How do I check stew doneness? I'm doing beef stew in a slow cooker. When cooking slabs of meat (e.g. steak), I can check doneness with a meat thermometer, but I'm not sure that method really applies in a stew. The broth will heat faster than the meat, presumably, and I don't think I can get a good reading off a 1" beef chunk.

How do I tell when a stew is done? I've had bad experiences trusting to just a timer.
Stew meat is generally from tough cuts. Meat is tough because of collagen, which takes time to break down into gelatin, and gelatin gives a luscious mouth feel. The meat will get up to temperature and stay there for hours, the way tell it is done is with a fork - if it falls apart it's done.