Stew Beef: Crock Pot Edition + A Few Crock Pot Tips!

Who doesn't love a Crock Pot meal? You prep, throw it in, walk away and then BOOM, 4-8 hours later you have a hot meal! On days when I'm out of the house for most of the day, this is a perfect way to come home. Today, I'm making Stew Beef and it'll be done in about 4 hours. 

I usually put my veggies at the bottom (onion, carrot, celery, ect.), followed by your meat of choice. I personally like to lightly sear my meat, whether it be beef, chicken, goat, or anything else you choose to make. I do this to essentially get the juices flowing in the meat. I also use the excess juices from searing and I dump that right into the crock pot. After, I use broth (whichever coincides with what im cooking;beef, chicken, vegetable) and I fill that to ALMOST where its covering the meat. For brown stews,I use browning sauce. I DO NOT sear my meat with the browning. I add a bit directly into the pot after everything is in. I do this because I find when searing with the browning, it leaves a sweet taste on the meat that I am not fond of. This is just my personal choice. I've seen it made both ways, and it doesn't effect the outcome of the dish other than the sweet taste. 

After about 3 hours, I chop up potatoes and throw them in. Then I add the magic: corn starch slurry. If you don't use this, you should probably start. I'm not much of a fan of thickening my stews with flour, as it usually just lumps up and makes little dumplings. Corn starch slurry will make it smooth and no little flour dumplings.Once you add your slurry and potatoes, give it a nice stir and add any addition seasoning if necessary and let it brew for another hour. Once that hour goes by, it's time to eat! This is one of my go to Crock Pot meals so re-create it and tag me! I'd love to see some variations and meals made with what I've shared with you all! 

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