Stew: how to cook at home to get a supertaste and full confidence in quality

The times when food quality was strictly controlled at the state level have sunk into oblivion. The modern buyer is forced to determine a good product by trial and error. Even GOST marking does not guarantee that the product will be tasty and safe. Especially a lot of doubts cause canned meat. In this regard, it is important to note the following advantages of homemade stew.

• Meat quality. Instead of first-class raw materials, manufacturers often put trimmings in stews. In addition, it is impossible to trace the origin of the meat. With independent cooking, you strive to use the freshest and juiciest raw materials.
• Product proportions. Sometimes a store stew looks more like fat, in which small pieces of meat are hidden. With home canned food, this embarrassment will not happen, because for yourself and your relatives you will not save on the main ingredient.
• Flavoring additives. Manufacturers sometimes sin using synthetic flavors and flavor enhancers. Spices will be natural in homemade stew.
• Preservatives. To extend the life of the semi-finished product, manufacturers can add any kind of “chemistry” to the bank. Homemade stew will not be stored for years, but it definitely will not have preservatives.

Pork stew

Pork stew at home is a popular canned food. Tender juicy meat contains a lot of protein, vitamins and minerals necessary for the full functioning of the body. When buying pork, pay attention to the following points.

• Colour. The meat of the young pig has a light pink color. Dark color indicates that the animal was old.
• Slice. The surface of the meat should be matte and elastic. If a liquid appears when pressed, it means the product was frozen.
• Fat. Must be white and tight. Yellowness and friability of the fat layer is a sign of poor quality.

Basic version

Features. High-quality meat and a minimum set of spices - this is what you need to cook traditional stew in a glass jar in the oven. For years, the proven technology has been optimal for the manufacture of canned meat in a city apartment.

You will need:

• 1 kg of meat;
• 500 g of fat;
• one or two bay leaves for each half-liter jar;
• five peas of allspice for each half-liter jar;
• ground black pepper and salt of your choice.

Cooking

1. Put pepper and bay leaf in jars.
2. Cut the meat into medium sized pieces, salt and pepper as you like.
3. Put the product in a jar, but not very tightly. Do not fill the jar, leave 2-3 cm of free space.
4. Place the jars in a baking sheet or baking dish and pour a little water.
5. Put the workpiece in the oven and heat it to 250 ° C.
6. When the workpiece begins to boil, reduce the temperature to 150 ° C and simmer for three hours.
7. Finely chop the fat and melt in a pan.
8. Pour the prepared stew with melted fat, roll up and check for leaks by turning the workpiece upside down.
9. Return the cans to their normal position and allow to cool at room temperature.
10. Store in a cool place.

In a slow cooker

Features. It is extremely simple to cook a semi-finished meat product in a slow cooker. It is enough to load the necessary products into the bowl and press a couple of buttons. The device will do the rest for you. Stew prepared in this way can be stored in the refrigerator for a week.

You will need:

• 1.5 kg of meat;
• three leaves of laurel;
• spices at your discretion (preferably a mixture of peppers or hops-suneli);
• salt at your discretion (but not less than a teaspoon).

Cooking

1. Wash, dry and chop the meat into medium sized pieces.
2. Load the meat into the bowl of the multicooker and cook for two hours in the "Stewing" mode.
3. Stir the meat and cook for another two hours in the same mode.
4. Add salt and spices, mix well and cook in the “Stew” mode for another two hours.
5. Arrange the workpiece in small sterile jars with screw caps.
6. After cooling, put the stew in the refrigerator.

With buckwheat

Features. When there is no time to cook a meat dish, the stew helps out a lot. It is enough to cook buckwheat porridge, add some canned food, and a nutritious lunch is ready. And for those cases when there is not even time for a simple side dish, it is worth preparing buckwheat-meat stew. It turns out a full-fledged dish that needs only to be heated in the microwave. From the specified number of products, five half-liter cans are obtained.

You will need:

• 600 g of pork;
• five cloves of garlic;
• five bay leaves;
• 500 g of buckwheat;
• 0.5 l of water;
• five teaspoons of lard;
• salt (half a teaspoon in each jar);
• spices at your discretion.

Cooking

1. Slice the meat and fill it in each jar by a third.
2. Add salt and a teaspoon of lard to each jar.
3. Pour water into containers so that it almost completely covers the meat.
4. Place the cans on a baking sheet and pour some water into it.
5. Cover the cans with lids and put in the oven.
6. Cook the stew until boiling at 200 ° C. It takes about 40 minutes.
7. Reduce temperature to 150 ° C and cook for three hours.
8. Remove the workpiece from the oven. In each jar, put a leaf of laurel and a clove of garlic (it is better to cut in half).
9. Pour 100 g of raw buckwheat into each jar and pour half a glass of water into it.
10. Reinstall the containers on the baking sheet, cover and place in the oven.
11. Cook at 200 ° C until boiling, and then another 50 minutes at 150 ° C.
12. After turning off the oven, let the banks stand for another half hour, then roll them up.

With barley

Features. Perlovka is one of the most useful cereals. It has a lot of protein and B vitamins. It is hearty and goes well with fatty pork. If you can preserve meat with pearl barley porridge, you get a real army dish or something like a "tourist's breakfast."

You will need:

• 120 g of meat;
• 70 g of pearl barley;
• 50 g of lard
• bulb;
• four peas of allspice;
• five peas of black pepper;
• laurel leaf;
• salt and ground pepper at your discretion.

Cooking

1. Slice the meat and season with salt and ground pepper.
2. Chop the onion finely and add it to the meat.
3. Fill the glass container with meat on a third, put a bay leaf on top.
4. Add three tablespoons of barley and pour water. There should be enough liquid so that it does not reach the edge of the can by 2 cm.
5. Put a cloth on the bottom of the pan and place a jar covered with a lid.
6. Pour water into the pan so that it reaches the shoulders of the can.
7. From the moment of boiling water sterilize the workpiece for three hours.
8. Open the lid and add the lard to the jar. At this stage, you can add salt to the stew, if necessary.
9. Continue sterilization for another three hours.
10. It remains to roll up the jar.

Canned beef

Beef has a lot of protein, iron, and collagen. This set of substances is vital for people engaged in intense physical or mental labor. To make beef stew at home quality, take the choice of meat responsibly. Pay attention to the following points.

• Colour. Only bright red meat without greenish patches and dark spots can be considered quality. If the flesh is brown, then the animal was old.
• Fat. Must be white and tight. In the case of young beef, it may crumble a little. If the layer is yellow, then the meat is old and dry.
• Slice. The surface must be dry and elastic. Small humidity is possible only at the edges of the slice. Between lightly weathered and wet meats, give preference to the former.

Classic

Features. In a classic recipe, beef is cooked with bay leaf and pepper. You can stew it in your own juice. But more often the housewives add a little pork fat, otherwise the workpiece will turn out to be rather dry. The taste properties of beef are well disclosed if cooked in an impromptu “sterilizer”.

You will need:

• 800 g of meat;
• 200 g of fat;
• one and a half teaspoons ground pepper mixture;
• 30 g of salt;
• three bay leaves.

Cooking

1. Chop the meat. Pieces should be the size of such as skewers.
2. Cut the lard as small as possible.
3. Combine the two workpieces, season with salt and spices.
4. Fill the sterile glass container with meat, leaving a little empty space on top.
5. In a pan with a towel at the bottom, put a jar and pour water so that it is on the shoulders of a glass container.
6. Cover the jar and sterilize for five to six hours. As water evaporates, top up a little.
7. Roll up the stew.

Up the sleeve

Features. When you really want to enjoy healthy beef stew, but there is no desire to tinker with banks and sterilization, an express recipe will come to the rescue. In the baking sleeve, the meat will be steamed perfectly, it will turn out fragrant and juicy. Stew prepared in this way can be stored in the refrigerator for up to four days.

You will need:

• 1.5 kg of fatty meat;
• two onions;
• six peas of allspice;
• two leaves of laurel;
• 100 g butter;
• salt at your discretion.

Cooking

1. Cut the meat into medium pieces, and the onion into half rings.
2. Fill the baking sleeve by interfacing the meat with onions and flavors.
3. Put the diced butter on top and tie a bag.
4. Make a small puncture in the sleeve and place in the oven.
5. Cook for three hours at 170 ° C.
6. Transfer the finished dish to clean jars and store in the refrigerator.

Beef Stroganoff

Features. Beef stew at home can be prepared not only from raw meat. It can be pre-boiled, smoked or fried. In the latter case, you can make an excellent harvest based on the popular beef stroganoff dish.

You will need:

• 1 kg of meat;
• two onions;
• flour (if necessary);
• salt and pepper at your discretion.

Cooking

1. Slice the noodle-shaped beef. The thickness of each strip should be about 1 cm.
2. Lightly beat the meat, season and roll in flour.
3. Fry in a skillet over high heat until a golden crust appears.
4. Stew finely chopped onions until transparent.
5. Combine meat with onions and simmer for half an hour.
6. Transfer the workpiece to sterile jars. Pour the sauce that remains in the pan into the container.
7. Put the cans in the pan, first covering the bottom with a towel.
8. Pour water into the vessel so that it reaches the banks to the shoulders, cover the banks with lids.
9. Sterilize the stew for two hours and roll up.

Tender poultry dish

Poultry is the most low-cost version of raw material for stew. This dish is especially tender. Poultry meat is dietary, therefore, the preparation is useful for those who are on a diet, as well as for athletes who want to build muscle.

Hen

Features. Chicken is an affordable and nutritious meat. It is quickly cooked and perfectly stored. For stew, it is better to choose the fat parts of the bird. If you prefer to cook canned food from fillet, be sure to add skin fragments or some fat, otherwise the meat will be dry.

You will need:

• 500 g of the hips or legs;
• 15 g of salt;
• a third of a teaspoon of dried garlic;
• three peas of allspice;
• five peas of black pepper;
• Bay leaf;
• half of the bulb;
• ground pepper at your discretion.

Cooking

1. Cut the meat into medium sized pieces.
2. Combine chicken with seasonings and finely chopped onions.
3. Fill the sterile jars with meat, leaving 2 cm on top.
4. Add a couple of spoons of boiled water and cover.
5. Put a towel in the pan, put a jar in the vessel.
6. Fill the pan with water so that it reaches the shoulders of the can.
7. Sterilize for four hours and roll up.

Duck

Features. To understand how useful a duck is, it’s enough to know that instead of pharmacy vitamin complexes, Asians drink duck stock. In addition, the taste of this bird can be compared with red meat. For stews it is better to choose an older duck. It is much more aromatic than a young bird.

You will need:

• 580 g of hips;
• a teaspoon of ground pepper mixture;
• two leaves of laurel;
• a pinch of nutmeg;
• 30 g of salt;
• 150 ml of water.

Cooking

1. Cut the meat from the bones and put in the bowl of the multicooker.
2. Season with spices and salt, add water.
3. Cook for three hours in the "Extinguishing" mode.
4. Transfer to sterile jars and cover with a capron lid. Such a blank is stored in the refrigerator for two weeks.
5. For longer storage, roll up metal lids.

Goose

Features. Goose meat is good for the whole family. It is rich in arginine, which slows down the aging process and prolongs the youth of the body. And it also has a lot of lysine, which is necessary for the normal growth of the child's body. This is a very tasty meat, which makes an excellent stew without harmful fat. The number of products is designed for three half-liter containers.

You will need:

• large goose carcass;
• three leaves of laurel;
• six peas of black pepper;
• salt at your discretion.

Cooking

1. Separate the meat from the bones, season with salt and spices and let stand for about an hour.
2. Place spices in sterile jars and meat on top. Tanks should be filled by three quarters.
3. Cover the baking sheet with foil and place cans on it. The container necks also need to be covered with foil.
4. Place the stew in the oven and heat to 150 ° C. Cook in this mode for two hours.
5. Add boiling water over the meat to completely cover the product, increase the temperature to 180 ° C and cook for another hour or two, depending on the stiffness of the meat.
6. Turn off the oven and leave the meat for another half hour behind the closed door.
7. Roll up slightly cooled containers.

Fragrant rabbit

If you follow a diet and care about the healthy nutrition of households, it is better to make homemade rabbit stew. The product is rich in choline, which regulates blood cholesterol. Rabbit meat is also valuable for its high sulfur content, which is indispensable for bones and tissues.

With soy sauce

Features. Rabbit meat is a delicate flavorful meat.To cook stews from it, it is quite possible to use a slow cooker. The meat in it will be steamed well and will be stored for several months. The number of products is designed for two cans of 0.5 l.

You will need:

• large rabbit carcass;
• four bay leaves;
• five peas of allspice;
• 30 ml of soy sauce;
• salt at your discretion.

Cooking

1. Cut the carcass and separate the meat from the bones.
2. Put the rabbit crock-pots and all flavorings in a bowl.
3. Cook for four hours in the "Extinguishing" mode. It is advisable to open the lid every hour and mix the dish.
4. Transfer the prepared stew to sterile jars and cork.

With fat

Features. The recipe for stewed meat at home from a rabbit can be supplemented with pork fat. Fat will add richness and nutrition to the dish. The meat is rolled up in jars already in finished form, so you can fully control the degree of its readiness, as well as the balance of spices.

You will need:

• 800 g of meat;
• 150 g of fat;
• salt and spices at your discretion.

Cooking

1. Cut the meat into pieces with a thickness of 2-3 cm, sprinkle with salt, put on a tray in one layer. Leave for eight hours in the refrigerator.
2. Melt the lard.
3. Squeeze the meat slightly to get rid of excess juice and combine with fat.
4. Add your favorite spices and fry until cooked.
5. Transfer rabbit meat with fat into a sterile container and seal.

Fish harvesting

If you don’t trust canned food, try making fish stew at home. It will turn out fragrant and tender, and most importantly - useful. The bones are steamed well and become soft. You just need to choose high-quality fresh raw materials. Oily river fish is more suitable for home canning. It can be silver carp, carp, crucian carp or catfish. The set of ingredients for a half-liter jar is as follows:

• 1 kg of fish without a head, offal, fins and scales;
• 6 g of salt;
• three peas of black pepper;
• laurel leaf;
• 15 ml of sunflower oil.

In the oven

1. Cut the fish in portions, season with salt and leave for an hour and a half.
2. Put spices in sterile jars, and fish on top.
3. Place the jar on a baking sheet filled with water. Cover the neck with foil folded in several layers.
4. Put the workpiece in the oven and preheat to 150 ° C.
5. When the stew begins to boil, reduce the temperature to 100 ° C and simmer for five hours.
6. Remove the foil, pour the warmed oil into a jar and warm it for another half hour at 130 ° C.
7. Roll up the boiled lids.

In a pressure cooker

1. Put salt and spices in a jar, and fish on top.
2. Cover the container with a lid and place in a pressure cooker. Pour water into the appliance so that it reaches the middle of the can.
3. Turn on the burner and wait for it to boil.
4. When the water boils well, reduce the heat and close the pressure cooker tightly.
5. After three hours, roll up the canned food.

Autoclave: professional sterilization

An autoclave is a device for sterilization at high temperature and high pressure. It is a large metal flask with a hermetically sealed lid. It has a fitting for pumping air, a pressure gauge for monitoring pressure, a thermometer, and also an emergency steam release valve. Such devices are used to sterilize medical instruments. And from about the 60s, the autoclave found its application in home canning.

Usage Algorithm

A stew in an autoclave at home turns out just like a store. Therefore, if you plan to cook canned meat and fish in large volumes, it is worth considering the purchase of this appliance.The stepwise sterilization process in a gas autoclave can be described in seven steps.

1. Training. Fill the jars with blanks, roll them up and place in an autoclave. Pour water so that it completely covers the cans.
2. Pumping. Close the appliance cover tightly and inflate to a pressure of 1-1.5 bar. If you have an autoclave without pressure, this step is omitted.
3. Heating to sterilization temperature. After half an hour, turn on the hotplate and heat the water in the autoclave to the sterilization temperature appropriate for the type of stew. In this case, the pressure should rise to 4-5 bar.
4. Excerpt. Reduce heat and sterilize at constant temperature. Control the pressure.
5. Cooling down. Switch off the burner and wait until the temperature drops to 60 ° C.
6. Pressure reduction. Slowly bring the pressure reading to zero. This manipulation is not applied to the device without pumping.
7. Completion. Remove the cans from the appliance, wipe. After solidification, store the stew.

Sterilization modes

At a temperature in the range of 110-120 ° C, canned food is processed under industrial conditions. This is an ideal indicator for the destruction of harmful microorganisms. Each product has its own temperature-time sterilization mode. Data for different types of stew are shown in the table.

Table - Autoclave canned sterilization modes

Type of meat	Tare volume, l	Temperature ° C	Time min
Pork, beef	0,35	113-115	30
	0,5		40
	1		60
Bird rabbit	0,35	112-114	20
	0,5		30
	1		50
A fish	0,35-1	115	25-30

Error table

An autoclave is a complex device that requires careful handling and strict adherence to instructions. Before “making friends” with the device, the housewives make many mistakes that lead to the damage of canned food. The table contains information about the main errors of autoclaving.

Table - Common Autoclaving Errors

Mistakes	Effects	Decision
Badly screwed or not used clamping cassettes	Tears off the covers	Tighten the nuts firmly over the discs.
Quick heat	The cans below are overheating and exploding	Slowly heat at a burner power of 1 kW
Sudden cooling (e.g. under running water)	The pressure in the device drops faster than in banks, and the lids are torn off	Cool naturally at room temperature (8-10 hours)
Jars filled to the brim	When heated, the products expand and push the lid	Leave 2-3 cm of free space
Not enough water	- Inaccurate temperature measurement; - uneven heating of cans	Fill the autoclave to the top, regardless of the number of cans
Premature autoclave opening	The pressure in the device drops faster than in banks, and the lids are torn off	Wait for cooling
Leaky autoclave	In banks, the pressure rises, but in the autoclave - no, and it breaks the lids	- Tighten the nuts evenly (always crosswise); - tightly close the plug
Wrong roll	- Tears off covers; - no tightness	- Boil the lids before rolling; - use quality new covers
Using different cans and lids in one cassette	The disc unevenly presses the cans, and tears off the lids	Use the same packaging rolled up with the same lids in one cassette

For the first time, stew was cooked in France near the end of the 19th century. Tanks with boiled meat were heated to 115 ° C, cooled and tightly closed. It turned out that this method of cooking meat provides a longer shelf life than salting or drying. For such an invention, Napoleon appointed the creator of stew Nicolas Upper to the state award. Having learned how to cook stew at home, you will receive recognition and a lot of thanks from the household.

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