Beef stew meat

[ADH]

I'm Going to start a stew on Saturday. Anyway has anyone cold smoked the beef before making the stew?

[GusRobin]

I have made stew with left over lamb and beef that I had cooked in the Bradley, but never with a cold smoked beef.

[ArnieM]

I have not.  What you're getting here is an opinion.

As it turns out, I'm making beef stew out of a 5 pound rump roast on Sunday.  I might give it an hour of cold oak before cooking.  That assumes the beef is cut up into one inch chunks or so.  If you have frog mats use them.  If not, you can get some aluminum screen at the hardware store.  Cut to size and spray or rub with oil.  Don't use aluminum if you marinate the beef in anything acidic.  Acid and aluminum don't get along well.

I'll either throw mine in the slow cooker or pressure cooker along with all of the veggies, depending on timing.  I tend to go light on the smoke because I like the taste of the beef.

Post back with your results.

[ADH]

Yes, the chuck is already cut up into chunks.. I was thinking maybe of cold smoking with the cheese I'm going to do in the morning. I do have frog mats, so that is not an issue. I'm thinking of a cold smoke for about 1.5 hours on the beef and maybe the onion  then saute before it's put in the crock. What do ya think? Temps in the morning will be about 43 here in Central Florida, with the Bradley cold smoke adaptor.

[BuyLowSellHigh]

With a 43 outside temp your cabinet temp will run ~ 50-51, so absolutely no problem.  If it were me, I wouldn't mix the raw meat in the cabinet with the cheese -- too much potential for cross contamination of the cheese from raw meat.  Do the cheese first, get it out of the way, then load the meat.  I think your idea sounds great.  One of the fun things with this is experimenting.  Try it out and let the rest of us know how it went.  Rember the rule - no pics, didn't happen.

[ADH]

With a 43 outside temp your cabinet temp will run ~ 50-51, so absolutely no problem.  If it were me, I wouldn't mix the raw meat in the cabinet with the cheese -- too much potential for cross contamination of the cheese from raw meat.  Do the cheese first, get it out of the way, then load the meat.  I think your idea sounds great.  One of the fun things with this is experimenting.  Try it out and let the rest of us know how it went.  Rember the rule - no pics, didn't happen.

I'm already planning for the meat to be below the cheese.. While I was showering, was actually thinking about the temps being above 40 without cure. Now I'm thinking hot smoking the meat, then into the crock. Ideas?? :-\ :-\ :-\

[BuyLowSellHigh]

Between 40 and 70 for up to 2 hrs then followed by rapid heating (browning as you planned) is fine.  The smoke roasting at 225 or above is another option, but with small pieces of meat it will tend to cook quickly, so your smoking time will be more limited.  Either way is fine, but I'd have no problem with doing a 80 - 100 min cold smoke on uncured beef at those temps, so long as it then gets heated and properly cooked to 150 or above, which will happen in your stew.

[Smokin Soon]

I buy my stew meat from an Asian market cubed and ready to go. Seasoned the night before and into a Ziploc. About an hour and 20 min of hickory at 200, then a bit of a quick browning in a cast iron pan and into the Crock. Some thick onion slices and carrots share the smoke as well. Probably not the proper way, but it works for me. When adding a thickener I have found that the Mexican corn flour "Masa Harina" adds a much better flavor the corn starch or flour. Also the smell after about 4 hours is "priceless".