How do you thicken your soups and stews?

Crockpots are notorious for retaining water which would otherwise evaporate. As a result, you should always reduce the amount of liquid when adapting a regular recipe for use in a crockpot. Flour needs to be cooked for a couple of minutes at least if it is to be used as a thickener for sauces and soups. One way of doing this is to make a roux with butter or oil and flour and to cook it over gentle heat for a minute or two (but not so that it browns) before adding liquid slowly while stirring. This is the same process used to make a white sauce and the liquid can be liquid taken from the crockpot. This roux should be thinned to the consistency of pouring cream and boiled for a further minute or two before adding to the crockpot. I have never used tapioca flour but since tapioca is almost pure starch, I can understand that it has little flavour. Cornstarch is also used for thickening (and is also pure starch), especially when one wants the sauce to remain clear. It should not be added directly to the crockpot but should first be mixed to a pouring consistency with boiling water. To avoid any lumps, first mix with a little cold water and then add the boiling water whilst stirring constantly. 'Instant' potato (either in powder or flake form) can also be used for thickening. This does not need any cooking (it is already pre-cooked) and the temperature of the liquid in the crockpot will be enough.

I use cornstarch but put the right amount at the last minute. If it doesn`t havr the desired thickness after I bring it to a boil, I mix anothr teaspoon of cornstarch with a bit of cold water and add it to my soup or cream. You can bring it quickly to a boil, but always stirring.

If I want thickened soup, I usually add potatoes (depending on size, either quartered or halved)...I then take them out, puree them, and add them back and they thicken the soup naturally. If it is a cream soup, like Clam Chowder, Corn Chowder..I mash the potatoes, as normal, with butter and cream. The potatoes when cooked in the soup broth take on the flavour of the soup, so just enhance the flavour, and thicken it. After much research, on flours, the GMO'ing, I am actually trying to avoid flour. I am really concerned about the chemicals used in flour..like Potassium Bromate! ENJOY...

Slowly simmering it will allow it to actually thicken up, leaving it at a rolling boil doesn't allow your soup to fully coagulate with the cornstarch or flour that you put into there. You could also build a rue (not sure if that's how you spell it), or a mixture of oil/butter/fat with flour. This will give you a liquidy mixture that will help you thicken up your stew. Another possible ingredient you could use is demi-glace, this is commonly used in gravies and is used as a thickening agent. Or if you're okay with having your soup being a little sweet you could use some brown sugar to thicken it up. I love making soups and I plan on making some homemade from scratch tomato soup later. I wish that I had some chicken stock but all I have is bouillon cubes that have a bunch of nasty ingredients in them. I'll probably just end up making a water based soup and use a lot of butter and savory herbs. Hope your stew turns out well.

What I would usually do is put it to a boil and then pour in the cornstarch mixture. Just make sure that the ratio of the cornstarch to the water is right. And then I turn the burner off before it dries up or it will ruin your stew.