I've recently bought a slow cooker and my first meal will be a simple beef stew.
According to this recipe, step one is to:
In a small bowl mix together the flour, salt and pepper; pour over meat and stir to coat beef with flour mixture
My question is, why do I need to coat the beef in flour mixture rather than simply add to the cooker?
Best Answer
Browning your beef with some flour adds depth of flavor. The flour will act as a thickener, and by coating the meat with it you won't have problems with it clumping and getting little flour balls in your stew. However, unless you are browning the meat before adding to the cooker I would recommend you leave it out as uncooked flour might give your end dish a raw flour flavor. You can thicken it up at the end if you like with a cornstarch slurry.