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[Kristin Meredith]

I am curious Hank, how do you differentiate between a stew and a soup?

[Hank D Thoreau]

I am curious Hank, how do you differentiate between a stew and a soup?

There are a couple of ways. One would be the ratio of meat and vegetables to broth. A soup would be more broth focused, while a stew would be more meat and vegetable focused.

I mentioned that I make the pieces large. I also mentioned that I eat the stew with a fork. That leads to another possible definition. Soup is eaten with a spoon; stew is eaten with a fork.

Neither of these definitions are definitive. I have seen folks eat stews with spoons if the chunks are small.

In my case, I call it a stew because there are far more chunks than broth.

There was a restaurant in my area that used to make a vegetable soup that was similar, but it had far more broth.

The upshot is that I do not have a clear definition, or understanding, of the demarcations point on the soup/stew continuum.

[Bentley]

For me a stew is not going to have a liquid broth, I guess it would be considered more of a gravy.  But for me, that is usually accomplished with taking some of the liquid and vegetables and hitting them with a wand blender and adding back to the stew.  Sometimes a little rue is added. It needs to stick to my ribs!

[Bar-B-Lew]

I have also been of the opinion that a stew has a thick liquid more consistent with a gravy and a soup has a thin liquid.

[pmillen]

I have also been of the opinion that a stew has a thick liquid more consistent with a gravy and a soup has a thin liquid.

That's the way I would have defined them but I'm often wrong on cooking definitions so I didn't post an opinion until I saw that I wasn't alone.

[Hank D Thoreau]

Here is a good description of what a stew is. Stewing, or the making of stew, is a process where the ingredients are submerged in liquid while cooking.

My stew looks a bit like the stew at the beginning of the article. It might be concentrated more than I do. It's hard to tell from a picture.

I don't concentrate mine. There is no reason why I couldn't. I cook it the way I like it. Also, leaving out thickening agents reduces the calories.

And I won't touch butter so no roux for me unless it is in gumbo.

https://www.jessicagavin.com/stewing/

[jdmessner]

I never really thought much about what constitutes a stew, but always associated it with a thick gravy. However, I as I read Hank's comments and did a little digging on the definition of what a stew is, my understanding has evolved.

According to Webster, stew means: to boil slowly or with simmering heat. So the process of boiling or simmering meat and vegetables in liquid slowly is what qualifies a dish as a stew. I don't think thickness of the liquid makes a difference. However, I guess that begs the question: Are most soups then technically stews? The bottom line is there is no wrong answer, it is all good! Cook what you like and go from there!!

A little later in the week I am headed downstate with my mom to visit my brother and they volunteered to be Guinea Pigs. I am looking forward to trying out Big Dave's and Paul's recipes. I like the idea of mixing the pork and beef in Dave's recipe and after watching the video Paul posted with his, I am now a Chef Jean-Pierre fan!

[Kristin Meredith]

I guess I think there is a difference between the process of stewing and the dish we eat called stew.

Under the definition Hank is using, all soups are stews because when I make vegetable or bean or split pea soup (etc) I am submerging my ingredients in liquid to cook -- i.e. I am stewing my vegetable or chicken noodle soup.   But that is soup because it is a thinner liquid which I could almost drink in a cup.

A stew, to me, needs a nice thick gravy.  Yes, I will cook it by stewing it, but that is also how I cook pot roast and I don't call pot roast a stew.

[pmillen]

According to Webster, stew means: to boil slowly or with simmering heat. So the process of boiling or simmering meat and vegetables in liquid slowly is what qualifies a dish as a stew.

That appears to be the definition of the verb stew, not the noun.

[A]fter watching the video Paul posted with his, I am now a Chef Jean-Pierre fan!

   Chef Jean-Pierre is a kick!

[Hank D Thoreau]

I have read a number of definitions and none have limited stew to thickened gravy. The link I posted was just an easy example that described stew as both a process and a noun.

Here is a bone broth stew recipe. This is very similar to mine except that I use a vegetable broth.

https://www.christopherjamesclark.com/blog/bone-broth-beef-stew-recipe/

If you google "stew noun" and select images in your browser you will find many examples of broth based stews.

Expanding your view of what a stew can be opens up opportunities for excellent new dishes.

Broth based stews are also pretty common in non American cooking. They can also be very healthy, which is why I first started making mine.

Stews were a big part of maintaining my fitness as a climber, since I need to keep my weight down.

[Kristin Meredith]

I can still enjoy the excellent new dishes and just think of them as soups!

[Hank D Thoreau]

That's true. What counts is that they taste good, not what we call them...and as a bonus, they are good for you.

[jdmessner]

Tried Paul's stew last week. It got great reviews from the relatives downstate.

My wife went to the store for me and came back with cocktail onions  for pearl onions, it was all they had. I added some of the onion juice to the gravy and it gave it a bit of a vinegary taste, which was still good, but different. The port wine gave it a nice flavor. I couldn't find baby potatoes so I cut up regular red skins.

Since I was traveling, one thing that worked well was steaming the potatoes and carrots ahead of time. I also browned the meat and made the gravy with the onions and mushrooms before I went down. It was easy to mix it in the crockpot once I got there and let it cook.

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[Hank D Thoreau]

How many folks are you planning on feeding at the senior center? Are you going to be able to cook enough in Crock Pots or is this going to be an industrial sized pot cook?

[Bentley]

That's getting closer to my idea of what a stew is.