Aussie Cooking

[solid317]

hi,

i am looking for an answer to a problem i am having with my stews. i make a fairly basic stew with various vegies and a meat (beef/lamb/pork etc) just covered with water or stock and left in the slow cooker for a few hours. just before serving i thicken as needed using a mix of gravox and cornflour. taste is not my problem as the stew tastes really nice, but there is 2 and a little bit of us (myself, wife and 1y.o.) and a whole stew is too much for one meal. this also is good as i am a shift worker and would love to freeze some and take with me when i go to work. this is where the problem starts! every time i freeze my stew it looks all gluggy and pastey when it has been reheated, the "gravy" seems to curdle - no better words come to mind. i have tried not using gravox and cornflour as a thickening agent but the stew doesnt taste as nice with out it. i cannot remember my mothers stew having this problem but i cannot recall her ever freezing it as dad would eat the remainder for lunch the next day (there were 5 of us then so there wasnt a lot left over to freeze) some recipies i have read call for the potatoes to be added as late as it takes for them too cook as the starch naturally thickens and the potaotes soak up a lot of excess liquid, this has not worked for me.

if anyone can help me with this problem i would be very grateful

[maree]

why not take out the amount you want to freeze and only thicken what you need for dinner