What to do with REALLY TOUGH stew beef?

[blueridgewoman]

I got some stew beef from a local farmer and while all of the other meat is great, this stuff is REALLY tough. I tried to make beef stroganoff out of it a few weeks ago and seriously, my gums were bleeding by the time I finished eating.

My meat grinder is broken, or else I would just grind the remaining two pounds into ground beef.... Any suggestions? I'm guessing I could crockpot it, potentially?

[pjs]

Crockpot all the way- maybe some Chicago style beef or even try the stroganoff again. If it's really tough go with 12-18 hours on low.

[HollyBearsMom]

Along slow braise is the way to go. I would sauté some onions, garlic, carrots and celery in oil, using a heavy bottom pot with a tight lid. Add stew beef to sear/brown on all sides. Add stock to cover, a bay leaf or two, maybe some pepper corns. Place in 300 degree oven, tightly covered for 3-4 hours or untlmest is very tender. Season to taste.

You can do the same stove top but i find the results are better in an oven.

Crock pot is good too but I find thst once you hsve to cook more than 10 hours everthing gets really bland.

[laohaire]

I would assume crockpot would do it... I've never made crockpot meat that didn't just fall apart in your mouth. So even if your meat is just extra extra tough I would bet you could at least cut chew it after a good slow cook

[azmomtoone]

crockpot, or stovetop....cut it up small, then boil the heck out of it for a day or two, just like if you were making stock/broth....just add veggies, rice, potatoes at the end for stew.

[Fruitful4Him]

how timely. I made a roast the other day {crockpot} and it was rather tough..which is rare. I think maybe one of the kids temp. shut off the crockpot in the middle of cooking... I don't know... but I put the leftovers back in the crockpot w/ some leftover gravy and I am hoping it tenders up enough to make a veggie beef soup for later today or tomorrow.

[nicolelynn]

I'd make a gulash type dish with it. Stew it for several hours, cool it and dice it fine, then stew it again for a few hours with onions, garlic, tomatoes, etc. Then serve it over a cooked grain or something.

[stephienoodle]

Come over and use my meat grinder if you want. Then while I've got you trapped here, you can help me eat all of our leftovers from this week's picky guests. I've had some really tough roasts from this quarter we got last time, too.