Hiya, I almost always use the butterfly when cooking chicken in the TMX bowl as it helps stop the meat getting caught underneath the blades, even if it is on reverse. As for cooking a stew, like beef, my jury is still out on this one! The beauty of stew is that you generally use a cheaper cut of meat and cook it long and slow....I guess you could do all the donkey work, like initial chopping, sautéing etc in the thermomix (still using the butterfly) then transfer to a slow cooker?

Persevere - there are so many wonderful cooks who are very helpful people in the Thermie community!