Beef stew (thing)

4 lbs potatoes. 3 lbs beef roast, 1 1/2" cubes 4 pieces bacon. 1 1/2 lbs carrots, peeled 1 1/2 lbs celery, 2 vidalia onions, about the size of my fist. If you don't have my fist handy, your fist will do. Kosher salt Black peppercorns, some cracked, some whole. saffron, fresh ground, 2 pinches for the entire stew. peel of 1/4 orange rind beef stock, 4 cups. Beer, 2 bottles. Never cook with anything you wouldn't drink. I recommend Dixie's Blackened Voodoo. But just use a strong flavorful beer.

Peel and quarter half of the potatoes. Put them in an 8 quart stock pot, and cover with 2 cups beef stock, and the rest water. Barely cover them. Bring it to a boil, and cook until the potatoes crumble when they are poked. It'll take a while, be patient. Then reduce the heat, and add 1/2 of the carrots, celery and onions. use big chunks of vegatables. save the other half for of them for later. Cover with a beer and more stock. Add spices to taste. Simmer for an hour, and then add the rest of the potatoes. In a skillet, render the bacon. Eat your bacon once its cooked. Its not going in the stew. In the bacon fat, sear, but don't cook, all the way, your cubed beef. Do it in batches, because there's just a lot of beef. Add the seared beef to the stock pot. Deglaze the skillet with a can of beer and the kosher salt. The salt will act abrasive, and help get the good chunks of seared beef from the bottom and sides of the skillet. Add that to the stock and simmer for an hour. add the rest of the carrots, onions, and celery. Spice to taste. Simmer for an hour to an hour and a half, and its ready to go.

Serve with egg noodles, and crusty bread and butter.