There is no right or wrong way to do this, you just want to evenly distribute the meat and vegetables. I usually start out with some of the onions first then the celery and then the meat and potatoes and top off the jar with more onions and vegetables as necessary.

Chef's Note: This is not a thickened stew as thickened liquids do not can very well. When canned the stew will actually be more soup like. If you like a thickened stew (which I prefer) then you will need to thicken it after you have opened the jar and are heating it up.


Processing Your Stew

Anytime you process a recipe that contains meat, raw or partially cooked it must be canned in a pressure canner. Attempting to can meat or meat products in any other fashion besides using a pressure canner is unsafe and could cause you, your family, or anyone you share your bounty with to become gravely ill. But don't fret, if you pressure can your stew as recommended by the USDA, you will never have any problems. Ok, now that you have been warned, let's get on with it….[GRIN]...

One at a time, ladle your boiling water into your beef and vegetable filled jars leaving 1-inch of headspace. Then, wipe the rim of the jar with a damp clean paper towel. Place the heated lid on the jar then hand tighten the ring and using your tongs, place the jar in the simmering pressure canner. Repeat this process until your canner is full, then place the lid on the canner and process at the recommended time and pressure (see below).



If you have more stew to process than your canner will hold, only fill enough jars to completely fill the canner. Once the first batch of stew has been processed and removed from the canner, check the water level in the canner and adjust it as necessary. Then fill the remaining beef and vegetable filled jars and following the previous instructions and process the remaining stew. Continue to do this until all of your stew has been safely processed.

If per chance, you do not have enough jars of canned stew to fill the pressure canner (which happens to me all the time) Take empty jars filled with warm water without lids and add those to the canner to take up the empty space. These water filled jars will keep your precious bounty from falling over and possibly breaking during the pressure canning process. Remember to take care as any jar you remove from the pressure canner will be boiling and quite hot to touch.

Processing Time In Dial Gauge Pressure Canner

Pint Jars 75 minutes at 11lbs (0 – 2,000ft), 12lbs (2,001 – 4,000ft), 13lbs (4,001 – 6,000ft) and 14lbs (6,001 or greater).
Quart Jars 90 minutes at 11lbs (0 – 1,000ft), 12lbs (2,001 – 4,000ft), 13lbs (4,001 – 6,000ft) and 14lbs (6,001 or greater).

Processing Time In Weighted Gauge Pressure Canner

Pint Jars 75 minutes at 10lbs (0 – 1,000ft), 15lbs (greater than 1,001ft altitude).
Quart Jars 90 minutes at 10lbs (0 – 1,000ft), 15lbs (greater than 1,001ft altitude).


Thickening Your Stew

Making stew using this recipe is quick, easy and relatively painless. However, for my tastes there is one step left to do after you open the jar and heat up the stew, and that is to thicken it. Now, there are several different ways to thicken a hot soup or stew, check out my article 'Thickening Soups, Stews, and Sauces' on or blog to find fast easy ways to thicken your soups stews and sauces.




Conclusion

Most often we make soups and stews when we are able to get roast on sale. When it is on sale or we can comp it at Walmart for half the normal price, we buy a lot of it. Not only do we make stew out of it as in this article, we also use it to make stroganoff, beef tips and rice, and roast. Sometimes, we simply cook the beef partially done then can it in a light beef broth made from powdered beef bouillon.

By purchasing food (especially meats) when it is on sale and either freezing or canning it, is one of the many strategies we use to stretch our food dollars. Having pre-made stews or soups either canned in the pantry or vacuumed sealed in the freezer really help when you have had a long day and need to feed yourself or your family quickly. In order to be as efficient as possible, we try and have one big canning day in which we can a variety of soups, stews and gumbos as well as beans and other vegetables.

If you are looking to find additional ways to stretch your food dollars, be sure and check out some of my other articles on the subject on our blog. And as always, if you have enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends and don't forget to send us a friend request on Facebook and Google+ so that you will not miss out on any of our new articles.


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