Originally Posted By balzaccom
if you freeze that beef,

Absolutely. My wife was given a free arm warmer thing when she bought her running shoes. It's supposed to insulate but be quick to take off when a run starts cold and gets warm. She doesn't use it, but I do smile. A hunk of frozen meat wrapped in that thing is still nice and frosty after a good day's hike.

Originally Posted By balzaccom
And just to clarify--to make a good stew you have to let it simmer for quite awhile. That uses a lot of fuel...

My stove works fine as a tiny wood box for a solid fuel fire or as a good stand for an alcohol burner. For this I would use twigs rather than burn through (pun intended) my fuel supply. I plan to get it started and keep feeding it wood while I set up camp, unwind, etc.

Originally Posted By BZH
Since you already have a pot, why not brown the meat first?

I don't really have a pan suitable for cooking meat. I almost bought one to bring with me, but I'm trying really hard to keep my supplies, and weight, to a minimum. I bring two large stainless steel waterbottles with me. By the time I hit camp, one should be empty so I fill it up with water, plop it on the stove and boil. In the morning I make oatmeal, at night usually soup or pasta with oil.

The simplest thing to do is, of course, just wrap a steak in foil and put it in a camp fire. The idea of stewing it is because I'd love to have real meat out on the trail and not need to build a full out fire or bring a specialty pot.

Thanks for the replies so far